BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Maryland’s struggle to regulate coal fly ash from polluting the water is part of a burgeoning national effort to bring the potentially harmful waste under control.

“We’re seeing reports and investigations popping up in several states,” said Lisa Evans, a lawyer with the environmental watchdog group Earthjustice. “The more communities look, the more they’re going to find.”

The Maryland Department of the Environment recently issued revisions to its fly-ash policies after private wells around a fly-ash dump site in Gambrills were found to be contaminated with cancer-causing materials.

In Iowa, environmentalists are pushing for regulations in fly-ash dump sites that are unlined and at risk of polluting drinking water, according to a study by watchdog group Plains Justice.

“In more rural states like Iowa, the colonial mentality exists that if a business wants to come in and pollute our rivers, we should just be grateful they’re here,” said Carrie La Seur, founder of Plains Justice and co-author of the study.

Earthjustice recently concluded a study showing contaminated water was found near 10 of 15 mines in Pennsylvania where fly ash was dumped.

The group wants Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection to hold power companies more responsible for contamination and require better monitoring.

The blame for rising contamination cases is pointed at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which does not classify fly ash a hazardous material needing ultra-strict regulations.

MDE officials have said the EPA’s regulations are inadequate and prompted revision of the state’s laws.

“The EPA has known about this danger for decades and has made a conscious decision not to regulate waste,” Evans said. “We’re glad to see Maryland step up to the plate, while other states are waiting for the feds to do something.”

With the health concerns from fly ash contamination becoming more alarming, officials want either the state or federal government to do more.

“We’re always looking at the disaster afterwards,” said Brenda Afzal, project manager of the School of Nursing’s Environmental Health and Education Center at the University of Maryland. “We’ve got to get to the point when we ask ourselves, what are we doing, and how do we prevent that?”

jflanagan@baltimoreexaminer.com