trash to treasure" indeed. Here's a story worth watching as the demand for rare earths intensifies

#coalash #Lithium

https://scitechdaily.com/8-4-billion-enormous-cache-of-rare-earth-elements-discovered-in-america/

Arsenic Threatens Susquehanna River, Endangered Sturgeon, Human Health

The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal notice today of its intent to sue Talen Energy Corporation and Brunner Island, LLC, for failing to mitigate toxic pollution risks from a coal ash storage pond in York Haven, Pennsylvania. Today’s notice charges that Brunner Island Steam Electric Station failed to comply with a 2015 Environmental Protection Agency regulation requiring groundwater monitoring and other protective measures to prevent pollution discharges and catastrophic failures of improperly constructed or managed coal ash ponds.

Center for Biological Diversity

Scientists find huge trove of #RareMetals needed for clean energy hidden inside toxic coal waste | CNN https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/06/climate/coal-ash-rare-earth-elements/index.html Scientists analyzed #CoalAsh from power plants across the United States and found it could contain up to 11 million tons of rare earth elements — nearly eight times the amount the US has in domestic reserves — worth around $8.4 billion

It offers a huge potential source of domestic #RareEarth elements without the need for new mining,

Scientists find huge trove of rare metals needed for clean energy hidden inside toxic coal waste

Millions of tons of coal ash leftover from burning the planet’s dirtiest fossil fuel sit in ponds and landfills across the US. But this waste may also be a treasure trove for the rare earth elements needed to propel the world toward clean energy.

CNN
#EPA clamps down on #water #pollution from #coal plants: The new rules targeting coal wastewater and #coalash are part of a suite of #regulations expected to reshape the #power sector. https://www.eenews.net/articles/epa-clamps-down-on-water-pollution-from-coal-plants/
EPA clamps down on water pollution from coal plants

The new rules targeting coal wastewater and coal ash are part of a suite of regulations expected to reshape the power sector.

E&E News by POLITICO
#EPA clamps down on #water #pollution from #coal plants: The new rules targeting coal wastewater and #coalash are part of a suite of #regulations expected to reshape the #power sector. https://www.eenews.net/articles/epa-clamps-down-on-water-pollution-from-coal-plants/
EPA clamps down on water pollution from coal plants

The new rules targeting coal wastewater and coal ash are part of a suite of regulations expected to reshape the power sector.

E&E News by POLITICO
The EPA rejected Alabama’s plan to deal with coal ash. The state wanted to regulate the toxic waste as non-hazardous despite the risks to human health and the environment. The EPA said the plan was inconsistent with federal standards and ordered Alabama to revise it. #CoalAsh #EPA #Alabama https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06102023/epa-rejects-alabama-coal-ash-plan/
The Danger Upstream: In Disposing Coal Ash, One of These States is Not Like the Others - Inside Climate News

MONTGOMERY, Ala.—At an EPA meeting in Montgomery, a cup of water took center stage. In a modest hotel a stone’s throw from the Alabama River, dozens of people shared their views on a serious threat to groundwater and drinking water safety with representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency. On the agenda was the EPA’s proposed […]

Inside Climate News
The EPA Must Strengthen the Coal Ash Draft Rule to Protect Community Health

The Coal Combustion Residuals Rule is a historic opportunity to ensure that corporations are held responsible for cleaning up their mess and ensuring my community and many others have access to clean drinking water.

Common Dreams
New #EPA rules tell polluters in #GreatLakes communities to clean up legacy #coal waste
One advocate calls the #coalash pits in her town a "ticking time bomb." https://grist.org/accountability/new-epa-rules-tell-polluters-in-great-lakes-communities-to-clean-up-legacy-coal-waste/
New EPA rules tell polluters in Great Lakes communities to clean up legacy coal waste

New EPA regulations could finally bring relief to neighborhoods on Lake Michigan shoreline, where the legacy of coal is toxic waste.

Grist

Coal ash crackdown continues as EPA denies extensions for six power plants

Among other issues, the EPA determined some plant owners were placing monitoring equipment in locations that could deliver misleading results.

The U.S. EPA on Wednesday denied six coal plants’ requests to keep dumping toxic ash into unlined or inadequately lined pits, signaling the agency’s commitment to enforce the 2015 federal coal ash rules that had been widely flouted by companies and ignored by regulators.

The rules say that pits without legally compliant liners needed to stop receiving coal ash by April 2021, but many companies continued dumping ash in such pits and ponds, with more than 60 seeking extensions to the deadline. The EPA began a series of enforcement actions last year.

#coal #coalash #EPA #cleanwater #environmentaljustice

https://energynews.us/2023/01/25/coal-ash-crackdown-continues-as-epa-denies-extensions-for-six-coal-plants

Coal ash crackdown continues as EPA denies extensions for six power plants

The move signals the agency’s commitment to enforce 2015 federal rules that had been widely flaunted by companies and ignored by regulators.

Energy News Network

EPA plans to stop 6 power plants from dumping toxic coal ash into unlined ponds.
#EPA #CoalAsh #Toxins #Coal

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/25/us/epa-coal-ash-power-plants-climate/index.html