IDEM taking comments till June 30th on new coal ash regulation

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Concerns raised over Indiana plan to adopt coal ash rules

 


Environmental groups are raising concerns about Indiana’s plan to adopt new federal regulations on the sites where utilities store vast amounts of waste produced by coal-fired power plants.

Indiana plans to incorporate the federal government’s new coal ash standards into its solid waste rules.

Indiana is home to at least 74 coal ash ponds and 14 landfills that store the gritty waste that contains arsenic, chromium, lead and other heavy metals that can threaten groundwater.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is taking public comments through June 30 on its plan to adopt the new rules.

Environmental activists complained during a Thursday hearing on the plan that it doesn’t include a requirement that Indiana’s utilities post inspection reports and other documents online about their coal ash impoundments.