Tell the EPA to protect our water from toxic coal ash

For years the Latrobe Valley power stations have been allowed to operate under guidelines created for landfill sites, which are not fit-for-purpose to regulate toxic coal ash dams.  

Some of the coal ash dams in the Latrobe Valley were built before the EPA had guidelines to regulate them, so they don’t comply with the current guidelines at all. The dams are either inadequately lined or unlined, failing to prevent groundwater contamination and putting the Latrobe Valley community at risk of serious adverse health impacts. 

While power station operators must prepare coal ash rehabilitation plans by December 2021, the current landfill guidelines set remediation and rehabilitation up for failure. The EPA has an opportunity to introduce best practice guidelines specific to coal ash dams, which protect the community and the environment and to ensure that the Latrobe Valley is not left with a toxic coal ash legacy. Best practice guidelines will also hold power station operators accountable to conduct best practice clean-up of Latrobe Valley coal ash dams.  

 For the sake of the health and the future of the Latrobe Valley community, the EPA must ensure the safe management and remediation of Latrobe Valley coal ash dams. I am calling on the EPA to: 

• Produce fit-for-purpose guidelines specific to the management, remediation and re-use of coal ash  
• Ensure thorough community engagement in this process including access to information and public participation  
• Produce guidelines for the reuse of brown coal ash products and ensure information underpinning the establishment of these new industries is made available to the public