Contact: Delegate David Moon | david@davidmoon.us | (202) 427-7966
Patrick Grenter |patrick.grenter@sierraclub.org |(412) 889-8787
ANNAPOLIS, MD - Today, 63 Maryland Senators and Delegate urged Governor Larry Hogan to implement Obama-era standards for coal fired-power plants in the state. The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) is proposing to renew expired water pollution permits for three coal-fired plants in Dickerson, Chalk Point and Morgantown that would allow excessive dumping of toxic pollutants into Maryland waterways.
The letter to Hogan states in part, "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Obama spent about six years investigating the impact of toxic discharges from power plants into waterways and issued new requirements in 2015 for the Clean Water Act. Unfortunately, President Trump’s EPA halted the improved requirements in April of this year.... We call on you do what’s right for our citizens, our environment and our natural resources: require coal plants in Maryland to adopt the toxic coal waste requirements that EPA issued in 2015."
The full statement is attached here and appears online at:
In response to the letter, Senior Campaign Representative for the Chesapeake Bay Patrick Grenter said:
“Maryland’s coal plants have polluted our air and water for half a century. Now is the time to move beyond coal in a way that supports and protects all of our communities, including those most impacted by the ongoing operation and pollution of those plants. Unfortunately, Gov. Hogan’s Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) has failed to require protective water pollution standards when updating these plants’ expired water pollution permits, allowing the continued discharge of harmful toxins such as arsenic and selenium into the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland must not continue to let coal plants operate with harmful pollution permits. State legislators, community members, and Sierra Club recognize this, and expect that as we all work to responsibly move beyond coal, Governor Hogan’s MDE take the available measures to protect our communities from toxic pollution.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.