The EPA wants to shift monitoring of toxic coal ash to states
Throughout Georgia, on the banks of the Coosa, Chattahoochee, Ocmulgee and other rivers, there are large lagoons filled with coal ash, the toxic residue left after coal is burned. These massive tanks contain millions of tons of toxic stew, and most are unlined. As a result, heavy metals in coal ash, such as arsenic and mercury, quietly leach into nearby soil and bodies of water.
In 2015, the Obama administration adopted rules requiring utilities to clean up ponds and implement monitoring requirements, effectively turning the Environmental Protection Agency into the primary regulator overseeing these sites. States were also given the opportunity to take on this regulatory role, provided they met minimum federal requirements.
Georgia was among the first to do so. In 2019, the EPA approved the state’s authority to oversee coal ash management. But in their first official act – a “signpost” for future decisions – regulators at the state Division of Environmental Protection approved a permit to leave coal ash partially submerged in the groundwater at one of Georgia Power’s plants. Despite community outcry and reprimands from the EPA, the agency continues to hold its regulatory authority and has approved 20 more permits for coal ash ponds at a dozen coal plants across the state.
The Trump administration is now signaling it wants to shift coal ash oversight to even more states and roll back federal protections. Five states currently have approved coal ash programs, including Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, North Dakota and Wyoming. Oklahoma and Georgia were approved during Trump’s first term, Texas received approval during the Biden administration, and North Dakota and Wyoming were approved last year. The Trump administration is also in the process of approving Virginia for local coal ash permitting.
“State agencies that have programs that allow them to issue permits, we have unfortunately found that they have not been rigorous in enforcing the standards,” said Nick Torrey, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “We know they are underfunded and under-resourced. Utilities are often the most powerful entity in the state and call the shots.”
The coal ash ruling is part of a broader push to shift environmental regulation to the states. During Trump’s first term, the EPA turned over permits for wetlands in Florida to state regulators – the first state to request and receive this authorization in 25 years. In January, the administration began the process of accepting so-called “good neighbor plans” from eight states. Those plans had already been rejected by the Biden administration because they failed to stop ozone emissions from crossing state lines. And over the past year, the administration has expanded state authority over underground carbon sequestration, giving West Virginia, Arizona and Texas authority to monitor carbon injection wells.
According to the EPA, there are more than 670 coal ash ponds across the country. Lagoons range in size from a few acres to a thousand or more. Over the years, many of these ponds have repeatedly dumped coal ash into waterways. One of the worst accidents occurred in 2008, when a levee on a Tennessee Valley Authority pond failed, releasing more than a billion gallons of coal ash. Flooding has buried homes and residents continue to report health problems. Similar incidents have occurred on the Dan River in North Carolina and eastern Kentucky.
The Obama administration’s 2015 rules — the first coal ash oversight — required utilities to monitor groundwater contamination near coal ash ponds and for new ponds to be capped. In cases where there was evidence that coal ash was seeping into the water, companies were required to close the ponds, either by emptying them or by extracting the ash and moving it elsewhere.
But the rule had significant loopholes and did not cover all coal ash disposal sites. Lagoons that were not actively receiving new materials and located in decommissioned coal plants were not covered. And importantly, landfills – where coal ash is collected before being transferred to lagoons – were not included in the rule. As a result, when tests indicated heavy metals were seeping into groundwater, utilities could point to the dump sites and claim they were to blame.
“The utilities would point to these areas and say, ‘We don’t need to clean up the pollution in our groundwater because we believe the pollution is coming from these exempt areas. Therefore, the pollution is exempt,'” Torrey said.
About six years ago, Altamaha Riverkeeper, a local nonprofit, tested groundwater near the Scherer coal-fired power plant in Monroe County, Georgia, and began informing residents that their well water was contaminated with compounds found in coal ash. The county eventually had water lines installed, but some low-income residents, unable to pay their water bills, still rely on church water filling stations, said Fletcher Sams, executive director of Altamaha Riverkeeper. “This is an area where the median household income is $30,000,” Sams said. “It’s quite rural, and some people can’t afford the road pipes, connection and monthly water charges. »
The EPA and the Georgia Division of Environmental Protection did not respond to a request for comment.
In 2024, the Biden EPA attempted to close these gaps by expanding coverage with a new rule that applied to all coal ash disposal sites, including so-called “legacy ponds.” But the Trump administration is now trying to remove those protections. In April, the EPA proposed exempting older or inactive coal ash disposal sites from the rules and giving state officials more latitude in overseeing coal ash monitoring plans. In press releases announcing these plans and the EPA’s intention to rethink how coal ash is managed, Administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency “will advance cooperative federalism to allow states to take the lead on local issues, with federal support. This is just one example where this agency can and will work with our state partners to meet the needs of the American people.”
The move comes at a time when state legislatures have cut budgets for environmental agencies. More than half of states have cut funding for environmental agencies over the past 15 years, according to an analysis by the Environmental Integrity Project, a nonprofit founded by former EPA enforcement officials under both parties. Mississippi’s budget fell by more than 70 percent during that period, while South Dakota’s budget was cut by 61 percent. Three of the five states that oversee coal ash disposal – Texas, Georgia and Wyoming – have seen budget cuts of at least 20% during this period. Georgia has reduced its workforce by about 16 percent.
Not all states that have requested approval for coal ash have received it. In 2024, the EPA rejected Alabama’s application to manage its coal ash ponds because it did not meet standards set by federal law. “The Alabama permitting program does not require that groundwater contamination be adequately addressed when closing these coal ash units,” the agency noted in its decision.
Torrey said the Trump administration appears willing to approve the state’s requests, putting public health and the environment at risk.
“There is a real retreat of the EPA from doing the work it was created to do,” Torrey said. “When you combine that with the weakening and choking of funds for state agencies, it means people have far less protection from pollution.” »
