Excerpt
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): The past few years, and a pair of major spills into waterways and communities have brought a whole new concern about the coal industry to the forefront. It’s about a byproduct called coal ash.
After a six-year battle, the Environmental Protection Agency has now set the first national standards for how to regulate and deal with it. But some argue the federal government pulled its punches.
Jeffrey Brown has the story.
JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour): December 22, 2008, more than a billion gallons of coal ash, a by-product of coal-burning energy production, mixed with water, burst through the banks of a containment pond in Kingston, Tennessee.
The coal ash slurry flooded homes, farmland and poured into the Emory River, prompting what would become a billion-dollar cleanup. Earlier this year, more than 80,000 tons spilled from a Duke Energy holding pond into North Carolina’s Dan River. According to the EPA, more than 100 such breeches, though usually smaller, happen every year.
Coal ash contains toxic contaminants like mercury, arsenic and lead, and environmental groups have long warned holding ponds are not only prone to ruptures, but also leak into groundwater. They had pushed for coal ash to be classified as a hazardous material. That would give regulatory authority of the substance to the EPA.
But in announcing new standards for coal ash storage and disposal today, EPA head Gina McCarthy said that power would remain with the states.
GINA MCCARTHY, Environmental Protection Agency: This rule sets a commonsense, consistent baseline for industries and states to follow, and that communities can rely on to prevent health risks, as well as costly cleanups.
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