EPA issues new standards for water discharge from coal-fired plants, coal ash dumps

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday issued the first federal rules reducing toxic water discharges into lakes, rivers and streams from coal-fired power plants and coal ash dumps.tmpplchld The regulations will cut discharges of toxic heavy metals, including mercury, arsenic, lead and selenium by 1.4 billion pounds a year, according to the EPA, producing health benefits totaling $463 million annually.tmpplchld EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, in a news release announcing the new regulations Wednesday, said the first-ever limits on power plant water discharges will provide public health benefits while allowing phased-in controls.tmpplchld “These cost-effective, achievable limits will provide significant protections for our children and communities across the country, including minority and low-income communities, from exposure to pollutants that can cause neurological damage in children, cancer, and other serious health problems,� McCarthy said.tmpplchld “Today’s rule will make a huge dent in the nation’s largest source of toxic water pollution,� said Abel Russ, attorney for the Environmental Integrity Project, a Washington, D.C., environmental organization. “This is a significant step forward, and it will directly benefit human health and the environment.�tmpplchld Russ said the coal industry and electric power utilities have been operating under 30-year-old waste disposal standards that he termed “primitive� and “highly polluting.�tmpplchld “The new EPA standards,� he said, “simply require the industry to catch up and install modern, affordable technology.�tmpplchld There are approximately 1,080 coal-fired power plants operating in the U.S., and the new rules will require 134 of those to invest in new pollution control equipment.tmpplchld The EPA said about 23,000 miles of rivers and streams nationwide have been damaged by coal-fired power plant discharges that occur upstream from 100 public drinking water intakes and near approximately 2,000 public water wells.tmpplchld The new regulations go into effect 60 days after they are printed in the Federal Register.tmpplchld tmpplchld ___tmpplchld (c)2015 Pittsburgh Post-Gazettetmpplchld Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.comtmpplchld Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.tmpplchld