Environmentalists turn out in force to oppose Trump coal ash rollbacks
Environmentalists turn out in force to oppose Trump coal ash rollbacks
环保人士集结抗议特朗普政府放宽煤灰监管
At a virtual public comment hearing hosted by the US Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, a long line of environmental advocates voiced strong opposition to proposed new regulations weakening requirements that utilities must follow in cleaning up toxic coal ash residue at hundreds of sites across the country at which coal was burned to produce electricity.
在周四由美国国家环境保护局（EPA）举办的虚拟公开听证会上，众多环保倡导者纷纷发言，强烈反对拟议中的新规。这些新规旨在削弱公用事业公司在清理全国数百个燃煤发电厂遗留的有毒煤灰残渣时必须遵守的要求。
“The Trump administration has jeopardized the nation’s drinking water supplies as a favor to polluters,” Lisa Evans, senior counsel at Earthjustice and a former EPA attorney, said in a statement. “It’s just not right.”
“特朗普政府为了讨好污染者，危及了全国的饮用水供应，”Earthjustice高级法律顾问、前EPA律师丽莎·埃文斯（Lisa Evans）在一份声明中表示，“这根本是不对的。”
The Trump administration announced in April that it would repeal a rule put in place in 2024 by the Biden administration’s EPA that required utilities to monitor coal ash sites at inactive coal plants. The Trump EPA also said it would loosen requirements for protecting groundwater near those sites.
特朗普政府于四月宣布，将废除拜登政府时期EPA于2024年实施的一项规定，该规定要求公用事业公司对已停产煤电厂的煤灰堆放点进行监测。特朗普政府时期的EPA还表示，将放宽对这些地点周边地下水的保护要求。
Now the Trump administration wants to rely on states for coal ash monitoring and enforcement and enable them to bypass national standards in some cases. In announcing the new proposed regulations in April, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called them “commonsense changes” and said they “reflect EPA’s commitment to restoring American energy dominance, strengthening cooperative federalism, and accommodating unique circumstances at certain [coal ash] facilities.”
目前，特朗普政府希望依靠各州进行煤灰监测和执法，并允许它们在某些情况下绕过国家标准。在四月宣布这些拟议新规时，EPA局长李·泽尔丁（Lee Zeldin）称其为“常识性变革”，并表示这些规定“反映了EPA致力于恢复美国能源主导地位、加强合作联邦制，并适应特定[煤灰]设施的独特情况。”
The proposed rule would exempt sites where coal ash is stored from regulation and permit coal-fired power plant owners to minimize, delay, or avoid dealing with the coal ash at their facilities. Coal ash, or coal combustion residuals, is the mineral residue left after burning coal to generate electricity. It contains potentially toxic levels of substances like mercury, arsenic, and lead, all of which are associated with human health problems, including cancer.
该拟议规则将使储存煤灰的场所免受监管，并允许燃煤电厂所有者减少、推迟或避免处理其设施内的煤灰。煤灰，即煤燃烧残余物，是燃煤发电后留下的矿物质残渣。它含有汞、砷和铅等潜在的有毒物质，所有这些物质都与包括癌症在内的人类健康问题有关。
More than half of the fine, gray, powdery residue is used each year to create concrete, drywall, or other industry applications. This is often called “beneficial use” by the coal industry. A 2022 study by Earthjustice and other environmental groups found that more than 90 percent of coal power plants across America were contaminating groundwater via coal ash residues.
每年，超过一半的这种细小、灰色、粉末状的残渣被用于制造混凝土、干墙或其他工业用途。煤炭行业通常将其称为“有益利用”。Earthjustice和其他环保组织在2022年的一项研究发现，美国超过90%的燃煤电厂通过煤灰残渣污染了地下水。
At Thursday’s virtual public comment session, required by law, a spokesman for the American Coal Ash Association lauded the Trump rollbacks as the right move forward. John Ward, whose trade group focuses on advancing the management of materials made from coal ash, said the association is in support of the EPA’s move to eliminate criteria defining “beneficial use” for coal ash. He called coal ash an underutilized domestic mineral resource.
在周四依法举行的虚拟公开评论会议上，美国煤灰协会（American Coal Ash Association）的一位发言人称赞特朗普政府的放宽政策是正确的进步。约翰·沃德（John Ward）所在的行业组织专注于推进煤灰材料的管理，他表示该协会支持EPA取消定义煤灰“有益利用”标准的举措。他称煤灰是一种未被充分利用的国内矿产资源。
Coal ash can be useful in the production of cement, wallboard, agriculture, and potentially critical minerals, he said. Coal ash can improve concrete strength and durability, while supporting the supply chain for critical construction materials, said Leah Pilconis, vice president of government affairs and general counsel at the American Cement Association. That trade group also supports the EPA’s proposed provision changes. Among them: redefining coal ash for cement manufacturing not as an industrial waste but instead as a part of the cement production process.
他说，煤灰在水泥生产、墙板、农业以及潜在的关键矿物提取方面很有用。美国水泥协会（American Cement Association）政府事务副总裁兼总法律顾问莉亚·皮尔科尼斯（Leah Pilconis）表示，煤灰可以提高混凝土的强度和耐久性，同时支持关键建筑材料的供应链。该行业组织也支持EPA拟议的条款变更，其中包括：将用于水泥制造的煤灰重新定义为水泥生产过程的一部分，而非工业废料。
The proposed changes come as supply of coal ash declines, Pilconis said, and could improve access to legacy coal combustion residue. But beyond the coal ash used to make cement and other materials, vast quantities of the toxic residue are kept on-site at both active and retired coal plants, where it’s often covered with water or soil to prevent it from contaminating the air or waterways.
皮尔科尼斯表示，这些拟议的变更是在煤灰供应量下降的背景下提出的，可能会改善对遗留煤燃烧残渣的利用。然而，除了用于制造水泥和其他材料的煤灰外，大量的有毒残渣仍存放在现役和已退役的煤电厂现场，通常用覆盖水或土壤的方式来防止其污染空气或水道。
The EPA has long had concerns about these sites: In 2002, the agency reported that improper lining on these coal ash ponds and landfills allow toxins to leach into the groundwater. That threatened nearby water supplies, the agency found, by contaminating groundwaters above federal safety standards.
EPA长期以来一直对这些地点感到担忧：该机构在2002年报告称，这些煤灰池和垃圾填埋场衬垫不当，导致毒素渗入地下水。该机构发现，这通过使地下水污染超过联邦安全标准，威胁到了附近的供水。
In their comments on Thursday, environmental groups said the EPA’s proposed rule guts protections against the dangers of burning coal and puts the nation’s groundwater at risk. Existing rules were built upon years of science, litigation, and documented harm, they said.
在周四的评论中，环保组织表示，EPA的拟议规则削弱了针对燃煤危害的保护措施，并将全国的地下水置于危险之中。他们指出，现行规则是建立在多年科学研究、诉讼和记录在案的危害基础之上的。
Jennifer Cassel, another attorney with Earthjustice, said water near coal ash becomes thick with pollution, like a tea that is steeped for too long. Cassel has been working on protecting communities from coal ash pollution for 15 years and said rain and hurricanes amplified by climate change have exacerbated these threats. And those who live near coal ash dumps, she said, continue to discover cancer at a rate that makes them think, “This cannot be normal.” “EPA, you know the record,” Cassel said. “You made the record.”
Earthjustice的另一位律师詹妮弗·卡塞尔（Jennifer Cassel）说，煤灰附近的水变得污染严重，就像泡得太久的茶。卡塞尔从事保护社区免受煤灰污染的工作已有15年，她表示，气候变化加剧的降雨和飓风加剧了这些威胁。她说，那些住在煤灰堆放场附近的人不断发现癌症病例，其发病率让他们觉得“这绝不正常”。“EPA，你们了解这些记录，”卡塞尔说，“这些记录是你们自己制定的。”
Kristina Zierold, a professor at the University of Mississippi, said she has found that children exposed to coal ash are more likely to suffer from depression and have poorer school performance than children who aren’t exposed. Zierold said she has been researching the health impacts of coal ash on children since 2011 and was awarded a National Institutes of Health grant in 2015 to investigate coal ash and neurobiological health in children 6 to 14 years old.
密西西比大学教授克里斯蒂娜·齐罗尔德（Kristina Zierold）表示，她发现接触煤灰的儿童比未接触的儿童更容易患抑郁症，且学习成绩更差。齐罗尔德说，她自2011年以来一直在研究煤灰对儿童的健康影响，并于2015年获得美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）的资助，用于调查6至14岁儿童接触煤灰与神经生物学健康之间的关系。
She and her research team utilized air pollution and dust sampling in the homes of children to collect coal ash and tested children for neurobehavioral and mental health conditions in multiple ways. If a child performs poorly in school, that can have cascading effects through adulthood, Zierold said. Depression in children can lead to poor social interaction, lack of learning, and in some cases suicide, she said. “Do you want your children playing on coal ash in parks and playgrounds?” Zierold asked. “Do you want them breathing it in and ingesting it? I don’t.”
她和她的研究团队通过对儿童家中进行空气污染和灰尘采样来收集煤灰，并以多种方式测试了儿童的神经行为和心理健康状况。齐罗尔德说，如果一个孩子在学校表现不佳，可能会产生影响到成年期的连锁反应。她说，儿童抑郁症可能导致社交能力差、学习能力缺失，在某些情况下甚至会导致自杀。“你们想让自己的孩子在公园和游乐场的煤灰上玩耍吗？”齐罗尔德问道，“你们想让他们吸入并摄入这些东西吗？我不想。”
Brianna Knisley, the director of public power campaigns at Appalachian Voices, said the 2008 Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill was one of the wo…
Appalachian Voices的公共电力运动主任布里安娜·尼斯利（Brianna Knisley）表示，2008年金斯顿化石燃料电厂（Kingston Fossil Plant）的煤灰泄漏事故是……（注：原文此处截断）