Coal Ash Hearing and Comments

Coal Ash Virtual Hearing and Online Comments

Alabama’s rivers deserve better. Tell the EPA to stop allowing toxic coal ash waste to remain in groundwater and move it away from our waterways. Attend the virtual hearing on September 3 and/or submit written comments through September 14.

Tens of millions of tons of coal ash sit in or near groundwater in the Black Warrior River watershed. Across Alabama, at least 16 coal ash pits threaten our rivers and groundwater, including sites along the Black Warrior, Coosa, Mobile, Tombigbee, and Tennessee rivers. Coal ash contains high concentrations of heavy metals including mercury, arsenic, selenium, chromium, and radium, which are hazardous to human health, wildlife, and waterways.

Here’s what’s especially troubling: the EPA is now considering approval of the same Alabama coal ash permitting program it REJECTED in 2024 without making changes.

In 2024, the EPA found that the permits:

~Failed to require proper closure of unlined coal ash pits.
~Lacked adequate groundwater monitoring.
~Failed to require sufficient cleanup of existing contamination.

These problems haven’t been fixed. We are dealing with the same faulty permits, the same toxic coal ash, and the same threats to public health and natural resources.

Coal ash shouldn’t be left sitting in groundwater. Capping coal ash that remains in contact with groundwater doesn’t make pollutants or their toxicity disappear. Other states are taking a different approach, moving coal from unlined pits into lined storage or recycling it into cement and concrete.

Tell the EPA: Alabama can and should do better. Don’t approve a program that leaves coal ash in our groundwater. Protect Alabama’s rivers, drinking water, and communities.

Make your voice heard:

~Attend the EPA Public Hearing virtually on September 3 (Register by September 1)
~Written comments accepted through September 14: SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS HERE

This map shows Alabama drinking water sources downstream from coal-fired power plants’ coal ash waste impoundments, which discharge tens of millions of gallons of polluted wastewater into Alabama’s water resources every day.