Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Three environmental groups have filed a notice of intent to sue against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for not limiting toxic discharges from coal power plants or revising any of its effluent standards for coal combustion products or other effluents since 1982.

The threat of a lawsuit, filed by the Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club, and the Environmental Integrity Project, comes as part of the wave of criticism on how coal-firing plants are regulated. That debate was spurred by last year’s coal ash spill in Kingston, Tenn. Coal ash, which is produced and stored at coal-firing plants, is not listed as a hazardous material and thus did not fall under federal regulations. However, improvements in pollution controls have kept toxins from leaving smokestacks, thus increasing the amount of toxins in the coal ash.

Coal ash has since been found to contains dangerous toxins including arsenic, lead, chromium, manganese and barium, which have been associated with serious health conditions such as cancer, liver damage and neurological complications.

“Toxic discharges from power plants can threaten the health of local communities, contaminate ground and surface waters and destroy aquatic life,” said Eric Schaeffer, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project, in the Times Free Press.  “EPA should have limited these discharges decades ago as the law requires. EPA needs to stop kicking the can down the road and set a date for regulation.”

The EPA has pledged to issue federal regulations by the end of the year.

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