From EPA:
Release Date: 12/19/2014
Contact Information: Press@epa.gov
Release Date: 12/19/2014
Common sense, pragmatic rules to protect against structural failure, water and air pollution
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the first national regulations to provide for the safe disposal of coal combustion residuals (coal ash) from coal-fired power plants. The final rule establishes safeguards to protect communities from coal ash impoundment failures, like the catastrophic Kingston, Tenn., spill in 2008, and establishes safeguards to prevent groundwater contamination and air emissions from coal ash disposal.
“EPA is taking action to protect our communities from the risk of mismanaged coal ash disposal units, and putting in place safeguards to help prevent the next catastrophic coal ash impoundment failure, which can cost millions for local businesses, communities and states,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “These strong safeguards will protect drinking water from contamination, air from coal ash dust, and our communities from structural failures, while providing facilities a practical approach for implementation.”
EPA has been studying the effects of coal ash disposal on the environment and public health for many years. In the wake of the failure of the TVA coal ash pond in Kingston, TN, EPA began a multi-year effort to help ensure the safety of the nation’s coal ash disposal facilities, including assessing more than 500 facilities across the country. Improperly constructed or managed coal ash disposal units have been linked to nearly 160 cases of harm to surface or ground water or to the air. EPA carefully evaluated more than 450,000 comments on the proposed rule, testimony from eight public hearings, and information gathered from three notices soliciting comment on new data and analyses.
Improperly constructed or managed coal ash disposal units have resulted in the catastrophic failure of surface impoundments, damages to surface water, groundwater and the air. The first federal requirements for impoundments and landfills to address these risks include:
·The closure of surface impoundments and landfills that fail to meet engineering and structural standards and will no longer receive coal ash;
· Reducing the risk of catastrophic failure by requiring regular inspections of the structural safety of surface impoundments;
· Restrictions on the location of new surface impoundments and landfills so that they cannot be built in sensitive areas such as wetlands and earthquake zones;
· Protecting groundwater by requiring monitoring, immediate cleanup of contamination, and closure of unlined surface impoundments that are polluting groundwater;
· Protecting communities using fugitive dust controls to reduce windblown coal ash dust;
· Requiring liner barriers for new units and proper closure of surface impoundments and landfills that will no longer receive CCRs.
In response to comments received on the proposal, the final rule makes a number of changes by providing greater clarity on technical requirements for coal ash landfills and surface impoundments under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the nation’s primary law for regulating solid waste.
Implementation of these technical requirements will be reported through comprehensive and regular disclosure to states, and communities to enable them to monitor and oversee these requirements. The rule requires that power plant owners and operators provide detailed information to citizens and states to fully understand how their communities may be impacted. The rule sets out new transparency requirements, including recordkeeping and reporting requirements, as well as the requirement for each facility to post specific information to a publicly-accessible website. This will provide the public with information such as annual groundwater monitoring results, and corrective action reports, coal ash fugitive dust control plans, and closure completion notifications.
This final rule also supports the responsible recycling of coal ash by distinguishing safe, beneficial use from disposal. In 2012, almost 40 percent of all coal ash produced was recycled (beneficially used), rather than disposed. Beneficial use of coal ash can produce positive environmental, economic and performance benefits such as reduced use of virgin resources, lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduced cost of coal ash disposal, and improved strength and durability of materials.
EPA is committed to working closely with our state partners on implementation of this rule. To ease implementation and harmonize the regulatory requirements for coal ash landfills and surface impoundments, EPA encourages states to adopt the federal minimum criteria, revise their Solid Waste Management Plans (SWMPs) and submit these revisions to EPA for approval. A revised and approved SMWP will signal EPA’s opinion that the state SWMP meets the federal criteria.
Join us on Dec. 4 for the “New Mountain Climate Bash” at New Mountain Asheville!
This bash celebrates both local music and Asheville Beyond Coal’s efforts to fight climate disruption and to stop the poisoning of our rivers from toxic coal ash.
Line-up includes:
Alex Krug of Alex Krug music
CaroMia
Chelsea LaBate of Ten Cent Poetry
Daniel Shearin of Daniel Shearin Music
Dulci Ellenberger of Sweet Claudette
Eleanor Underhill and Molly Rose of Underhill Rose
Eric Janoski of Mother Explosives
Franklin Keel, Ryan Kijanka, and Gabrielle Tee of The Scenic Routes
Jon Stickley of the Jon Stickley Trio
Mary Ellen Davis
Pancho Romero Bond, Xavier Ferdon, and Franklin Keel of Sirius.B
Ryan Furstenburg & Melissa Hyman of The Moon and You
Stephanie Morgan of stephaniesid
Doors open at 7 p.m..
Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door, plus $5 student tickets with ID at the door.
All proceeds will benefit Asheville Beyond Coal’s efforts to protect our mountains and planet!
On Sept. 26, 2014, Duke Energy submitted draft plans for the assessment of groundwater at its 14 coal-fired power stations located in North Carolina.
The plans include proposed site assessment activities and a schedule for implementation, completion and submission of a comprehensive site assessment report for each of the facilities. The reports are required to provide information concerning:
- the source and cause of contamination; any imminent hazards to public health and safety and actions taken to mitigate them;
- the location of drinking water wells and other significant receptors where people could be exposed to groundwater contamination;
- the horizontal and vertical extent of soil and groundwater contamination and significant factors that affect how the pollution moves;
- and geological and hydrogeological features that affect the movement, chemical and physical character of the contaminants.
The staff with the N.C. Division of Water Resources will review the plans and approve them or provide Duke Energy with a deadline to correct any deficiencies.
For each approved plan, the utility will have 180 days to provide the state with a report describing all exceedances of groundwater quality standards associated with each coal ash storage pond including the information described above.
Draft Plans – include the groundwater assessment plan and any accompanying map figures
Allen Steam Station – Assessment Plan; Map (Fig. 3)
Asheville Steam Electric Power Plant – Assessment Plan; Map (Fig. 4)
Belews Creek Steam Station – Assessment Plan; Map (Fig. 3)
Buck Steam Station – Assessment Plan; Map (Fig. 3)
Cape Fear Steam Electric Power Plant – Assessment Plan; Map (Fig. 4)
Cliffside Steam Station – Assessment Plan; Map (Fig. 3)
Dan River Steam Station – Assessment Plan; Map (Fig. 3)
Lee Steam Electric Plant – Assessment Plan; Map (Fig. 5); Map (Fig. 6)
Marshall Steam Station – Assessment Plan; Map (Fig. 3)
Mayo Steam Electric Power Plant – Assessment Plan; Map (Fig. 4)
Riverbend Steam Station – Assessment Plan; Map (Fig. 3)
Roxboro Steam Electric Power Plant – Assessment Plan; Map (Fig. 4)
Sutton Steam Electric Plant – Assessment Plan; Map (Fig. 4)
Weatherspoon Steam Electric Plant – Assessment Plan; Map (Fig. 4)
Duke Energy’s Asheville-area coal-fired power plant
From the Wall Street Journal, Sept. 16, 2014
WASHINGTON—The Obama administration said Tuesday it is allowing more time for the public to weigh in on draft regulations controlling carbon emissions from hundreds of fossil-fuel power plants across the country after a majority of senators called for the extension.
The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it was extending by 45 days its public-comment period that was originally scheduled to end Oct. 16.
In a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy last week, 53 senators, including several Democrats up for re-election this year, urged the administration to allow 60 more days; the comment period was originally 120 days. The new closing date is Dec. 1.
Announced on June 2, the proposed rule seeks to cut carbon emissions from the nation’s power plants 30% by 2030 based on emissions levels from 2005. EPA has set different standards for each state, based upon regional energy mixes and what the agency has deemed each state can do to shift to cleaner sources of electricity.
The agency is still scheduled to issue a final rule by its original deadline of June 2015, EPA Acting Administrator for Air and Radiation Janet McCabe said on a conference call with reporters Tuesday. “Because of the strong amount of interest we’ve seen from stakeholders, we are announcing today that we are extending the comment period for an additional 45 days,” Ms. McCabe said.
The regulations are the cornerstone of President Barack Obama’s climate-change agenda and affect most detrimentally coal-fired power plants, which produce the most carbon emissions and provide about 40% of the nation’s electricity today.
EPA’s announcement Tuesday comes a week before Mr. Obama travels to New York City to participate in a United Nations summit where he is expected to lay out his administration’s climate-change agenda to world leaders.
![[Charlotte Sierra Club]](http://wnca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/epa-carbon-40-300x300.jpg)
[Charlotte Sierra Club]
ASHEVILLE—On June 2, President Obama and the EPA announced the first-ever carbon pollution limits on all existing power plants. It’s the most important climate action of his presidency, because power plants are America’s single largest source of extreme-weather intensifying, public-health threatening carbon pollution.
The EPA has scheduled four public hearings across the country—in Pittsburgh, Denver, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta—to give people the opportunity to give oral testimony on the new carbon standards.
On July 29, concerned citizens from Western North Carolina will travel to Atlanta to give formal comments supporting the EPA’s proposed carbon pollution limits at the hearing in the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center.
A busload of area activists will leave Asheville at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday from Earth Fare in the Westgate Shopping Center. A press conference, rally and a march will be held in Atlanta outside the hearings. The bus will return to Asheville by midnight.
“We need to tell the EPA that limiting carbon from power plants is the fastest way to tackle climate disruption,” said Anna Jane Joyner, campaign coordinator with Western North Carolina Alliance. “The coal-fired power plant in Asheville is the largest single contributor to climate disruption in our mountains, releasing carbon dioxide into the air every year equivalent to 500,000 cars on the road. This is not just an environmental problem, it’s a public health issue and it’s an economic issue.”
The EPA says it anticipates hearing oral comments from about 1,600 people.
Anyone interested in getting a seat on the bus from Asheville to Atlanta should go to:
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/bus-to-the-epa-carbon-protections-hearing-tickets-12239930963.
The cost is $10, plus a small processing fee.
People also can comment on the EPA’s proposal online or by email, fax or letter. EPA says it considers all comments equally, no matter how they are submitted.
The comment period on the proposed carbon pollution limits rule is open until Oct. 16.
Complete information on the various ways to comment can be found at:
http://www2.epa.gov/carbon-pollution-standards/how-comment-clean-power-plan-proposed-rule
![[Charlotte Sierra Club]](http://wnca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/epa-carbon-40.jpg)