Coal Ash Regulation Proposed By EPA Would Put The Health Of Oklahomans At Risk

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- Last week, Ken Wagner, the Oklahoma Secretary of Energy and Environment, stated the State of Oklahoma is supportive and onboard with a proposal to devolve coal ash regulation out of the hands of the EPA and into the hands of Oklahoma’s state government. This regulatory change was initiated by disgraced former EPA administrator Scott Pruit, whom Secretary Wagner served under, and worked with, for more than a decade. Groundwater testing in Oklahoma has repeatedly shown contamination from coal ash disposal sites, indicating current standards for coal ash disposal in Oklahoma are ineffective, under enforced, or both.

"The Oklahoma Chapter of Sierra Club--and our more than four thousand Oklahoma members— want to be very clear in sending a message that we strongly disagree with Secretary Wagner. We have seen the harms caused by coal ash in Oklahoma,” said Johnson Bridgwater, Director of the Oklahoma Chapter of the Sierra Club, “and we know coal ash is contaminating our groundwater with mercury, lead, arsenic, and other toxic chemicals. The State of Oklahoma should not be given authority and oversight over an issue it has so far failed the citizens of Oklahoma on, especially the residents of Bokoshe, Oklahoma. We have no faith that the state will do the right thing, nor do we believe the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality has the resources to oversee such a toxic and complex issue."

The lawsuit, No. 1:18-cv-02230 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is fully briefed and awaiting next steps from presiding Judge Deacon Bates.