The new rules would allow extensions that could keep unlined coal ash waste ponds open for as long as eight additional years. Under the Obama-era rule, coal ash ponds leaking contaminants into groundwater that exceeded federal protection standards had to close by April 2019. The question of how to handle coal waste, which is stored in roughly 450 sites across the country, has vexed regulators for decades. The report acknowledged, however, that the groundwater data alone does not prove drinking-water supplies near the coal waste facilities have been contaminated. Under the new rule, plants would be allowed to discharge 10 percent of their water each day, on a 30-day rolling average.

Source: Washington Post November 03, 2019 15:45 UTC