Environmental advocates argued the rules, which allowed unlined pits to store coal ash, didn’t go far enough. (Barbara Brosher, WFIU/WTIU News)
Environmental groups in Indiana say they’re pleased a federal court threw out an Obama-era rule regarding how coal ash ponds are regulated. They say it could prevent the Trump administration from making further rollbacks.
Environmental advocates argued the rules, which allowed unlined pits to store coal ash, didn’t go far enough. Toxins in coal ash can leak into ground and surface waters used for drinking water.
Lower Ohio River Waterkeeper Director Jason Flickner says the 2015 rules were a move toward greater protections, but they missed the mark.
"The level of contamination that’s coming from these sites and the kind of toxic contamination that's in coal ash itself, it really never did go far enough to actually guarantee protections for the public and communities," Flickner says.
The Trump administration eased rules for handling toxic coal ash in July, but environmentalists expect this week's court ruling could encourage lawsuits against those changes.
Flickner says there should be clear cut standards across the board when it comes to coal ash disposal to put the greatest protection in place.
But Indiana Energy Association President Mark Maassel says coal ash ponds are not a one size fits all situation.
"It is not at all unusual to find that the geology changes so dramatically from site to site that frankly different solutions are equally effective in managing the waste stream," Maassel says.
Tim Maloney, senior policy director for the Hoosier Environmental Council, says Indiana can make progress toward more stringent regulations, regardless of what the Environmental Protection Agency does.
"That require the ash to be moved out of these risky sites and flood plains and sitting within the ground water that’s along our rivers," Maloney says.
He says the Hoosier Environmental Council will continue to encourage the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to do just that.
