Tuesday, March 05, 2019

Coal ash contaminates groundwater around most of nation's coal-fired power plants, according to plant data analysis

More than 90 percent of the nation's coal-fired power plants that must monitor groundwater quality near their coal-ash retention ponds show unsafe levels of toxic metals such as mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and lithium. That's according to an analysis of the data by green advocacy groups the Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice, Valerie Volcovici reports for Reuters.

"The environmental groups reviewed data reported from 4,600 groundwater monitoring wells near coal ash dumps of two-thirds of the coal-fired power plants in the United States," Volcovici reports. "Data made public by power companies showed 241 of the 265 plants, or 91 percent, that were subject to the monitoring requirement showed unsafe levels of one or more coal ash components in nearby groundwater compared to EPA standards, according to the analysis by the groups."

Coal ash is a byproduct of coal burning and is commonly dumped into retention ponds. Because of spills that contaminated rivers in Tennessee and North Carolina, the Obama administration created minimum national standards for coal ash disposal in 2015, including a requirement that companies monitor groundwater and publish the data, Volcovici reports.

"Amid strong pressure from utility and coal companies, the EPA under President Donald Trump last July revised the 2015 rule to suspend groundwater monitoring requirements at coal ash sites if it is determined there is no potential for pollutants to move into certain aquifers," Volcovici reports. "The rule also extended the life of some coal ash ponds from early 2019 to late 2020."

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