FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Contact:
Sierra Club: Eitan Bencuya, eitan.bencuya@sierraclub.org,
202-495-3047
EIP: Patrick
Mitchel, pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com, 703-276-3266
Sierra Club and Allies Agree to Short-Term Extension for Release of EPA
Toxic Wastewater Guidelines
Groups Give
EPA Until April 2013 to Release Effluent Limitation Guidelines for Power Plants
WASHINGTON D.C. -- Today, four environmental groups --
Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, Environmental Integrity Project, and
Sierra Club -- joined the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in filing a
joint motion to extend the deadline for releasing new toxic wastewater controls
until April 2013.
Coal-fired power plants are the biggest sources of toxic
water pollution in the country, but EPA’s stale, thirty-year old control rules
do not set any limits controlling dangerous metals like mercury and lead being
dumped into waterways from the plants. To protect the public from the nearly
three million pounds of toxics the plants release into our waterways annually, the
groups went to court two years ago to require EPA to update the rules. EPA was
to have released the rules this week, but fell behind. The groups have allowed
EPA to take a limited amount of time to complete the rulemaking process, but
will allow no additional delay.
“Ensuring the EPA provides the
strongest guidelines possible for toxic wastewater from power plants is an
important step in protecting American families and ensuring our water is safe
to drink,” said Jennifer Peterson,
Managing Attorney at Environmental Integrity Project. “Although EPA
insisted on this last delay, families across the country can’t wait much longer
for clean water.”
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