Coal Ash
Send a letter to the EPA asking them to designate coal ash as a hazardous waste.
The Hoosier Environmental Council video highlights the need for the EPA to step in and take control:
This video from the Sierra Club shows the dangers of coal ash in communities.
Take Action
Send your Comments
E-mail your comments to rcra-docket@epa.gov.
Visit http://www.regulations.gov and type the docket number: EPA-HQ-RCRA-2009-0640-0352 into the search field. You will have access to view all submitted public comments. Submit your comments by clicking on “Submit a Comment” across from the rule titled “Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System: Identification and Listing of Special Wastes; Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities.”
The US EPA has proposed a rule to regulate coal combustion waste. The agency has proposed two options and wants the public to weigh in. One option, Subtitle C, would protect public health by designating coal ash waste as a hazardous waste.
The other option, Subtitle D, would allow states to continue regulation of coal ash. In Indiana, regulation has been virtually non-existent. This has resulted in several sites with contaminated drinking water and various illnesses.
Please add your comments before the end of the comment period on November 19, 2010, and tell the US EPA that you support strong public health safeguards under Subtitle C.
The U.S. EPA is hosting several regional public hearings to get input from citizens on the proposed rule.
HEC’s Kelly Kuhn went to the EPA hearings in Chicago and Louisville. Here’s a look at her experience.
Resources
Read the 7 coal ash myths and learn the truth about coal ash in this fact sheet from Environmental Integrity Project, Sierra Club, and Earthjustice.
Learn more in this recorded audio press conference EIP, Earthjustice and the Sierra Club
View a comparison chart on the benefits and limitations of each rule option (Subtitle C and Subtitle D). Several national groups are working on this toxic issue.
Read HEC’s policy brief on coal ash and the lack of public health safeguards in Indiana. This Coal Ash Disposal in Ponds paper can help you gather good points to include in your comments to the EPA.
The Town of Pines, Indiana, is a tragic example of the toxicity of coal ash and improper disposal. In 2002, the Town of Pines was declared a federal Superfund site, due to contaminated groundwater from coal ash in a nearby unlined landfill and the use of coal ash to build roads and as fill around the town. Read “Not in My Lifetime: The Fight for Clean Water in the Town of Pines, Indiana.”
Rolling Stone article on Coal’s Toxic Sludge
HEC chronology paper- Coming Soon
