Reporting by Christiana Freitag for the Chicago Tribune:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is facing strong public opposition to its proposed plans to extend closure deadlines until October 2031 for 11 coal plants across the country — three of which are in Illinois and one in northwest Indiana.
In November, the U.S. EPA proposed a deadline extension that would allow sites including Baldwin, Kincaid and Newton power stations in Illinois and Schahfer Generating Station in Wheatfield, Indiana, to remain open for an additional three years.
There are 13 coal ash impoundments at the 11 sites, all of which are unlined and leaking toxic contaminants into nearby groundwater, said Ozaeta. Coal ash, the hazardous byproduct of burning coal, creates a slurry of carcinogenic heavy metals including arsenic, mercury, chromium and lead.
“These 13 are the most dangerous coal ash ponds in the U.S. because they’re leaking,” Ozaeta said. “They’ve been doing so for decades.”
Ozaeta was among dozens who spoke during Tuesday’s public hearing, expressing concerns over the Trump administration’s rollback plan. Many speakers said this proposal would set a dangerous precedent for a country that should be moving beyond its reliance on fossil fuels.
In 2018, the EPA was directed by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to strengthen the federal Coal Combustion Residuals Rule and require the closure of unlined, leaking coal ash impoundments across the country.
Thirteen years later, the EPA is now seeking to extend the closure deadlines for these sites and further evade closure and cleanup for utility companies, said Ozaeta.
For a state with some of the highest numbers of coal ash ponds, this decision threatens to reverse years of progress as Illinois has made strides away from reliance on coal-fired power, according to Cate Caldwell, senior policy director of the Illinois Environmental Council.
“Communities throughout our state, particularly in downstate regions and near river systems, live in close proximity to coal ash disposal sites that threaten groundwater and surface water resources,” Caldwell said. “Every additional year that unlined, leaking coal ash ponds remain open increases the risk that these contaminants will migrate further into aquifers, rivers and drinking water supplies used by Illinois families.”
As Illinois tackles an already mounting backlog of closure delays at its 72 coal ash sites, Caldwell said this latest EPA proposal to extend the lives of Kincaid, Baldwin and Newton plants signals a move in the wrong direction when it comes to coal pollution.
“The agency should not be asking coal companies how long they would like to continue dumping toxic waste,” Caldwell said. “It should be enforcing closure requirements that are already long overdue.”