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U.S. Court of Appeals affirms that EPA regulations prohibit closing coal ash dumps with ash sitting in groundwater

Lisa Evans, Senior Counsel, Clean Energy Program: “They have a motivation to not find as much contamination.”

Lisa Evans, Senior Counsel, Clean Energy Program: “We’re going to see a long-awaited crackdown on coal ash pollution from America’s coal plants, and it’ll be a huge win for America’s health and water resources. They are all likely leaking toxic chemicals like arsenic into groundwater and most contain levels of radioactivity that can be dangerous…

By law, before government regulations are adopted or changed, agencies must ask the public — you — to weigh in.

A major victory for communities living near coal ash plants, the rule closes a loophole that left over half of coal ash exempt from federal clean-up requirements.

Use this map to understand where coal ash might be stored near you.

Earthjustice analyzed industry data to explain, state by state, how and where coal ash is disposed and which dump sites are not yet monitored or regulated.

Coal ash is what is left behind when power plants burn coal for energy, It is a toxic mix of carcinogens, neurotoxins, and other hazardous pollutants.

Standards will tackle major sources of climate pollution and protect public health

Applied Energy Services continúa contaminando el aire, el suelo y el agua en Puerto Rico con cenizas de carbón tóxicas.

Lisa Evans, Senior Counsel, Clean Energy Program: “It may result in very few properties being cleaned up if that [natural level of arsenic] standard is set artificially high.”

Gavin Kearney, Deputy Managing Attorney, Clean Energy Program: “The whole overarching point (of the federal rules) is that groundwater contamination is a big problem; it’s really unsafe, and we have to prevent it. You can’t let water in (to a coal ash impoundment); you can’t let water out; you can’t let water just sit inside…

Lisa Evans, Senior Counsel, Clean Energy Program: “Nothing prevents power plants from moving radioactive waste from their own backyards into the backyards and neighborhoods where American families live.”

Lisa Evans, Senior Counsel, Clean Energy Program: “We see this as the first shot across the bow informing the utilities and states and stakeholders that EPA indeed does find significant noncompliance with the coal ash rule.”

Lisa Evans, Senior Counsel, Clean Energy Program: “The EPA has not come close to doing a risk assessment of the placement of coal ash in residential areas. They project that these utility sites may be redeveloped in the future and that this ash will pose a problem to human health at that point, which is…

EPA acknowledges widespread noncompliance from coal-fired power plant owners.

Lisa Evans, Senior Counsel, Clean Energy Program, Earthjustice: “Unless you have a specific rule requiring investigation and cleanup, industry is just not going to do it.”

What to expect at EPA’s virtual and in-person hearings on the Legacy CCR Surface Impoundment Rule