ELR Citation: 54 ELR 20007
No(s). 1:22-00382-KD-B (S.D. Ala. Jan 4, 2024) (DuBose, J.)

A district court dismissed a RCRA citizen suit over a closure plan for a coal-fired power plant in Alabama. An environmental group challenged the plan, arguing it was unlawful to permanently store over 21 million tons of coal ash and toxic pollutants in the existing unlined impoundment, situated in wetlands adjacent to the Mobile River. The plant owner moved to dismiss for lack of standing and ripeness. The court found the coal ash pollution about which the group complained—ongoing leaching of coal ash from the plant into the Mobile River—existed before the plant began closure and thus was not fairly traceable to implementation of the closure plan. Further, the plan being challenged was not final and not ripe for review. The court dismissed the suit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.