Coal Ash

Patricia Schuba, president of the board of Labadie Environmental Organization, discusses what people can do to promote environmental change.

Missouri environmental groups are decrying proposed state rules that would allow power plants to discharge contaminants like coal ash into groundwater through a general permit for multiple facilities. Power plants currently have individual, site-specific permits.

The coal ash basins at Labadie Energy Center contain 15 million cubic yards of waste, the largest volume of Ameren’s four coal-fired power plants in Missouri.

The move was part of a series of steps the agency said it would take to protect communities from harmful coal ash contamination.

The additional rules would build on ones finalized in April and would tackle historic ash fill, temporary storage piles, dust monitors and the way Illinois defines an environmental justice community.

Environmental advocates say water used for cooling Ameren’s Labadie Energy Center, along with toxic contaminants leaching from coal ash ponds, pose a risk to wildlife and the surrounding area.

The Illinois Pollution Control Board adopted rules governing how power plants close coal ash ponds that contain toxic waste on Thursday. The new rules require power plant operators to consider a range of options and allow public comments.

The implosion caps the final parts of the defunct coal power plant's demolition, which started in 2019.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has scrapped its proposal to regulate disposal sites for coal-fired power plants, a plan that…

The Environmental Protection Agency notified Missouri environmental regulators this month that the state’s plan for overseeing the disposal of toxic waste…