Coal pollution has been an ongoing problem in Pennsylvania for decades. Thousands of miles of PA rivers and streams which run orange from abandoned mines and coal-fired power plants are the largest source of industrial water pollution. Part of the reason this pollution epidemic exists is a systemic failure in permitting. The true impact of industrial polluters is often obscured or understated, and all too often corporate entities have been allowed to walk away from communities that have dealt with decades of pollution with little to no warning.
A version of this problem has been present in the way that Clean Water Act discharge permits issued to power plants have been regulated. Currently, ten coal-fired power plants across the state are operating with expired water pollution permits. An expired permit is a problem because it allows coal plants to discharge toxic pollutants at levels last updated in 1982, and many toxic metals such as arsenic, mercury, and lead have no limits. Updated permits must incorporate stricter pollution limits adopted by the EPA during the Obama Administration, and those are desperately needed to address the toxic chemicals being dumped into Pennsylvania rivers and streams.
Patrick Grenter on the Our Wild America Campaign Retreat - Ghost Ranch| Abiquiu, NM
Last year, we partnered with the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper and PennFuture to bring a legal action against the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for its failure to update the expired permits. One of the plants had been operating with a permit that had been expired for nearly 20 years. Thankfully, earlier this year, we agreed to a structured settlement with the DEP to issue updated draft permits for the ten plants over the next 7 months, with a commitment of issuing final permits by early 2019.
The plants at issue are:
There have already been draft permits published for Cheswick, Brunner Island, and Montour. There is a public hearing scheduled for Cheswick on April 25, wherein people will have the opportunity to demand a strong Clean Water Act permit with updated pollution standards from DEP. If you are interested in learning more or getting involved, please contact Patrick Grenter, Senior Campaign Representative with the Beyond Coal Campaign. patrick.grenter@sierraclub.org
This article was written by Patrick Grenter and is part of our Summer 2018 Sylvanian Newsletter. To read other articles from this issue, please click here.