EPA Proposes Shifting Oversight of Coal Ash Landfills to Wisconsin Regulators
Wisconsin has 6 active landfills. Will shift mean less oversight of water pollution?
Oak Creek Power Plant. File photo taken November 13, 2021 by Dave Reid.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to shift authority to regulate coal ash landfills in Wisconsin from the federal government to state environmental regulators.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources sought approval in February of its program to oversee disposal of coal combustion residuals, or coal ash, from the state’s electric utilities. Wisconsin has six coal ash landfills that are owned by Dairyland Power Cooperative, Alliant Energy, Wisconsin Public Service and We Energies.
Coal ash is what’s left behind from burning coal at power plants to produce electricity. Metals or pollutants within that waste, including arsenic, lead, and mercury, can contaminate groundwater without proper storage.
Anne Vogel, EPA’s regional administrator for its Chicago-based office, said the agency wants to eliminate duplicate regulation.
“It’s really about having to go to two different regulators and eliminating that barrier makes things more efficient, more cost effective for the management of these landfills in a protective way,” Vogel told WPR.
The state’s regulations must be at least as stringent as federal requirements, but they could be even more protective.
Wisconsin moved to streamline regulations under an update to rules for coal ash landfills in 2022, said Kate Strom Hiorns, director of DNR’s Waste Materials Management Program. Those changes incorporated 2015 regulations imposed by the Obama administration that addressed landfill design, groundwater monitoring and closure requirements.
“By submitting this and getting this program approval, it’s that recognition that our regulations are as protective as the federal regulations, and that the sites that are being regulated can be regulated for the most part solely under state regulators and inspections,” Strom Hiorns said.
Wisconsin utilities support a shift to one set of regulations for their coal ash landfills.
“Utilities in Wisconsin have been regulated by the state for many years; transferring this particular permitting authority from the federal to state government is a positive step for Wisconsin,” said Dairyland spokesperson Katie Thomson.
However, Cheryl Nenn with the environmental group Milwaukee Riverkeeper said she’s in favor of dual regulation.
“Given the changes in politics at the state level and the federal level, there’s some benefit to having that dual oversight,” Nenn said, highlighting the state’s adoption of federal regulations.
The Obama and Biden administrations strengthened coal ash regulations, including a 2024 rule that required oversight of inactive landfills. Under the Trump administration, the EPA has proposed rolling back and revising those requirements.
“They’d essentially remove or exempt a lot of these coal ash dump sites from regulation entirely, even though many of them are already showing evidence of groundwater contamination,” Nenn said.
Nenn said there has been groundwater contamination at the closed, unlined Cedar Sauk Ash Landfill in Ozaukee County that received coal ash from We Energies’ Port Washington power plant from 1969 to 1977.
The DNR has ordered the utility to address contamination and conduct sampling for boron and sulfate, which found levels of boron exceeded groundwater standards. We Energies has said the utility has seen “declining trends” for both in monitoring wells, and sampling indicates no effects to nearby private wells.
Strom Hiorns said the state requires utilities to conduct groundwater sampling and has long monitored groundwater at closed coal ash landfills, which wouldn’t change under the federal proposal.
She said other landfills owned by We Energies and Alliant Energy have also exceeded preventive action limits or enforcement standards for groundwater. Those detections are tied to older parts of those sites or naturally occurring substances, such as boron or molybdenum.
Brendan Conway, a spokesperson for WPS and We Energies, said their landfills owned are actively monitored for groundwater impacts and managed in line with state and federal requirements. An Alliant spokesperson said it’s committed to full compliance.
Under the EPA’s proposal, Wisconsin would assume authority only for coal ash landfills. The EPA would continue to oversee coal ash ponds. The EPA is currently accepting public comments on its proposal to shift regulation to Wisconsin’s program. A virtual public hearing will be held Nov. 9.
EPA proposes shifting oversight of coal ash landfills in Wisconsin to state regulators was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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