Culver: Safe disposal of toxic coal ash must be addressed

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Obama understands the danger of coal ash and will act to protect the public health when it issues new regulations on the toxic waste by year’s end, Gov. Chet Culver said Thursday.

Gov. Chet Culver said state regulation of coal ash will have to wait until the EPA issues draft rules later this year. (File photo)

In an interview with the Iowa Independent, Culver said a consensus has formed around the idea that the way coal ash is currently being regulated is not adequate. But it would not be prudent for the state to act until it is sure what the federal government is going to do.

“I know [Iowa Department of Natural Resources], in particular, they have raised concerns about whether the current rules go far enough,” Culver said. “But we are waiting on the feds to get a little more clear guidance. Before we moved out on our own rule process we felt we should coordinate with the feds so we don’t step on each other. But I do think there will be some changes.”

Carrie Le Seur, president of Cedar Rapids environmental law center Plains Justice, said earlier this summer that the fight for tougher rules at the federal level is not over. Coal ash producers, and even a few U.S. senators, have asked the EPA to forego its rulemaking process in favor of voluntary guidelines.

If the federal government follows a more than 30-year track record and declines to federally regulate ash, the problem will be back in the state’s lap, Le Seur said.

Culver said he is confident the EPA takes the risk seriously, and to make sure, he will be discussing coal ash with with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in Dubuque on Thursday.

In addition, Culver said he is open to the idea of the legislature establishing an interim committee to do further study of how Iowa can best address coal ash disposal policy.

The DNR worked for more than a year on draft rules to better regulate coal ash disposal, specifically disposal in unlined, unmonitored former quarries that received waivers from the state allowing them to use coal ash as fill. But pressure from site owners and coal-burning businesses, along with uncertainty about what regulations the federal government may eventually impose, caused the effort to stall.

Coal ash, the waste produced by burning coal, contains much greater concentrations of elements such as mercury, zinc, lead, arsenic and selenium than the coal itself. The by-product is also believed to be radioactive. Exposure to these toxins can lead to cancer, birth defects and reproductive problems. An EPA report released earlier this year found those living near unlined coal ash dumps have cancers risks 500 times the level usually regarded as safe by current federal regulations.

Advocates for tougher regulations say that allowing sites to accept ash with little to no government oversight and without proper environmental protections creates a huge risk to public health. Because there is no liner, toxins could leach off the site and into groundwater, and because there is no monitoring, there is no way of knowing if that is already taking place.

Peter Taglia, a hydrogeologist who worked for five years as a consultant for utilities in Wisconsin, said last month that even the most state-of-the-art facility runs the risk of toxins leaching out.

Even DNR officials admit contamination could already be occurring, but there is no way to know for sure.

Culver said it makes sense to tighten regulations on these sites in order to ensure the environment and public health are being protected.

“I think it would be helpful and it makes sense to tighten up the rules, because it has been pretty clear that there are consequences that are not positive with the current rules,” he said.

But like the DNR, Culver believes tougher rules must wait for the federal government. There is an argument to be made that the state should take some steps while the EPA drafts its new rules, such as mandating groundwater monitoring, he said, and officials at the DNR are currently discussing those options.

“I think that’s been part of the discussion in terms of waiting on the EPA and so I think it makes sense,” he said. “[DNR Director Richard] Leopold is the person in charge of this initiative overall. I feel like he’s been a great leader there and will continue to do everything he can, in his power, to address these issues. I know he has considered precisely these suggestions.”

The majority of Iowa’s coal ash goes to dump sites that are mandated to follow strict landfill standards. But four sites — three quarries in Cedar Rapids, Goose Lake and Waterloo and one mine in Buffalo — received the state waiver exempting them from most regulations. The Waterloo site, owned by BMC Aggregates, gets the vast majority of its ash from the state’s largest public universities: Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa.

Cuvler said the leadership at all three public schools care deeply about the environment and have taken numerous steps in recent years to curtail their energy use. The problem, he said, is it is still not clear what alternative the schools have to dispose of the coal ash they produce.

“I have continued concerns about coal ash, as I think everyone does,” the governor said. “The question is how do we mitigate or limit the impact it has on the environment. Is there an alternative to that type of practice? How do you make the adjustment? If we don’t want the regent [universities] to do that, what do we do instead, and how are we going to fund that or make that a viable option?”

A recent study by the Institute for Policy Integrity, a non-partisan think tank based in New York City, found the benefits of upgrading disposal sites would exceed the costs of tougher regulations by almost 10 to 1. The reason is that the costs associated with contamination and cleanup would be astronomical, totaling in the millions of dollars.

Culver said one obvious way the state can improve the situation is by lowering its dependence on coal.

“Sixty-five percent of our power, roughly, comes from coal in Iowa,” Culver said. “I’ve been trying to do everything I can to make Iowa the renewable energy capitol of the United States. So I think what you’ll see over time is an adjustment away from the conventional practices.”

Iowans should know that the state government is taking the risks associated with coal ash disposal very seriously, Culver said, and tougher rules are just around the corner.

“I know people like Richard Leopold and [Environmental Protection Commission Chairwoman] Charlotte Hubbell at the state level are very committed to making sure we take all the steps we can related to coal ash to protect the environment and limit the environmental impact,” he said.