Iowa Faces Health Risks as EPA Proposes to Delay Wastewater Protections

DES MOINES, Iowa - Today, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it intends to allow coal-fired power plants to delay compliancewith effluent limitation guidelines. The guidelines limit coal ash wastewater discharges from coal plants; however, this delay could result in more than two million pounds of toxic and heavy metal coal ash pollution in Iowa's waterways every year. The discharge of untreated, toxic coal ash has already been an issue in waterways like the Des Moines River near Ottumwa, contributing to Iowans' growing concern over water quality.

In 2024, the EPA updated ELG to include stronger protections for coal ash wastewater pollution from coal-burning power plants, requiring those facilities to eliminate discharges of harmful scrubber, bottom ash, and leachate discharges by 2029, or commit by December 31, 2025 to cease burning coal by 2034. The proposal submitted by the EPA today will extend both the compliance deadline and the end-of-year notice deadline - meaning coal power plants could be allowed to continue discharging untreated toxic wastewater for several years.

Coal ash wastewater discharges from power plants and landfills contain heavy metals and toxins like mercury and arsenic. According to the Sierra Club's Trump Coal Pollution Dashboard, last year's updates to ELG can reduce wastewater pollution by up to 64 percent nationwide, eliminating over 700 million pounds of toxic pollution in public waterways every year. Wastewater pollution from coal plants can cause increased risk of liver and kidney damage, cardiovascular illnesses, cancers, and developmental delays in children.

In response, Sierra Club's Iowa Beyond Coal Organizer Emma Colman issued the following statement:

"Clean water is a basic human right, and the Iowa DNR must ensure that utility companies do not deprive us of that right. Protective standards for our drinking water must be enforced to protect the health of every Iowan and guarantee livable communities for future generations."

Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign Director Laurie Williams issued the following statement:

"Every day that the EPA allows coal companies to skirt the guidelines and evade these critical updates to the Effluent Limitation Guidelines, Americans will be exposed to higher levels of toxic pollution. Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin are giving big polluters a pass to dump tons and tons of toxic pollution into our waterways with no care for how many Americans will suffer from drinking contaminated water or eating contaminated food. We must hold coal companies accountable for the harm they inflict on our communities, and we will continue to defend our communities and our access to clean water."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.