Dear Members and Allies of the Citizens Coal Council:
Thanks to your letters and faxes we have won an extension on EPA's
decision-making regarding the regulation of coal combusion waste.
This
means that we have until April 10th to outgun the coal and utility
industries who are presently lobbying EPA and Members of Congress
on the
issue.
The Citizens Coal Council, the Hoosier Environmental Council and
the Clean
Air Task Force are now setting up meetings with the Office of
Management
and Budget and EPA for next week We intend to use the articles
generated
from your work in co-releasing the report "Laid to Waste"
report during
these meetings. The articles --- like the letters and faxes ---
show
decision-makers what we already know: the public wants coal ash
regulated!
As we move closer to April 10th, we will be upping the ante on
our media
work and will share those materials with you as they are finalized.
Anyone
who can pitch in and help increase media coverage should contact
CCC-DC
staffperson Jane Kochersperger at: citzcoal@essential.org or by
phone at
202/544-6210.
In the meantime, we are sharing the most recent alert produced
by the
Hoosier Environmental Council with a sample letter to the President
and
Vice President Al Gore. Please help us keep the pressure building
and fax
in your letters!
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ALERT!!!!!!! EPA BEING PRESSURED NOT TO REGULATE WATER POLLUTION
FROM
POWER PLANT WASTES
EPA is about to make a decision that will have a dramatic impact
on the
environment, the safety of water supplies and efforts to curb
climate
change. Within the next 30 days, EPA will decide if federal regulations
are
needed for the 100 million tons of toxic solid wastes produced
by the
burning of coal each year. These wastes, known as coal power plant
wastes,
include coal ash, acidic cleaning wastes, sludge produced from
"scrubbing"
pollutants from air emissions, coal pile runoff, and other materials.
Wastes produced from materials coburned with the coal such as
mixed
plastics, manufactured gas plant wastes, tire derived fuels, and
petroleum
coke mixtures will also be covered under this determination.
Coal power plant wastes contain concentrated levels of arsenic,
lead,
cadmium, chromium, selenium, sulfates, boron, cancer causing organic
compounds, and other contaminants. Environmental groups have found
63 cases
where power plant wastes are contaminating ground and surface
water beyond
use for drinking or irrigation. Over 38 research studies have
documented
deformities, hormonal problems, genetic damage, and death in plants,
invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and/or mammals from
power plant
wastes.
Despite the evidence of contamination from power plant wastes,
disposal
requirements in most states are more lax than those used for household
garbage. A survey done by the utility industry itself found only
40% of
power plant waste disposal sites are lined. Many states do not
even require
ground water monitoring for lagoons, the most common from of disposal
for
power plant wastes. Coal mining states have begun to dump coal
power plant
wastes into unlined active strip mines in direct contact with
ground water.
Throughout the country, the most basic tenets of safe solid waste
disposal
programs are being ignored for power plant wastes disposal.
A Determination by EPA setting safeguards for disposal of this
waste will
not only protect our water supplies, but also help to stop climate
change.
The large subsidy of dirty waste disposal without safeguards has
kept coal
cheaper than many cleaner forms of energy.
EPA is preparing to require minimum regulations to be met by all
states on
the disposal of these wastes including liners, long term ground
water
monitoring, corrective action standards to trigger clean up if
contamination occurs, and financial responsibility for that clean
up.
However, EPA is facing immense political pressure from federal
agencies
such as the Department of Energy and the Office of Surface Mining,
the coal
and utilities industries and their political allies to let utilities
continue to pollute our water and the environment in the name
of cheap,
dirty power.
EPA wants to do the right thing, but they will need the support
of the
public to do it. Please write the White House to let them know
you are
tired of coal fired utilities profiting from polluting the environment,
and
support EPA placing federal regulations on the disposal of power
plant
wastes. We have enclosed a sample letter, but please write in
your own
words because sample letters are easily dismissed. Send your letter
by fax,
mail, or email to the President and Vice President at:
President William Jefferson Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC 20500
fax: 202-456-2461 email: president@whitehouse.gov
Vice President Al Gore
Same address and fax email: vice.president@whitehouse.gov
Faxes are the most effective.
The Honorable William Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC 20500
Date
Dear President Clinton,
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is preparing to make
a
decision that will have a lasting impact on attempts to curb the
amount of
pollution coming from coal fired power plants. I am referring
to the EPA
Regulatory Determination on Fossil Fuel Combustion Wastes. Each
year, the
burning of coal produces over 100 million tons of solid waste.
Throughout
the country, these wastes are being dumped with little or no care
for the
safety of citizens or the environment.
Despite concentrated levels of heavy metals and other carcinogens,
disposal
standards for coal power plant wastes in most states are less
stringent
than those used for household garbage. These wastes have contaminated
ground and surface waters beyond use at dozens of sites around
the country.
Yet, many states refuse to require the most basic tenets of safe
solid
waste disposal for power plant waste disposal sites such as liners
and
ground water monitoring. Coal mining states have begun the practice
of
dumping these wastes into active strip mines where they are coming
into
direct contact with ground water.
That is why we are asking EPA not to turn its back on this issue
and the
protection of our drinking water as deregulation of utilities
continues.
For years, coal fired utilities have been able to sacrifice the
health of
US citizens and the environment in the name of cheap, dirty power.
You have
said that you don't intend to be a "lame duck" in your
last year in office.
Please show us this is true, and put an end to power plants further
degrading our water quality, our health, and our environment.
Ask EPA to
place federal regulations on the disposal of coal power plant
wastes that
include liners, long term ground water monitoring, and responsibility
by
disposal site operators to clean up any contamination that occurs.
These
requirements are nothing more than the basic building blocks for
any
responsible solid waste disposal program.
Thank you,
Name: Address:
cc: Vice President Al Gore
Hoosier Environmental Council
520 E. 12th St.
Indianapolis, IN 46202
317-685-8800 phone
317-686-4794 fax
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