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The Trump Administration's Attacks on Clean Water Safeguards Continue — Help Fight Back!
1. Tell the EPA not to gut safeguards preventing power plants from dumping polluted wastewater into our lakes, rivers, and streams.
2. Submit your letter of protest opposing rollbacks of rules protecting us from toxic power plant coal ash.
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Dear NRDC Activist,
Dirty coal-fired power plants are one of the main culprits of our looming climate catastrophe. But did you know that coal plants are also a major source of dangerous water pollution?
And in an effort to give his friends in the coal industry another free pass, President Trump has proposed two dangerous new rollbacks to vital safeguards meant to reduce water pollution from coal-fired power plants.
One plan attacks the Clean Water Act by rolling back rules that keep power plants from dumping wastewater contaminated with toxic chemicals into our lakes, rivers, and streams.
The second proposal would block or delay efforts to close down dangerous coal ash waste ponds, which are prone to spills and leaks that can contaminate groundwater —adding toxins into drinking water supplies and affecting the health of people in nearby communities.
These two proposals will harm our environment, our health, and our safety. But NRDC is fighting back against BOTH reckless schemes, and we need you to take these two important actions right now:
Coal-fired power plants are one of America's worst industrial polluters, responsible for 30% of all industrial toxic pollution dumped into surface waters. And EPA's proposal to allow polluted water discharges from power plants would expose millions of people to a toxic brew of mercury, arsenic, lead and selenium — pollutants that can cause neurological disorders and cardiovascular disease, and increase the risk of cancer.
It's long past time for power plants to clean up their act, so please submit your official letter of protest opposing rollbacks to key regulations restricting power plants from dumping polluted wastewater into our waterways. Comments due 1/21/20.
And coal ash — a waste product generated by burning coal in power plants — contains deadly carcinogens like arsenic, neurotoxins such as lead, and other dangerous contaminants.
Recent monitoring data found that 91% of coal plants in the U.S. are contaminating groundwater with toxic substances from coal ash at levels that violate federal health standards.
And as dangerous spills in Tennessee and North Carolina dramatically demonstrate, these toxic dumps are contaminating our communities and harming our health. Allowing them to stay open risks causing serious harm to public health, particularly in low-income communities and communities of color, who are disproportionately exposed to environmental health hazards.
So please also submit your official letter of protest to stop the Trump administration from rolling back vital coal ash safeguards. These comments are due 1/31/20.
These two EPA proposals are the latest examples of the Trump administration attacking bedrock environmental laws like the Clean Water Act and rewarding polluters at the expense of all of us who rely on clean water.
We won't stand by as the Trump administration sacrifices our environment and safety by rolling back power plant wastewater standards and weakening safeguards against dangerous coal ash.
Thank you for submitting your letters. Together, we can protect our water, our environment, and our health.
Sincerely,
Jon Devine
Senior Attorney, Nature, NRDC
Becky Hammer
Deputy Director of Federal Water Policy, NRDC 
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