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.

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