Just days ago the Trump administration finalized its latest rollback on critical environmental protections. This time, former coal lobbyist and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, weakened clean water protections against dumping toxic coal waste -- which includes dangerous substances like arsenic, selenium, lead, etc.
Trump weakens Obama-era rules on toxic wastewater from coal plants https://t.co/FWbhbIIjzo @emilyhholden @guardian
— Sierra Club (@SierraClub) September 1, 2020
However, in Maryland environmental organizations like the Environmental Integrity Project, Potomac Riverkeepers, the Maryland Sierra Club, and Patuxent Riverkeepers, as well as countless grassroots activists, worked for years to get the MDE (Maryland Department of the Environment) to finalize permits covering these toxic waste streams using Obama-era guidelines. This means the current MDE permits that were finalized this summer are enforceable, despite this rollback from the Trump EPA.
So -- GenOn and Talen (owners of 4 of the 5 remaining polluting coal plants in Maryland) are NOT entitled to the weaker limits, delayed compliance timelines, or loopholes from the Trump rollback. The companies can ask the MDE to weaken their permits, but if either company tries to go that route, we'll flag for folks quickly.
With all that being said, I want to reiterate that Marylanders need to closely watch what happens at the GenOn-owned Morgantown coal-fired power plant in Charles County. While MDE was finalizing the permits with the Obama-era guidelines, at the last minute GenOn elected a permit compliance pathway for Morgantown that allows them to avoid any restrictions on a particular wastewater discharge stream until December 31, 2023. MDE was obligated to accept GenOn's election of that compliance pathway.
However, it is unclear what GenOn actually wants to do at Morgantown -- the company also said they would use this pathway for Chalk Point and Dickerson and then almost immediately said those plants were going to retire. It is possible, this could be a move by GenOn to buy 3+ years of unimpeded pollution from that wastewater stream at Morgantown. Worse still, the new Trump rollback allows this compliance pathway to hang on until the year 2028, so for all we know GenOn may be gearing up to ask MDE to relax their permit to get a free pollution pass extended until nearly the end of the decade via a permit modification.
Morgantown coal-fired power plant on the Potomac River, photo by Alan Lehman
It’s critical community members stay diligent and keep pushing the state to adopt a pathway off dirty climate-warming coal for good. All that being said, we believe Maryland officials need to stop playing small ball with coal plants. With the recent closure of units at Wagner and Dickerson and the Chalk Point announcement a couple of weeks ago, we need Maryland’s leaders to step in and create a time-bound coal transition plan that responds to the tailspin of coal, supports local workers and communities, and holds the companies accountable for their pollution.
Onward.
David Smedick, Senior Campaign Representative Beyond Coal and Dirty Fuels Campaigns Maryland, Delaware, & District of Columbia, Sierra Club
“Even during a pandemic, a recession, several climate change fueled hurricanes, and national protests against their policies, Donald Trump and Andrew Wheeler are showing their true colors: putting power plant industry profits before the public’s health," said Mary Anne Hitt, National Director of Campaigns for the Sierra Club (press release)