Senior Campaign Representative Pennsylvania and Maryland Patrick Grenter Senior Campaign Representative Pennsylvania and Maryland Beyond Coal and Dirty Fuels campaigns February 22, 2018

Coal harms our air, water, land, and health Photo courtesy of John Blair Photo courtesy of Megan Anderson

Fully controlled coal is uneconomic Photo from startribune.com

Coal Plants Burning coal produces toxic chemicals, including mercury, arsenic and selenium

The Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act requires facilities discharging into navigable waters to obtain permits through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, also known as NPDES These permits contain various mandates, depending on the type of facility, the receiving waters, and other factors. These permits are termed for 5 years, after which, a facility must apply for a renewal. These renewals involve the issuance of a draft permit, which must be noticed publicly and made available for comments.

Effluent Limitation Guidelines In 2015 the Obama administration revised outdated water pollution standards for the power plant industry (known as the Steam Electric Effluent Limitations and Guidelines (ELG) rule), which had not been updated since 1982 and led to the contamination of 23,000 miles of rivers and streams across the country.

Effluent Limitation Guidelines In 2015 the Obama administration revised outdated water pollution standards for the power plant industry (known as the Steam Electric Effluent Limitations and Guidelines (ELG) rule), which had not been updated since 1982 and led to the contamination of 23,000 miles of rivers and streams across the country. This rule, when implemented, will eliminate 1.4 billion pounds of toxic metals, nutrients, and other harmful pollutants from our water supplies More than 150,000 comments, overwhelmingly supportive of strong protections for water quality.

Effluent Limitation Guidelines Toxic chemicals in coal plant wastewater such as mercury, lead, selenium, and arsenic can cause cancer and other health problems. Nearly 35% of all coal plants discharge toxic pollution within 5 miles of a downstream community’s drinking water intake.

Effluent Limitation Guidelines In April, Donald Trump and Scott Pruitt accepted polluter requests to stop this rule, which would have ended the dumping of toxic coal waste. Sierra Club and others sued to protect this rule, ad we are currently in court. We are very confident that we will prevail and the EPA’s basis for this decision is not based in the law or science.

Recent Developments Coal plant settlement with Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection New permit process for those ten key plants, including Montour and Brunner Island Brunner Island pollution lawsuit and settlement

PA Coal Plants with Expired Water Permits

Montour Coal Plant

Montour Coal Plant Plant has been operating since 1971 1548.5 MW facility, with two large boilers Withdraws 36 million gallons of water per day from West Branch of the Susquehanna Runs with a 32% capacity factor

Montour Coal Plant – Key Issues for Permit ELG Compliance The draft permit would give Montour 59 months to comply with the ELGs (which, presuming timely permit issuance, roughly means giving Montour until the end of 2023 to stop discharging so much mercury, arsenic, and selenium).   Thermal Pollution Despite having cooling towers, Montour still manages to discharge enough heated wastewater to violate water quality standards. Entrainment/Impingement Aquatic life is killed by being entrained (sucked into a plant’s cooling system) or impinged (slammed against the grates that prevent things from getting sucked into the plant’s cooling system).

Montour Coal Plant Permit open for public comment now Send comments to Maria Schumack at PA DEP: maschumack@pa.gov   Comments due on Monday, February 26 Public Hearing?

Brunner Island Pollution Lawsuit Identified many air and water pollution issues at the plant Negotiated a settlement No coal during ozone season in 2023 No coal at all by 2028 Carbon limits and NOx limits

Contact Patrick Grenter Patrick.grenter@sierraclub.org