Bianca Sanchez, bianca.sanchez@sierraclub.org
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Today, Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency dismantled a bedrock environmental and public health standard that protects West Virginians, and all Americans, from mercury and other dangerous toxic air pollutants, such as arsenic, lead, and chromium.
Rolling back the new and more protective Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will allow coal and oil-fired power plants to emit more damaging pollution that puts the public at greater risk of heart and lung disease, cancer, and even premature death, as well as causing severe neurological damage to fetuses and children. In addition to polluting the air, mercury also reaches rivers and streams negatively affecting local water quality and contaminating local fish populations, leading to even more negative health impacts.
According to the Sierra Club’s Trump Coal Pollution Dashboard, reversing the 2024 improvements and reverting to the 2012 standards will allow the dirtiest coal-fired power plants to emit 50 percent more mercury pollution. For example, as a result of reversing the 2024 standard, the three coal units at First Energy’s Harrison Power Station in Haywood, West Virginia, would be allowed to emit roughly 30 to 50 percent more metallic toxics like arsenic and chromium.
In May 2025, the Trump administration exempted 68 power plants—including West Virginia coal plants Fort Martin, Harrison, and Mt. Storm—from MATS after soliciting exemption requests from big polluters over email. The Sierra Club sued the administration for these unlawful exemptions.
In response, Lisa Di Bartolomeo, West Virginia’s Beyond Coal Campaign Organizer, issued the following statement:
“West Virginians deserve pollution safeguards that protect our babies, elders, and neighbors from dangerous and deadly pollutants. Instead, today’s rollback puts King Coal first. This administration is giving coal companies a pass at emitting toxic pollutants while our public health suffers. It’s our Sierra Club mission to enjoy and explore the outdoors. To make that possible for all people, we must protect our air and waterways from pollutants that threaten the safety of children out at play, people on the walk to work, or anyone trying to safely consume local fish. We will continue to hold King Coal accountable for how actions by corporations impact our communities.”
Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign Director Laurie Williams added:
“Donald Trump’s senseless decision to repeal the mercury standards is a direct attack on the health of Americans. For years, these lifesaving protections have slashed the amount of toxic pollution coal plants dump in our air and water, keeping millions of Americans safe from heart attacks, asthma and premature deaths, and protecting our babies from permanent neurological damage. Now, the president that promised to make Americans healthy again is deliberately weakening those safeguards, and families will suffer preventable illnesses simply because he wants to give the coal industry another handout.
“Americans deserve public health standards that are designed to protect people, not pad the profits of a polluting industry that can’t compete with cheaper, reliable, renewable energy. But Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin have made their choice: help their buddies in the coal industry cut corners rather than prioritize the health and safety of our communities. The Sierra Club will fight this decision with everything we have to defend our communities from this dangerous and deadly rollback.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.