State plan to dispose of coal ash approved by EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 7 has given conditional approval to the state of Kansas’ plan to dispose of coal ash, the residue from coal-fired power plants.

The approval was effective on Monday, the day national regulations went into effect.

The coal ash disposal rule sets regulations to safeguard communities from the failure of coal ash impoundment, and to prevent groundwater contamination and air emissions from coal ash disposal.

“We applaud the State of Kansas for their leadership in protecting human health and the environment by ensuring the responsible management of coal ash,” said Mark Hague, acting Region 7 administrator.

“An EPA-approved plan demonstrates to our electric utilities and all interested parties that Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s permitting and inspection activities will ensure that coal combustion residuals are properly managed in Kansas,” said John Mitchell, director of the department’s Division of Environment.

This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 3:33 PM with the headline "State plan to dispose of coal ash approved by EPA."