Pa. DEP Secretary Says Coal Ash is Not "Hazardous Waste"

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

October 14, 2011 | 3:35 PM

Scott Detrow / StateImpact Pennsylvania

DEP Secretary Michael Krancer (L) and Energy Executive Patrick Henderson compare notes during a July Commission meeting

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection wants to keep the feds out of regulating coal ash. DEP Secretary Michael Krancer wrote a letter to the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation on Thursday, asking them to vote in favor of a bill that would maintain the status quo, against the wishes of federal environmental regulators.
The Environmental Protection Agency wants to strengthen the regulations for disposing of coal ash by classifying it as either hazardous waste, or solid waste. Currently, coal ash is regulated like municipal garbage. The Washington Post reports today that House Republicans have pushed through the bill, but it’s unlikely to go far in the Democratic controlled Senate.
In a press release, Secretary
Krancer said the EPA’s approach is “misguided.”

“Jumping the gun to regulate coal ash as hazardous waste would actually be environmentally detrimental,” Krancer said. “We have particular concern on that front here in Pennsylvania, since it would block the use of coal ash for beneficial reuse for such uses as, among other things, abandoned mine reclamation and acid mine drainage remediation.”