EPA Proposes Looser Coal Ash Disposal Rules

It's April 10th. I'm Cory with the story. This is Birmingham News Today, driven by AI.

The Environment of Protection Agency just proposed looser rules for disposing coal ash,

the waste from burning coal at power plants. This rolls back stricter standards

the Biden administration put in place to fight pollution from those facilities.

These tweaks ease up on groundwater checks near ash dumps,

skitful cleanups of entire coal sites, and open the door to reusing ash in other ways.

EPA chief Lee Zeldin calls it a push for American energy strength and flexibility at old sites.

Folks near coal plants worry because ash packs heavy metals that leak into water if not locked down

tight. Plant sit by rivers often, raising real risks for local communities breathing or drinking

that mess. Back in the Obama days, the EPA first set solid rules like lining ponds and moving

leaky waste. Biden acts loopholes were old sites last year, but now the Trump team aims to

dial it back for the coal crowd facing high costs. Industry says the old rules jack up prices

and shut plants early, hurting power needs, while green groups fear more toxic spills like those

massive. One's in Tennessee and North Carolina. As this proposal has the public review,

the battle over clean water versus coal jobs heats up.