Abstract |
This report summarizes the information collected and analyzed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review discharges from the steam electric power generating industry and to determine whether the current effluent guidelines for this industry should be revised. EPAs detailed study of wastewater discharges and treatment technologies associated with this industry evaluated a range of waste streams and processes. However, the study ultimately focused largely on discharges associated with coal ash handling operations and wastewater from flue gas desulfurization (FGD) air pollution control systems because these sources comprise a significant fraction of the pollutants discharged by steam electric power plants. In this report, EPA provides an overview of the steam electric power generating industry and its wastewater discharges, and the data collection activities and analyses conducted over the course of EPAs detailed study. |