Coal-fired power plants to close after new wastewater rule
Climate change isn’t what’s driving some US coal-fired power plants to shut down. It’s the expense of stricter pollution controls on their wastewater.
Dozens of plants nationwide plan to stop burning coal this decade to comply with more stringent federal wastewater guidelines, according to state regulatory filings, as the industry continues moving away from the planet-warming fossil fuel to make electricity.
The new wastewater rule requires power plants to clean coal ash and toxic heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic and selenium from plant wastewater before it is dumped into streams and rivers.
