March 2014
Send In Your Personal Letter to Strengthen the Rules!
Special thanks to Rudy Habben and other HOI members who traveled to Springfield to give public comments regarding the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Proposed Rules to Regulate Coal Combustion Waste at Power Plants. As difficult as it is to believe, our state has no regulations on the installation, monitoring, and clean-up of coal ash waste disposal areas for power plants. Considering the recent North Carolina Duke Energy coal ash spill, it is clear that these waste impoundments can fail. While it is a good thing that the state of Illinois is looking at rules, the proposed regulations do not prevent further pollution of waterways and are far too weak. The environmental community thinks there must be some financial assurance requirement placed on the companies that are responsible for the coal ash ponds, so that Illinois taxpayers are not left to cover the pollution costs after the power plants close. The proposed rules also do not require any new assessments be made of the existing coal ash locations. New assessments must be made. Many of these power plant coal ash sites were begun in the 1950s and 1960s and communities have grown since that time. More recent homes, water wells, and other adjacent site conditions have changed since most of the existing coal ash ponds were installed. The proposed regulations are Illinois Pollution Control Board Case R2014-010.