EPA to Allow More Coal Plants Off the Hook for Toxic Waste Dumped in U.S. Waterways
May 14, 202650 minutes
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Washington, D.C. — Today, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed rolling back protections that stop coal-fired power plants from dumping toxic wastewater—including arsenic, mercury, selenium, and lead—from coal ash waste landfills into U.S. waterways.
In September 2025, Donald Trump’s EPA gave coal plant companies a pass by delaying enforcement of long-overdue wastewater protections from coal plant waste. Today’s proposal would allow coal plants to dump even more coal ash landfill waste into surface waters under even weaker standards.
According to the Sierra Club’s Trump Coal Pollution Dashboard, the Biden-era EPA’s updates to the technology-based effluent limitation guidelines can reduce wastewater pollution by up to 64 percent nationwide, eliminating over 325,000 tons of toxic pollution in public waterways every year. Wastewater pollution from coal plants can cause increased risk of liver and kidney damage, cardiovascular illnesses, cancers, and developmental delays in children.
In response, Sierra Club Climate Policy Director Patrick Drupp issued the following statement:
“This is another reckless handout to Big Coal from the Trump administration that threatens American lives and our futures. There is no decent explanation for the EPA to rollback public health protections from toxic, dangerous coal plants. EPA is proposing to strip away protections that keep mercury and arsenic out of our drinking water—with no credible scientific or legal justification. An administration that claims to want to ‘Make America Healthy Again’ just made it easier for coal plants to poison our water. The Sierra Club will fight this every step of the way.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.
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