Below we have provided a few talking points and sample letters to the editor. We have also provided a list of coal ash storage sites. Please pick one or two talking points for your letters and include the nearest coal ash storage site, if applicable. Feel free to take ownership of the LTE’s by adding any concerns in your region or locale of which we might be unaware and send LTE’s to newspapers we did not include.

(Click here here for an Excel spreadsheet of local newspapers and LTE contact information.)

LTE TITLE: EPA Must Classify Coal Ash
as “Hazardous” – High Hazard Sites

Sample Letter #1 – LOCAL

To the Editor,

Burning coal for electricity generates nearly one hundred and thirty million tons of toxic ash each year. Coal ash is full of harmful toxins like arsenic, lead and mercury. People living near the coal ash sites have a staggering 1 in 50 risk of cancer. And yet there is little regulation of coal ash storage sites. This is scary news, considering there is a coal ash storage site here in TOWN.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing a new rule to ensure the safe disposal of coal ash. As expected, the coal industry is fighting to maintain the status quo on coal ash, backing a proposal that ensures coal ash is treated less responsibly than household trash.

One thing is clear—coal must be cleaned up and the industry will not clean itself. We need strong regulations to hold coal accountable and speed the transition to a clean energy economy. And residents here in TOWN and across the U.S. want the coal industry to clean up and not expose them to health hazards like air pollution and coal ash.

Sincerely,

Your Name and Address

Sample Letter #2- GENERAL

To the Editor,

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing a new rule to ensure the safe disposal of coal ash – the byproduct of burning coal for power. As expected, the coal industry is fighting to maintain the status quo on coal ash, backing a proposal that limits opportunities for public input and ensures coal ash is treated less responsibly than household trash.

The nearly 130 million tons of coal ash generated each year is full of harmful toxins like arsenic, lead and mercury. People living near the coal ash sites have a staggering 1 in 50 risk of cancer. Both the EPA and the National Academy of Sciences have years of research making it clear that coal ash is becoming increasingly toxic and confirming time and again that coal ash poses a threat to human health.

EPA must treat coal waste as a hazardous substance and ensure that residents of communities impacted by coal ash disposal can provide input on how the coal ash should be handled.

One thing is clear— we need strong regulations to hold coal accountable and speed the transition to a clean energy economy. Residents across the U.S. want the coal industry to clean up and not expose them to health hazards like air pollution and coal ash.

Sincerely,

Your Name and Address

 Sample Letter #3 -GENERAL

Dear Editor,

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson has promised that her agency would publish long overdue regulations for toxic coal ash disposal. For 30 years industry lobbying has delayed common sense minimum federal regulations with the promise that states would regulate coal ash. Now there are nearly 600 active coal ash sites across the country mostly with unprotected ponds and landfills. A recent study reveals that residents living near these landfill sites have as much as a 1 in 50 chance of contracting cancer.

A recent study by several research scientists reveals an imminent threat to our commercial and recreational fishing industries. Dr. Dennis Lemly and associates conclude that coal ash “…is a deadly poison to fish and wildlife, and a threat to human health…”

The fishing industry can ill-afford more stress on the impact of toxic pollution on aquatic life. Residents living near leaking coal ash ponds and landfills shouldn’t live in fear of a dam breaking or their water poisoned.

After 30 years of broken promises, it is clear that states are not protecting us, our children and the environment from coal ash poisoning in our water. Regulating toxic coal ash with common sense minimum federal standards is badly needed. The EPA, the White House and Congress must do the right thing and quit bowing to industry pressure. Regulate coal ash as the hazardous waste we (and they) all know it is, and make public health a priority not a luxury.

Sincerely,

Your Name and Address

OTHER TALKING POINTS:

  • CCW’s and CCB’s are the 2nd largest waste stream, behind household garbage, in the United States with 129 million tons produced each year. Amazingly, Illinois, like most states, have stronger regulations for household garbage than for toxic coal ash.
  • Landmark scientific studies have exposed real and significant threats to the commercial and recreational fishing industries because of selenium poisoning from toxic coal ash. “Eye-popping” risks to aquatic ecosystems from EPA data predict boron concentrations up to 2,000 times the safe level, and selenium levels 10 times higher than considered safe to aquatic life.
  • All outdoor enthusiasts owe it to themselves to review the studies by Dr. Dennis Lemly and his associates concerning the impact selenium has on aquatic life.
  • Health threats from coal ash could linger for 100 years: EPA warns that peak pollution from ash ponds can occur long after the waste is placed and is likely to result in peak exposures 78 to 105 years after the ponds first begin operation.
  • IL ranks 8th in the country for coal ash generation.
  • Illinois has 2 ash ponds that the USEPA have determined to be “high hazard” meaning there is potential for a disaster similar to that of the TVA Kingston spill in December 2008.
  • According to the U.S. EPA damage case assessment (July 9, 2007), potential damage cases in Illinois include:
    • Commonwealth Edison Powerton Plant – Mahoney Landfill, Tazewell County
    • Ameren Duck Creek Station, Fulton County
    • Dynegy Hennepin Power Station, Putnam County
    • Dynegy Havana Power Plant, Mason County
    • Dynegy Vermillion Power Station, Vermillion County
    • Ameren Hutsonville Power Station, Crawford County
    • Dynegy Wood River Power Station, Madison County
    • Ameren Coffeen/ White & Brewer Trucking Fly Ash Landfill, Montgomery County