URGENT! Your Help is Still Needed to Protect Our Water from Hazardous Coal Waste

1) Please Phone Your U.S. Representative’s Office ASAP!

Many elected officials are bowing to industry pressure. Read more here and here. Don’t let the coal industry be the only voices heard. More than ever, out elected officials need to hear from their citizens that you value clean water and want it to be protected for future generations from hazardous coal waste.

Step 1: Find your district here.

Step 2: Find your district congressional representative contact information here.

Step 3: Call your representative, give your name and say…

I want coal ash regulated as hazardous waste, and I ask Representative __________ to do everything possible to see that coal ash waste gets strong environmental regulations that will protect our air and water for future generations.

Coal ash impoundments are current and long-term threats for groundwater pollution and to the health and safety of our citizens. It is well documented that coal ash has toxic heavy metals, which are particularly of concern for children’s health.

Power plants that use coal must be required to meet strong regulations in putting coal ash in the ground and in impoundments. Currently, utility companies are using unlined landfills or impoundments that do not have any liners. They do not conduct enough water monitoring to ensure nearby streams and drinking water wells are safe from coal waste harm.

I ask Representative __________________ to protect public health and safety and put his/her voters and citizens first, and not to bow to industry pressures.

 2) Ask the Office of Management and Budget to Protect Communities from Toxic Coal Ash!

Last week we told you how the coal industry is putting intense pressure on the White House to stop or weaken a proposed EPA rule that would protect communities from toxic coal ash. Thanks to people like you, we demonstrated that there is strong public support for the EPA’s proposal by sending over 45,000 messages to the White House and Congress!

 Now we need your help to make sure the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) hears our message — send a personal letter to the OMB today.

Take action here.

You can read more about coal issues here.

Please check out the new book by award-winning journalist and cultural historian Jeff Biggers, Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland (Nation/Basic Books).

“A devastating critique of the myth of ‘clean coal’ ” — Publishers Weekly

“This is a world-shaking, belief-rattling, immensely important book. If you’re an American, it is almost a patriotic duty to read it.” — Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love {Continue Reading »}

Action Alert! Calls and Letters Still Needed

Coal Ash is “HAZARDOUS”

Coal ash floating down river after a Tennessee coal ash slurry disaster, Dec 22, 2008. Photo Credit: Brian Stansberry from Wikimedia Commons.

The time has come for citizens throughout the country to make the Obama Administration hear our concerns on coal ash.  Let’s join together and send a strong, coordinated message to Washington that coal ash needs to be regulated immediately! We must convince the White House that the EPA must publish their recommended standards based on science, not industry lobby pressure.

You Can Help By:

• Participating in the Call-in Day of Action on January 28th. We must generate thousands of emails and phone calls to the White House, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the US EPA and Congressional Offices telling them coal ash is hazardous and federal regulations are needed immediately. There is no more time for delay!
  • White House switchboard (202)456-1414
  • USEPA Administrator Lisa Jackson (202) 564-4700; jackson.lisap@epa.gov
• Writing Letters to the Editor (LTE’s) to generate a buzz about the coal ash issue and the Day of Action. The goal is to convince the White House that we, the public, want and deserve to comment on common sense minimum federal standards for disposal of Coal Ash to protect our surface and ground water. Keep reading for talking points and sample LTE’s. Click here for talking points and sample Letters to the Editor
• Let us know when you call, write or get an LTE in the paper (info@prairierivers.org). It is important for us to let elected officials know how many of their constituents want to see their communities protected with the proper management of coal ash.

5 Reasons Your Call Is Critical Right NOW

5 Reasons Your Call Is Critical Right NOW

TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill, appx. 1 mile from the retention pond. The pile of coal ash is 20-25 feet high, and stretches for two miles and then empties into the Emory River. Photo Credit: Brian Stansberry from Wikimedia Commons.

1. Coal-fired power producers, US Senators and Congressman, Governors, and federal and state agencies are pressuring the White House and OMB to derail the US EPA’s attempts to reportedly establish national disposal standards to protect water supplies and communities from toxic coal combustion wastes, or coal ash.
2. Polluters have already met with OMB and other White House officials at least 21 times in advance of the US EPA’s proposed coal ash rules! Polluters are trying to prevent the public from having a chance to see and comment on the proposed rules.
3. The time has come to tell the Obama administration the public should be allowed to see and comment on these rules! They need to know we want and support hazardous waste rules that protect our health and environment from coal ash.
4. We want President Obama to uphold his promise of allowing science to dictate policy: federal agencies must allow the US EPA to do its job to protect our water from the irresponsible dumping of coal ash – dumping that has been allowed by states for decades.
5. Whether it’s a public health threat, an environmental justice issue, a threat to species or public safety, coal ash is bad news for millions of Americans. Tell the White House and EPA how coal ash is a threat in your region and your neighborhood.

For more information, please contact Traci Barkley, Water Resources Scientist for Prairie Rivers Network at tbarkley@prairierivers.org or 217/344-2371.

Coal ash is the waste left over from the burning of coal and oil to make electricity. Coal ash contains concentrated levels of contaminants like arsenic, mercury, selenium, chromium and cadmium that can damage the nervous systems and other organs, especially in children. Proper management of coal waste is critical in protecting public drinking water supplies and the health of our natural environment. Recent USEPA reports indicate that coal waste leaches hazardous pollution in much greater quantities than had been recognized previously.  Illinois currently ranks 8th in the country for generation of this harmful coal ash.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is about to issue an important decision about how it will regulate a highly toxic biproduct of coal mining: coal ash. The USEPA is under extreme pressure from the coal industry to choose a weak classification for coal ash. Prairie Rivers Network and our allies want to see coal ash classified and regulated as a “hazardous” substance.

We need your help to counteract the well-funded influence of the coal industry! If there was ever a time that our calls and emails could make a difference, the time is now. We specifically have to target Lisa Jackson, Administrator of the EPA.

The hazardous classification would apply stricter standards to the regulation of coal ash impoundments and landfills. A “hazardous” substance designation would require safety features to protect human and environmental health. The coal industry wants to see a weaker classification that would allow dangerous loopholes and continuing pollution.

This is important.
You can make a real difference and it only takes a few minutes.

Please call or email and simply say: “I support classification of coal ash as a hazardous waste.”

(202) 564-4700 – Lisa Jackson’s Office – jackson.lisap@epa.gov

The next 10 days are critical.
Please CALL BEFORE JANUARY 22nd, 2010.

If you have time, we would like to know that you called – you can let us know with a brief message to info@prairierivers.org. Thank you for your help.