text: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION Coal plant pollution rollback finalized - Blog :: Earth Protect
  TRUMP ADMINISTRATION Coal plant pollution rollback finalized
  Shared from the 9/1/2020 The Denver Post eEdition
  By Matthew Brown and Travis Loller
  The Associated Press
  BILLINGS, MONT.» The Trump administration on Monday finalized its weakening of an Obama-era rule aimed at reducing polluted wastewater from coal-burning power plants that has contaminated streams, lakes and underground aquifers.
  But environmentalists and former EPA officials warned the move will harm public health and result in hundreds of thousands of pounds of pollutants annually contaminating water bodies.
  "This rule is going to continue to let these coal-fired power plants pour these toxics into the nation's rivers and streams, contaminating drinking water and fisheries for 2.7 million people," said Betsy Souther-land, who was the science director in the EPA's water office before retiring in 2017.
  The rules also carve out an exception for a plant operated by the nation's largest public utility, the Tennessee Valley Authority. The plant in Cumberland City, Tenn., accounts for up to one-sixth of the wastewater released in the country from cleaning out coal plant flues, millions of gallons per day more than any other plant.