Senate Bill 89 (SB 89) is not an issue of pro-coal industry or anti-coal industry, just as it is not pro-landfill or anti-landfill, or their like. This is a pro-environment or anti-environment bill, which in simpler terms, can be justly considered pro-Kentucky or anti-Kentucky.

SB 89 proposes to redefine the waters of the Commonwealth, stripping protections from non-navigable waterways—streams, creeks, groundwater reserves, and ponds. It systematically removes oversight on industrial discharge, weakening pollution controls for power plants, landfills, and large agricultural operations. The bill directly undermines decades of water stewardship and opens the floodgates—both figuratively and literally—to unchecked contamination of Kentucky’s most precious resource.

As a geotechnical and environmental engineer, I have worked alongside power generation companies that rely on coal. I understand the industry, the livelihoods it supports, and the necessity of energy diversity—coal, natural gas, solar, and beyond. But let me be clear: opposing SB 89 is not opposing the coal industry. Rather, it is a call for responsible industry.

Power plants and industrial facilities must monitor their water discharge not as a burden, but as a necessity. Water quality oversight is not a threat to jobs; in fact, it sustains them. These companies operate with vast profit margins—monitoring their emissions does not cripple their bottom line, nor does it put coal miners out of work. Instead, it ensures that the same water sources those workers and their families rely on remain clean and safe.

Let us assume SB 89 is passed and power generation companies, landfills, and other industrial companies save millions by eliminating spending on water quality treatment and monitoring. Do you think these companies will pass those savings on to consumers by lowering electricity rates, or other rates for service?

I didn’t think so. And neither should you.

Kentuckians are a stubborn people. The Kentucky Steward itself is stubborn as a mule. But surely we are not that naive.

And let’s say they did lower rates by cutting costs for water quality monitoring. Would you take that extra $10 bill a month in your pocket if it meant your local pond, the creek where your kids catch fish or frogs, or the well that supplies your farm could be contaminated with toxic runoff? Is that blood money worth it?

Private industrial companies possess no moral compass in this regard. They have only two goals: 1) make money, and 2) provide power (or other services) to consumers. By passing SB 89, they maintain #2, and have even greater success with #1.

Meanwhile, the goals of everyday Kentuckians—to enjoy clean water, to preserve the land for ourselves and the generations that follow, to ensure safe drinking water for livestock and communities—become forfeit.

The Hidden Costs of Deregulation

Kentucky’s geology makes its groundwater and surface water highly susceptible to contamination. Much of our state sits atop karst terrain, characterized by limestone bedrock riddled with underground streams and caves. Contaminants do not simply settle in one place—they move rapidly through the groundwater system via preferential flow paths, making pollution nearly impossible to contain once introduced.

By stripping protections from non-navigable waters, SB 89 invites the following threats:

• Coal Combustion Byproducts: Arsenic, selenium, and mercury, commonly found in coal ash waste, are linked to neurological disorders, developmental delays in children, and increased cancer risks.

• Biosolid Land Application: Many industrial and municipal waste products contain PFAS (“forever chemicals”), which bioaccumulate in fish, livestock, and humans, leading to hormone disruption, immune suppression, and kidney disease.

• Agricultural Runoff: Without water quality enforcement, nutrient pollution from large farms can lead to eutrophication and harmful algal blooms in lakes and reservoirs, producing toxins that cause liver failure and neurological damage in both humans and animals.

• Mining and Quarrying Operations: Sediment-laden runoff and acid mine drainage introduce heavy metals such as lead and arsenic into groundwater and surface water systems, particularly in Kentucky’s karst landscape where pollutants infiltrate aquifers at alarming rates.

• Oil and Gas Production (Fracking and Pipelines): Brine wastewater, hydrocarbons, and fracking chemicals pose severe risks if discharged unchecked into small streams or if they infiltrate groundwater reserves.

• Chemical Manufacturing Plants: Discharges of nitrates, phosphates, and hazardous organic compounds into small waterways can result in persistent, bioaccumulative contaminants.

• Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs): Manure lagoons, if unregulated, can leach bacteria (E. coli), nitrogen, phosphorus, and antibiotics into Kentucky’s already sensitive groundwater system.

• Paper and Pulp Mills: Discharges from these facilities often include dioxins and chlorine-based compounds, which are known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors.

• Metal Processing and Fabrication Plants: Heavy metal runoff from aluminum and steel mills can bioaccumulate in fish and contaminate drinking water supplies.

• Rail Yards and Truck Depots: Diesel spills, brake dust, and chemical runoff from logistics hubs are direct threats to small creeks and groundwater.

• Textile and Dyeing Facilities: Synthetic dyes, formaldehyde, and other toxic compounds can persist for years, impacting aquatic life and human health.

• Concrete and Asphalt Plants: These operations often release highly alkaline wastewater and fine particulates that degrade water quality.

• Auto Salvage Yards and Recycling Centers: Petroleum hydrocarbons, battery acid, and heavy metals leach into stormwater runoff, contaminating streams and drinking water sources.

And You, Senators?

And you, Scott Madon (R)—surely you understand the ramifications of SB 89 on the very communities you once supported through the Cumberland Valley Area Development District? Imagine a developing region trying to grow its economy while dealing with polluted water sources.

And you, Brandon Smith (R) —how will you explain to the Boy Scouts you mentor when their favorite camping streams run black with sludge? Will their survival skills include learning how to purify corporate negligence?

Donald Douglas (R), as a medical school graduate, surely you recognize the health crises that will come from groundwater contaminated with PFAS, heavy metals, and coal ash leachate? Or will you simply prescribe Kentuckians bottled water as a solution?

Greg Elkins (R), will the Clark County Fish and Game Club shift its focus from reeling in fish to scooping up the dead ones floating belly-up in murky waters?

Robin Webb (D), as someone affiliated with the National Wild Turkey Federation, Ducks Unlimited, and livestock instruction, will you pretend that wild game and farm animals alike don’t suffer from toxic drinking sources?

And Lindsey Tichenor (R)—of all the ironies—you stand with “Water Step & Life in Abundance Ministries,” an organization that fights for clean water access and “empowers people and communities to solve their own water and sanitation needs” especially for “communities responding to natural and manmade disasters.”

Man-made disasters, you don’t say?

Yet here you are, pushing a bill that makes water quality worse for your own constituents. What would Water Step say if they knew you were undermining the very cause they champion?

Senators, either I do not believe you truly wish this bill to pass or it is clear you know not fully what you have set in motion. Regardless, what say you to your constituents?

What Say You, Kentucky?

The Kentucky Steward LLC represents a voice for the land and people of this great state. It stands not against industry, but against negligence and unethical land stewardship. It stands for the farmer who depends on a clean well, the angler who deserves an untainted catch, and the child who should never have to fear the water they play in.

An official ruling on SB 89 will take place on February 14, 2025 at 10:30 am EST.

If passed, this date will go down as a day of Kentucky environmental and cultural infamy.

Share this message. Contact your representatives.