EPA to unveil long-anticipated coal ash regulations

Long-anticipated regulations regarding the disposal of coal ash — a toxic byproduct containing hazardous materials such as arsenic and lead — are due to be released Friday by the U.S. government.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agreed to the Friday deadline as part of the settlement of a lawsuit filed by environmental groups. The agency had first proposed rules governing the storage of waste material created through the burning of coal in 2010 in the wake of a massive spill at a ruptured holding pond in Tennessee. But regulations were never finalized, prompting activists to sue in 2012 for rules to finally be put in place.

Environmental groups say tighter standards are needed to ensure against a repeat of incidents like the Tennessee spill, that cost more than $1 billion to clean up, and a similar spill earlier this year that polluted the Dan River in North Carolina.

The practice of storing coal ash in holding ponds supported by permeable, earth barriers can lead to both contamination of surrounding groundwater and the risk of catastrophe when dikes fail — as happened in both Tennessee and North Carolina.

The EPA has said contaminants such as arsenic, mercury and cadmium in coal ash could cause cancer if they get into the water supply.

The agency has put forward two proposed sets of rules, the more aggressive of which would classify coal ash as hazardous waste, over which the agency would have direct oversight. The alternative would label it non-hazardous, with states acting as the primary regulators.

Both environmental groups and industry backers say it is unlikely that the EPA, after years of review, will label coal ash as hazardous waste.

Less clear, green activists say, is whether the agency will require the dismantling of existing holding ponds, and the transfer of the waste to dry-storage landfills or for re-use in products like concrete and drywall.

"From our perspective, that is the key," said Frank Holleman, attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Duke Energy, the power company responsible for North Carolina's Dan River spill, said it would take at least 30 years and billions of dollars to remove its existing coal ash ponds — underscoring the enormity of the task the EPA faces in regulating the industry.

The new rules will likely require monitoring of coal ash disposal sites, as is already the case in some states, and could also limit coal ash being dumped into new or existing holding ponds, he said. 

An EPA spokeswoman declined to comment on the pending regulations ahead of their release. 

Jeffrey Holmstead, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney with Bracewell and Giuliani, a firm that lobbies on behalf of energy companies, said many in the coal business are hopeful the regulations will be more helpful to them than burdensome.

"A lot of folks in the industry are looking forward to the rules providing consistency across states," he said.

Al Jazeera and wire services