Ohio court rejects coal plant challenge over toxic coal ash

By Farah Siddiqi

Ohioans concerned about clean water are watching a legal battle over coal ash pollution.

A federal judge in Columbus dismissed a case by Gavin Power, operator of the state’s largest coal plant, challenging Environmental Protection Agency rules on coal ash ponds.

Gavin Kearney, clean energy attorney for Earthjustice, said the ruling reinforces long-standing protections.

"This judgment deals with a coal ash impoundment, which is essentially a massive pond of coal ash and water that sits in Cheshire, Ohio," Kearney explained. "It's got millions of cubic yards of coal ash in it and about 40% of that coal ash is sitting in groundwater."

The court found the EPA did not create new rules but applied existing 2015 regulations, which require utilities to keep coal ash from contacting groundwater.

Coal ash contains arsenic, lead and other dangerous pollutants which can migrate into rivers and drinking water.

Kearney stressed with it matters for Ohio and beyond.

"Gavin is trying to delay and prevent and avoid the cost of having to do these cleanup measures," Kearney asserted. "What the court has said is this is what the rule said. You have to either remove the coal ash or you have to take measures to get the groundwater out of it."

Environmental groups said the decision is a major win for public health in Ohio and sets a national precedent, as coal ash ponds at power plants across the country face similar cleanup requirements.

Reporting by Ohio News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.