A recently announced first-of-its-kind settlement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a Colorado company will provide protections for the local community against coal ash and its contaminants.
Public Service Company of Colorado agreed to pay $925,000 in penalties for alleged violations of the EPA coal ash disposal program at the Comanche power station near Pueblo, Colo., according to an EPA May 23 news release. Coal combustion residuals, coal ash from coal-fired power plants, is a high-volume industrial waste often containing harmful levels of contaminant, such as mercury, cadmium and arsenic. Coal combustion residuals can enter local waterways, groundwater, drinking water and the air.
"Today's settlement will protect the Pueblo community and surrounding environment by ensuring the safe disposal and management of coal ash at the Comanche power plant," Suzanne Bohan, EPA Region 8 Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division director, said in the news release. "We will continue to work with our state partners to hold owners and operators of CCR facilities accountable, restore the environment where damage has occurred and protect communities, like Pueblo, that have been disproportionately impacted by pollution."
The settlement also requires Public Service Company of Colorado to address area groundwater contamination issues and ensure the proper closure surface impoundments under the agency's Coal Combustion Residuals program and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, according to the release.
"EPA is committed to enforcing the law against facilities that mismanage coal ash," EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for Enforcement Larry Starfield said in the news release. "In particular, we are committed to holding coal ash facilities accountable for operating and closing their facilities in a manner that protects public health and the environment."
Under the agreement, Public Service Company of Colorado also agreed to "return to compliance" with the agency's Coal Combustion Residuals program, in addition to paying the civil fine, the news release said.
