groundwater contamination
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Illinois faces challenges in addressing coal ash contamination
Despite Illinois passing a law five years ago to manage coal ash contamination, progress has stalled, leaving environmental advocates concerned.
In short:
- In 2019, Illinois passed a law to regulate coal ash and required plant operators to submit plans to clean up or shut down.
- Despite finalized rules, permits for the coal ash pits in Waukegan have yet to be approved, delaying remediation.
- Federal rules have intensified scrutiny of coal ash, aiming to reduce its environmental impact and safeguard communities.
Key quote:
“When it comes to the implementation of these rules, it’s 2024 and we don’t have permits yet. And I don’t think anyone was expecting that.”
— Celeste Flores, co-chair of Clean Power Lake County
Why this matters:
Coal ash contains hazardous substances that can leach into groundwater, posing serious health risks. The prolonged delay in issuing permits for cleanup leaves communities exposed to potential pollution, heightening the urgency for regulatory action. Read more: Former coal plant near Pittsburgh is poisoning groundwater.
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Lawmaker looks to rein in oil and gas exceptions
Three proposals would remove drilling near schools, seek more data on industry water use and enforce fines for spills.
Credit: Ted Auch, FracTracker Alliance/Flickr
Texas grapples with environmental fallout from frequent oil and gas wastewater spills
Produced water spills in Texas are causing significant environmental damage, but in a fossil-fuel friendly state known for lax environmental regulations, remedies are few.
In short:
- Texas faces widespread environmental damage from fracking wastewater.
- The regulatory body, Texas Railroad Commission, resists implementing stricter spill management rules.
- The spills pose threats to wildlife, groundwater safety and land integrity.
Key quote:
"They didn’t line the pit, and they didn’t pay attention to the leak detection of their tank.”
— Carl Craigo, Midland, Texas, Utility Director
Why this matters:
Oil and gas wastewater spills in Texas are an environmental crisis affecting water quality, wildlife and land health. With few regulations and scant reporting requirements, harmful practices mostly go unchecked and unpunished.
The fracking industry is notoriously tightlipped regarding chemical disclosures, but recently proposed changes to Pennsylvania fracking regulations offers some future hope.
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EPA okays Chemours request to export GenX from the Netherlands to Fayetteville Works plant
Chemours Fayetteville Works plant okayed to import up to 4 million pounds of the toxic chemical GenX from the company’s Netherlands facility.
Top Story
‘Halliburton loophole’ allows fracking companies to avoid chemical regulation
New research finds fracking-industry exemption for 28 chemicals otherwise regulated by federal law.
Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress collection. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.https://www.flickr.com/photos/vintage_illustration/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Federal crackdown on coal ash waste in the works as Southern Co. resists tougher environmental regs
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials are seeking public input on a proposal to close a regulatory loophole that conservationists claim utilities are exploiting to avoid cleaning up toxic coal ash from retired power plants. Stanley Dunlap covers the story for the Georgia Recorder.
In a nutshell:
Georgia Power, the state's largest utility once operated nine coal-fired power plants across the state. As the company seeks to extricate itself from the business of making electricity from coal and winds down its coal-burning generators, the utility is clinging to a legacy loophole that would have excluded some older lagoons and ponds from federal level regulations and allowed toxic coal ash to remain in contact with groundwater.
Key quote:
“The old coal ash sites oftentimes are more dangerous than the newer ones because they are even more primitive,” said Frank Holleman, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “They’ve been out there a longer period of time, so they’ve gotten more decrepit and more subject to erosion, flooding and other problems.”
Big picture:
Georgia Power's parent organization, Southern Co., seems to employ evasive and obstructionist tactics both inside and outside of Georgia. Alabama Power, also a Southern Company subsidiary, is in litigation with Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) and Mobile Baykeeper over Southern Co.'s refusal to transfer millions of tons of coal ash from unlined pits adjacent to the Mobile River to lined pits further from the riverside. Alabama Power insists that moving the ash would do more harm than good and furthermore, according to the SELC attorney, Holleman, Alabama Power is trying to dodge federal oversight by arguing that groundwater is not a liquid.
Read the full account in the Georgia Recorder.
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Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress collection. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.https://www.flickr.com/photos/vintage_illustration/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Federal crackdown on coal ash waste in the works as Southern Co. resists tougher environmental regs
EPA proposes rule forcing Georgia Power, utilities comply with 2015 federal environmental regulation on toxic coal ash ponds, landfill dumps.
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