The Trump administration's rollback exempts some coal-fired power plants from Obama-era rules for wastewater containing toxins like mercury, arsenic and selenium.
An NPR investigation into the regulatory failures — and the human costs, including to Pennsylvania miners — of a disease that has been described as "suffocating while alive."
Coal plants could lower operating temperatures to ‘evade’ stringent limits on nitrogen oxides that contribute to smog. DEP has two years to come up with a new plan.
The industry argued that waste coal isn't high enough quality to meet the pollution standards. Environmental groups say the move is bad for public health.
They say miners are at particular risk: “They get dressed, travel down the elevator together…work in confined spaces, breathe the same air, operate the same equipment, and use the same shower facilities.”
