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The Environmental Protection Agency has finalized a rule to close a significant loophole in coal ash disposal regulations. The Coal Combustion Residuals Rule targets millions of tons of toxic coal ash previously exempt from federal oversight, including the 19 legacy coal ash ponds and landfills in Georgia. For decades, utilities have disposed of coal ash by dumping it in unlined ponds and landfills where the toxins leak into groundwater. ...

Environmental advocates are calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to act after state regulators issued a final permit signing off on Georgia Power’s plans to leave coal ash partly

Amplifying Atlanta

The future of two coal-fired power plants in West Virginia, which produce nearly two-thirds of the electricity sold by Appalachian Power Co., could soon be determined by Virginia regulators. Appalachian is asking the State Corporation Commission to approve a rate increase to pay for environmental improvements to its Amos and Mountaineer plants, at a cost of $2.50 a month for its average residential customer. Upgrading the plants’ coal ash disposal methods to meet requirements of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would allow them to remain in operation until 2040, the utility says....

They’ve towered over the region’s communities for decades. They generated the electricity for homes around the Ohio Valley. They burned coal, a fossil fuel Appalachia has in abundance.But thre