Administration Weakens Rule that Limits Toxic Wastewater from Coal Plants

WASHINGTON – In response to the Trump administration’s rollback of a crucial rule–known as Effluent Limitation Guidelines or ELG for power plants–aimed at limiting coal plants’ ability to dump toxic pollution into rivers and lakes, Frank Holleman, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, issued the following statement.

“With today’s rollback of clean water protections, the Trump EPA allows dirty coal-burning plants to dump more toxic substances into our rivers, lakes, and drinking reservoirs and exposes our communities to more cancer-causing pollution.  The EPA itself has estimated that at least 30 percent of all toxic water pollution from all industries comes from these plants, and the technology to prevent and treat this pollution is widely available.  The EPA is making it easier for the most polluting and worst run coal-fired plants to dump poisons into the waterways our communities depend upon.”