The Environmental Protection Agency is strengthening a rule aimed at controlling and cleaning up toxic waste from coal-fired power plants, extending federal monitoring, closure and cleanup requirements to hundreds of older landfills, ponds and dump sites.
The proposed rules announced Wednesday would for the first time require safe management of so-called coal ash dumped in 11 unregulated ponds and inactive landfills in Tennessee that are on or near current and former TVA power plants, according to the environmental group Earthjustice.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the plan would hold polluters accountable for controlling and cleaning up coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal that can pollute waterways, groundwater, drinking water and the air. Coal ash contains contaminants such as mercury, chromium and arsenic associated with cancer and other health problems.
“Ensuring the health and safety of all people is EPA’s top priority, and this proposed rule represents a crucial step toward safeguarding the air, groundwater, streams and drinking water that communities depend on,” Regan said in a statement.
If finalized, the rule would help protect underserved and minority communities already overburdened by pollution, reflecting the Biden administration’s commitment to environmental justice, Regan said.