OK Now Free To Set Its Own Standards For Coal Ash Disposal (Instead Of Feds), Thanks To Pruitt

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday approved the first state permit program for disposal of toxic ash from coal plants, a switch from federal oversight that the coal industry had sought.

Coal ash is the residue left after burning coal to generate power. Decades of coal ash disposal into landfills and ponds have contaminated groundwater at coal plants around the country with pollutants including arsenic and radium, according to data this spring from tests by utilities that had been ordered by the EPA.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said in a statement that the first approval of a state permit program, in Oklahoma, gives oversight to “those who are best positioned to oversee coal ash management — the officials who have intimate knowledge of the facilities and the environment in their state.”

Environmental groups had argued against the transfer of oversight of coal ash disposal to states, arguing that lax enforcement by states had already contributed to widespread groundwater contamination. U.S. coal plants produce about 100 million tons annually of ash and other waste, much of which ends up in unlined disposal ponds prone to leak.

EDIT

http://www.columbian.com/news/2018/jun/18/epa-gives-coal-industry-a-victory-in-oklahoma/