CALL TODAY – November 9, 2011
Our last hope for EPA to protect us from coal ash pollution lies in our U.S. Senators hands.
Coal ash is contaminating our groundwater because it is not disposed of safely. In fact, Illinois has more cases of contaminated groundwater from coal ash than any other state.
Call Senators Durbin and Kirk and tell them to vote NO on S. 1751!
Senator Richard J. Durbin 202/224-2152
Senator Mark Kirk 202/224-2854
Talking points include:
- S.1751 endangers the health and safety of thousands of communities: it will prevent the EPA from ever revisiting a federal coal ash rule even if it is found that coal ash dumps pose an even greater threat.
- S.1751 is a dangerous bill: it would allow the construction of coal ash dumps that don’t meet drinking water standards for arsenic, lead and other pollutants.
- S.1751 will cost American jobs: A recent study by a Tufts University senior economist found that strong coal ash regulations, such as the one proposed by the EPA in 2010, would generate 28,000 jobs annually.
- S.1751 will hurt recycling: once coal ash is dumped into water, which this bill would allow by permitting the construction of new coal ash ponds, it cannot be recycled.
- S.1751 fails to address the current threat: this bill will not phase out dangerous ash ponds or prevent another tragedy like the coal ash spill in Tennessee in 2008.
- Coal ash is hazardous to our health: the cancer risk from drinking water contaminated by arsenic near some coal ash ponds is 1 in 50, which is 2,000 times greater than the EPA’s acceptable risk level
- Coal ash is a national problem: it is the second largest industrial waste stream in the U.S.
You can find more information about S.1751 here
You can read more about Prairie Rivers Network’s work on coal ash here.
