"WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday approved the first state permit program for disposal of toxic ash from coal plants, a switch from federal oversight that the coal industry had sought.
Coal ash is the residue left after burning coal to generate power. Decades of coal ash disposal into landfills and ponds have contaminated groundwater at coal plants around the country with pollutants including arsenic and radium, according to data this spring from tests by utilities that had been ordered by the EPA.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said in a statement that the first approval of a state permit program, in Oklahoma, gives oversight to “those who are best positioned to oversee coal ash management — the officials who have intimate knowledge of the facilities and the environment in their state.”"
Ellen Knickmeyer reports for the Associated Press June 18, 2018.
