EPA Delays Coal Plant Wastewater Rule, Allowing Continued Toxic Discharges
The agency’s five-year delay of stricter wastewater standards for coal-fired power plants will allow ongoing releases of arsenic, mercury and other pollutants into U.S. waterways that supply drinking water.
The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a rule delaying by five years deadlines for stricter wastewater treatment standards for coal-fired power plants, a move that will allow continued releases of toxic pollutants into waterways that supply drinking water for more than 30 million Americans.
The delayed standards would have required coal plants to significantly reduce discharges of wastewater containing arsenic, mercury, bromide, and other hazardous pollutants. Under the new rule, power plants will have additional time before being required to install more advanced treatment technologies.
Environmental groups criticized the decision, arguing it prioritizes industry interests over public health. Thom Cmar, deputy managing attorney for Earthjustice’s Midwest regional office, said the rule allows coal plants to continue polluting waterways used as sources of drinking water. He said municipal water utilities had urged the EPA to require stronger protection and indicated legal challenges are expected.
Coal-fired power plants are among the largest sources of toxic wastewater pollution in the United States. According to EPA estimates, the five-year delay in the updated standards—known as Effluent Limitation Guidelines—will result in approximately 660 million pounds of additional pollutants being discharged into rivers, lakes, and other waterways each year.
The agency previously updated the guidelines to require substantial reductions in toxic discharges, citing the availability of affordable technologies capable of eliminating most wastewater pollution from coal plants. Bromide, one of the pollutants addressed by the rule, can form carcinogenic byproducts during drinking water treatment.
EPA analyses conducted during the earlier rulemaking estimated that the benefits of requiring zero-discharge wastewater standards would outweigh industry costs by three to six times, including reductions in cancer and cardiovascular disease, lower lead exposure risks for children, and decreased drinking water treatment costs.
