Donald Trump · Joe Biden · U.S. · Ars Technica
Environmentalists turn out in force to oppose Trump coal ash rollbacks
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At a virtual public comment hearing hosted by the US Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, a long line of environmental advocates voiced strong opposition to proposed new regulations weakening requirements that utilities must follow in cleaning up toxic coal ash residue at hundreds of sites across the country at which coal was burned to produce electricity.
Key facts
- Zierold said she has been researching the health impacts of coal ash on children since 2011 and was awarded a National Institutes of Health grant in 2015 to investigate coal ash and neurobiological
- Brianna Knisley, the director of public power campaigns at Appalachian Voices, said the 2008 Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill was one of the worst industrial disasters in US history
- A 2022 study by Earthjustice and other environmental groups found that more than 90 percent of coal power plants across America were contaminating groundwater via coal ash residues
- The Trump administration announced in April that it would repeal a rule put in place in 2024 by the Biden administration’s EPA that required utilities to monitor coal ash sites at inactive coal plants
Summary
“The Trump administration has jeopardized the nation’s drinking water supplies as a favor to polluters,” Lisa Evans, senior counsel at Earthjustice and a former EPA attorney, said in a statement. The Trump administration announced in April that it would repeal a rule put in place in 2024 by the Biden administration’s EPA that required utilities to monitor coal ash sites at inactive coal plants. In announcing the new proposed regulations in April, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called them “commonsense changes” and said they “reflect EPA’s commitment to restoring American energy dominance, strengthening cooperative federalism, and accommodating unique circumstances at certain facilities.