On Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a public hearing in Montgomery to consider whether or not coal ash should be disposed of onsite at coal-burning power plants, many of which have been or are shutting down or moved offsite.
Blake Hardwich is the Executive Director of the Energy Institute of Alabama (EIA). Hardwich released a statement following her remarks at the EPA hearing on the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) program:
“It’s important for the public and policymakers to understand that closing in place is a legal and safe approach for dealing with coal ash,” Hardwich said. “As independent studies show, the technology and engineering capabilities exist to seal this material where it is now in a way that is environmentally responsible. In fact, roughly half of all coal ash in the South is being sealed safely in place.”
“This is good news for Alabama, as our state’s power providers don’t need to create new environmental hazards by trucking millions of tons of coal ash, over decades, to yet unnamed communities, requiring more landfill space,” Hardwich said. “EIA stands in support of upholding ADEM’s CCR program and its requirements.”
The 2015 Coal Combustion Residuals Rule set federal rules against coal ash pollution. The protections were the result of more than a decade of litigation by environmental groups.
Coal ash is the remains of coal burning in power plants. Environmentalists claim that coal ash contains a hazardous brew of toxic pollutants, including arsenic, boron, cadmium, chromium, lead, radium, selenium, and more. They claim that the toxins in coal ash can cause cancer, heart disease, reproductive failure, and stroke and can inflict lasting brain damage on children. These groups also claim that leaving the ponds in place would be a violation of the Clean Water Act and the Coal Combustion Residual Role. A point that ADEM, the Public Service Commission, and the EIA dispute.
The hearing was disrupted when a woman, Anne DiPrizio, senselessly poured water on the head of West Alabama Chamber of Commerce President Kyle South – formerly a state representative.
South had testified in his support of the state of Alabama’s plan.
The EPA has proposed rejecting the state of Alabama’s plan and instead requiring the power companies to dig up the ponds and remove the coal ash to other sites.
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