CLEAN Action Alert -- Urgent Coal Ash Action Needed!

Monday, 28 June 2010 :01 PM

Dear CLEAN Activist,

We need your help. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering rules that would finally set federal standards for the toxic ash that comes from burning coal. It contains concentrated amounts of many toxic heavy metals that threaten our health and environment. Coal-fired power plants in the United States produce about 130 million tons of coal ash per year. Up until now, coal ash has been entirely unregulated by the EPA, and lax state laws have resulted in this toxic waste leaching into our groundwater from unlined landfills, blowing in the wind from dry ash dumps, and being used as fill material on construction sites and even as fertilizer!

 

The EPA has established a public comment period so we have the opportunity to weigh in and get a federal ruling that is in the public interest.

You can rest assured that the coal industry will be commenting in support of the proposal that is weakest for the environment and strongest for their own interests.  The way to get past their comments is to overwhelm the EPA with comments that stand up for the environment and our health!

A sample comment is below. If you have had experience living near a coal plant or with coal ash in your neighborhood we strongly encourage to begin your comment with a personal story.

Here are the two options in the EPA proposal:

Option C (Under Subtitle C of RCRA) would impose federal standards for regulating coal ash as a "special waste" - requiring permitting, monitoring, standards for transport, phasing out wet ponds, etc. -  while still allowing for beneficial reuse.  We support Option C but ask that option C be amended to include cessation of the use of coal ash until a government study has proven that the uses are not harmful in the immediate or long term  to public health and safety.

Option D (under Subtitle D of RCRA) proposes essentially the same regulations for coal as Option C, except they're just "guidelines" - not rules - and states are left to do what they will. This is just more business as usual and offers no certainty that anything will be done. States have been allowing power plants to do what they want with coal ash for years, why would they change that now?

Clearly, we need option C to protect our health and environment.

TAKE ACTION! TELL THE EPA WE NEED OPTION C:

The EPA is accepting public comments RIGHT NOW on this critical issue. Your voice is crucial to getting a rule that finally protects our health and environment from the toxic waste of coal ash. Here’s how to comment.

Send an email to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with the subject line "EPA-HQ-RCRA-2009-0640." This is the docket number for the coal ash rule. A sample comment is below, but we strongly encourage you to personalize it with your own story.

You can also comment online at http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#submitComment?R=0900006480b06eac.

SAMPLE COMMENT.

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Dear Administrator Jackson,

Thank you for taking action on toxic coal ash! I support Option C, because it  would finally establish federal standards to protect our environment and our health from coal ash but I strongly urge that the EPA rule that companies cease using coal ash until a government study has proven that its uses are not harmful to public health and safety in immediate or long term use.  This option is far better than Option D, which would allow states to continue their lax oversight of coal ash disposal. For too long, unmonitored and unlined disposal sites have poisoned our water, our air, and our bodies.

Coal ash is hazardous, there is no way around it. It contains toxic heavy metals like mercury, lead, arsenic and others that cause a whole host of health problems. It’s time to regulate coal ash as the hazardous waste it is. This is why we need option C. I urge you to stand up to the special interests of the coal and utility industries and protect our health and our environment.

 

Thank you for your time.

 

Sincerely,

(your name here)

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Thanks for taking action!

Sincerely,

Pam Solo