After Decades, EPA Finally Concedes to Regulate Coal Ash

12615401405_5684a44d46After an abysmal track record of leaning toward the preferences of coal and power companies the EPA has finally agreed to regulate the disposal of coal ash, a highly toxic substance loaded with heavy metals and other harmful substances that can befoul and poison the water supply. The decision comes in the form of a court settlement between the EPA and environmental groups. The agency is targeting December 19 to take final action on regulating “coal combustion residue.”

It should be noted that coal ash constitutes one of the largest portions of the waste stream in the United States at 136 million tons per year. We produce massive amounts of it. If you’re not familiar with ash, the combusted material burns down to a small fraction of its original size. 136 million tons is a lot of ash, and at least an order of magnitude more coal.

Coal ash is filled with arsenic, uranium, mercury, benzene, cadmium, and on and on, and it’s been unregulated forever. Which essentially means the power plants don’t need to account for how they dispose of it. When massive coal ash spills happen, like the one that recently happened in North Carolina, it underscores that power companies like Duke Energy are sloppy with their disposal methods to the risk of everyone in the area, to the risk of the water supply, and to the detriment of the long term health of their own business model all for a quick buck.

Attempts to push regulation, going back decades, have met with stiff resistance from the coal producing and consuming powers that be. This in order to perpetrate the myth that coal is “inexpensive.” ?When coal companies can pass along to others or bypass the cost of the damage to health the product causes….well heck. It sure does help to make coal SEEM inexpensive while other companies and citizens pay for the externalities ?with reduced property value, health issues, cancer….

It’s beyond time for the EPA to take this move toward protecting the health of Americans and make coal companies bear the costs of their own industry.

[Image Source :??USFWS/Southeast?: Source]

Edited/Published by: SB

I had a successful career actively working with at-risk youth, people struggling with poverty and unemployment, and disadvantaged and oppressed populations. In 2011, I made the decision to pursue my dreams and become a full-time writer. Connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.