Power Companies Pressure Trump EPA To Roll Back Rules On Toxic Coal Ash

[Think. Again.]

By Kari Lydersen, 29 January 2025
Source: https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/policy-regulation/power-companies-pressure-trump-epa-to-roll-back-rules-on-toxic-coal-ash

A letter signed by executives from a dozen firms asks the EPA to let the companies off the hook for cleaning up scores of harmful coal-ash sites.

A coalition of U.S. power companies is demanding ​“immediate action” from the Trump administration to roll back federal regulation of toxic coal ash and rescind recent enforcement actions.

A Jan. 15 letter to Lee Zeldin, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, outlines specific steps the federal government should take to relieve power companies of their obligations to prevent coal ash from contaminating groundwater. The letter, which was obtained by Canary Media and has not previously been reported on, is signed by executives representing a dozen power-plant operators that collectively hold over half a billion cubic yards of the dangerous material, a byproduct of burning coal in power plants.

“These are powerful corporations asking for the administration to do their bidding even if those actions put health and the environment at risk, which they certainly will,” said Lisa Evans, senior attorney for Earthjustice, which compiled groundwater monitoring data in 2022 revealing the scope of coal-ash pollution that will remain in the U.S. even after a transition to clean electricity.

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The vast majority of coal-ash sites nationwide are contaminating groundwater, companies’ own data shows. Duke Energy has excavated ash from a number of sites in North Carolina, following criminal charges related to the 2014 Dan River spill. Talen’s coal ash in Montana is putting the Northern Cheyenne Tribe at risk. American Electric Power, former owner of the Gavin plant, bought out the entire town of Cheshire, Ohio, because of pollution from the plant.

-snip-

Full article at: https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/policy-regulation/power-companies-pressure-trump-epa-to-roll-back-rules-on-toxic-coal-ash

[hedda_foil]

1. Of course they are.

[NNadir]

2. Don't worry. Be happy. If they generate coal ash to make hydrogen...

...the fossil fuel fuel marketing team here working to rebrand fossil fuels as hydrogen can sweep all the coal ash under the rug and declare it "green."

[Think. Again.]

3. Green hydrogen uses no fossil fuels or coal ash to produce it.

[Native]

4. That there guarantees it won't ever be used here.

[Think. Again.]

5. Ha!

Luckily U.S Hydrogen is already starting up thanks to Biden's funding.

We're way behind all other countries, but the green H2 industry has gotten enough investment momentum to keep going despite the fossil fuel industry's continued efforts to block it.

[Native]

6. This is like watching a 2,000 car train wreck close up and in slow motion.

[Think. Again.]

7. Yeah, the FF industry has been frantically blocking the transition for years...

...sooner or later, their shareholders are gonna slap them and tell them to get in on the clean energy industry before it's too late, there will be plenty of ways to sell whatever oil they have left for plastic and stuff, but if they don't start taking a strong position in the coming energy industry, it will be the end of their century long boondoggle.

[Brenda]

8. I'm starting to become a Believer.

That it's not just rampant greed and power grabs for the pricks at the top who know civilization collapse is near.

They're trying to kill everyone outside their necessary spheres.

Good luck with that fuckers.

Your royal food taster might be one of us!