EPA to limit water pollution by coal power plants

For the first time since 1982, the Environmental Protection Agency is changing its regulations regarding coal-fired power plants' toxic emissions into waterways. "While EPA has focused on reducing air pollution from the power plants' smokestacks, the process often simply shifts the pollution from the air to the water that is used to 'scrub' the boiler exhaust," reports Taryn Luntz of Greenwire, writing for The New York Times. EPA says available technology that removes pollutants before discharge into waterways has only been installed at a fraction of the power plants.

An EPA spokeswoman told Luntz that the agency plans to propose its rule revision by mid-2012. The announcement came a day after the Environmental Integrity Project, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Sierra Club announced that they planned to sue EPA if it didn't change the rules. EIP attorney Jennifer Peterson told Luntz that the announcement was "great news" but the project planned to continue its lawsuit to ensure the agency acted quickly. (Read more)

Jones told Spencer Hunt of the Columbus Dispatch that the announcement had nothing to do with the lawsuit: "This is something we've been working on since 2005." EPA tests of water near American Electric Power's Cardinal plant in Jefferson County, Ohio, found traces of arsenic, barium and boron, among other toxins, Hunt reports. (Dispatch graphic) John McManus, AEP vice president, told Hunt that waste water doesn't threaten people or wildlife and stricter requirements could lead to an increase in electricity prices. (Read more)