Sierra Club Rallies Public Engagement as Trump EPA Rolls Back Coal Ash Rules

RALEIGH - More than 133 million cubic yards of coal ash at North Carolina coal-fired power plants, with 40.2 million cubic yards at the Duke Energy's Roxboro plant alone, could more seriously impact local waterways after the EPA moved last week to seriously weaken rules that have protected waters from toxic coal ash for over a decade. In response, the Sierra Club is urging North Carolinians to share concerns at an upcoming EPA hearing and submit public comments.

"This is an absolutely awful idea," said Mikaela Curry, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign Manager and North Carolina Resident. "Duke made nearly $5 billion last year, they can more than afford to do the right thing by communities and monitor their coal ash pollution to make sure it's not poisoning people's water. "

The toxic byproduct of rinsing ash and residue from coal plants is a slurry containing combinations of arsenic, beryllium, boron, cadmium, cobalt, lithium, radium, selenium and molybdenum - heavy metals and other pollutants linked to cancer, heart and thyroid disease, reproductive failure. Some can even inflict permanent brain damage on children. Without stringent regulations and monitoring, these chemicals can make their way into North Carolina's precious rivers, streams, lakes and groundwater-potentially impacting drinking water.

Duke Energy was the first signatory on a January 2025 letter asking EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to roll back coal ash pollution standards. Now, a year later, that same EPA is moving to oblige, which clean water advocates say would result in less accountability for Duke Energy and likely more polluted water near the utility's seventeen coal ash sites in North Carolina.

Sierra Club is encouraging members, supporters, and concerned residents to submit comments and attend the public hearings hosted virtually by the EPA. Interested people can register for the virtual hearing scheduled for May 28 from 9am-5pm ET or submit comments to the EPA online here .