Trump Administration Guts Public Health Protection to Prop Up Coal

Salt Lake City - Today, the Trump administration announced plans to gut critical protections against deadly coal ash pollution - one of the most toxic industrial waste streams in the country, taking direct aim at the health of American communities.

According to a 2025 Earthjustice report , one of Utah's worst offenders is the Hunter coal plant, owned by Rocky Mountain Power parent company PacifiCorp. Recent analysis also identifies the Hunter plant's shocking SO2 emissions, which have surged since last year by 78%.

Coal ash contains a toxic brew of mercury, cadmium, chromium, and arsenic, which can cause cancer, neurological damage, and other serious illnesses.

In 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency finally established the nation's first-ever coal ash pollution standards, implementing long overdue protections for communities against toxic coal ash in their water. In 2024, the EPA built on that foundation, closing loopholes and strengthening safeguards for the hardest-hit communities. Today's announcement erases more than a decade of progress, leaving millions of Americans exposed to preventable, life-threatening harm.

In response, Sierra Club Senior Attorney Rose Monahan issued the following statement:

"In one swift motion, the Trump administration once again lets polluters off the hook for toxic discharges and emissions that threaten the health of our communities. Through their continuous gutting of the very safeguards meant to keep coal plants in check, Trump's EPA once again abdicates its duty to protect people, not polluters."

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