The rules include an extension for the closure of unlined coal ash lagoons. A recent study has shown more than 90% of these sites are leaking arsenic and other toxins at levels exceeding EPA health standards.
The storage site is an old, depleted oil and gas formation that lies less than 2,000 beneath what will soon be an active part of a coal mine. The company failed to submit complete reports on gas wells into the site.
Reid R. Frazier covers energy for The Allegheny Front. His work has taken him as far away as Texas and Louisiana to report on the petrochemical industry and as close to home as Greene County, Pennsylvania to cover the shale gas boom. His award-winning work has also aired on NPR, Marketplace and other outlets. Reid is recently received a fellowship from MIT's Environmental Solutions Initiative.