“Fossil-fired Power Industry Water Flow and Treatment Issues and Markets” was Hot Topic Hour on May 2, 2013

The EPA has just released revisions to the Steam Electric Power Generating Effluent guidelines and standards. These regulations address plant-generated wastewater in the form of chemical pollutants and thermal pollution (heated water) from their water treatment, power cycle, ash handling and air pollution control systems, as well as from coal piles, yard and floor drainage, and other miscellaneous wastes.

Amy Antoniolli, Staff Attorney, and Daniel J. Deeb, Partner, at Schiff Hardin LLP commented on the US EPA’s new Effluent Guideline Limitations (ELG) rulemaking applicable to steam electric power plants released by US EPA on April 19 and how it overlaps with the coal combustion residual rulemaking. Significantly, the US EPA stated in the ELG rulemaking that the pollution reduction anticipated under that rule and other aspects of the rule, including various best management practices and incentives to close ash ponds and eliminate discharges to surface waters, would likely tip the scales in the CCR rulemaking towards regulating coal ash as nonhazardous waste under RCRA Subtitle D.

They listed the following highlights of the ELG Rulemaking:

• Amends the steam electric effluent guidelines and standards under the Clean Water Act.
• Applies to nuclear, coal, oil, and natural gas-fired power plants that generate more than 50 MW of power.
• Regulates certain waste streams for the first time.
• Sets very stringent effluent limitations for those waste streams that will continue to have a discharge (e.g. Hg, Se, Ar, and N-N).
• In many cases, applies “zero discharge” as Best Available Technology
• USEPA states that: a pending risk assessment for the CCR rule plus the ELG rulemaking could equal strong support for regulating CCR disposal under RCRA Subtitle D.
• USEPA is under consent decree to take final action by May 22, 2014.
• Phased into NPDES permits between 2017 and 2022.

Bob McIlvaine ended the session with a broader coverage of water and waste issues. The coal-fired power industry around the world is faced with issues involving water withdrawal, contamination of wastewater with heat and pollutants, ash pond safety, scrubber slurry requirements and feedwater purity improvement needs for ultrasupercritical boilers. These issues are of the highest importance because:

• Use of coal is increasing rather than decreasing.
• Fossil-fired power plants withdraw and process more water than all other industries combined.
• There are major opportunities to reduce use and better treat water and wastewater

The most overlooked economic statistic is that new supercritical coal-fired power plants will be the low cost option even if they are operated for only twenty-five years. This means that the staunchest anti-coal environmentalists will not be deterred from their 2050 goals.

Here is the total harm comparison between the present coal-fired fleet with all the proposed new controls and new supercritical coal-fired power plants:

                                Harm in Tons of Equivalent CO₂ for the U.S. Coal Fleet

                                                    Billions of Tons per Year

Replacement of the old coal-fired power plants with new ones would reduce harm by the equivalent of 3.3 billion tons of CO₂ per year. China has built more supercritical power plants in the last five years than would be needed to replace the entire U.S. fleet. These plants have the latest NO_x and SO₂ removal equipment, so it is not just Europe who is showing how the program is possible.

The following steps are needed for success:

• Agreement on a common metric.
• A national plan that takes into account local concerns but is not hostage to them.
• A method for encouraging investment in the new coal-fired power plants.

Dialog between all the different parties can be meaningful when addressing specifics such as the comparison of harm for specific pollutants. So it is possible to achieve some consensus regarding harm values.

A national plan has to balance protection of individuals locally affected with a common interest. But guidelines will have to be set as to what constitutes a legitimate concern. These guidelines will need to be universally applied rather than on a case by case basis. (The common metric for harm can be applied here as well.)

If a plan is implemented that assures investors that regulations for the next twenty-five years will not be drastically changed without compensation, then the funds for a massive replacement of U.S. coal-fired power plants will be readily available. The result will be a reduction in the deficit and a more competitive position in the world market.

The presentation is as follows:

• Upcoming Regulations and Current Trends for Power Plant Waste Streams, Webinar - Hot Topic Hour May 2, 2013
   

• Upcoming Regulations and Current Trends for Power Plant Waste Streams by Dan Deeb and Amy Antoniolli, SchiffHardin - Hot Topic Hour May 2, 2013