Activists Want EPA to Spell Out Beneficial Coal Ash Reuse

Date: May 31, 2010

Source: News Room

Environmentalists are taking issue with regulatory exemptions for beneficial reuse of coal combustion ash included by the EPA in its proposed coal ash waste rules and filing a lawsuit arguing that a state run beneficial ash use violates state and federal environmental laws. EPA's May 4 proposed Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) rule for coal ash disposal includes two options both of which completely exemt waste that is beneficially reused in various products including cement. A broad coalition of environmental groups in a May 20 summary of the proposal criticized the reuse exemption. They say the agency should instead use the proposal to codify that some reuse is safe such as encapsulating it in cement, while its use in construction or agricultural fill is not. The coalition, which includes Earthjustice, the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), Sierra Club and others, also wants EPA to issue a strict hazardous waste rule under RCRA subtitle C, and strongly opposes other optionsin the agency's proposal that includes classifying the material as solid waste under subtitle D of the waste law.

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