TennesseeCitizenScienceWatch

Coal ash taints groundwater at TVA sites, report finds | The Tennessean

A new report says groundwater contamination from coal ash has been found at Gallatin and eight of the nine other Tennessee Valley Authority fossil power plant sites where testing is being done.

Levels of toxic substances found at the Gallatin plant site in Sumner County and at the Cumberland site, 50 miles northwest of Nashville, are high enough that they could create a health hazard, the report says. Beryllium, cadmium and nickel levels are above drinking water standards at Gallatin, as are arsenic, selenium and vanadium at Cumberland.

One major surprise also showed up in the review by TVA’s Office of Inspector General: For more than a decade, the TVA had been finding substances in groundwater at its Allen coal-fired plant in Memphis that indicated toxic metals could be leaking from a coal ash pond there.

via www.tennessean.com

Action Alert: HR 1391 would kill meaningful protection of communities from coal ash

A couple of days ago I posted a link on Rep. David McKinley's bad ash bill that would permanently prohibit the EPA from regulating coal and other fossil fuel combustion wastes under subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

A number of organizations have released action alerts to ask citizens to let their  Representative in Washington know that this is not an acceptable outcome for handling toxic coal ash.

The bill -- HR 1391 -- is scheduled for markup at 4pm tomorrow in the House Environment and the Economy subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and could be voted on in committee in a day or two.

If your Representative is a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee or the Environment and Economy subcommittee, it would be especially appreciated if you would get in touch with them to register your opinion on this issue.

If you live in the 7th District of Tennessee, your Representive is Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who is a member of the Committee.

It is especially important to contact your representative if you live near a coal-burning power plant or a landfill that accepts coal combustion waste. The strongest protection for people and communities near ash ponds and landfills would be for coal combustion wastes to be regulated under Subtitle C!

You can find more information on coal combustion waste disposal and the proposed rule at EPA's Coal Combustion Residuals page.

McKinley sells out West Virginians (and all of us) with sponsorship of coal ash bill

More than two years ago, millions of gallons of toxic coal ash sludge broke through a waste pond at the Kingston Fossil plant and created a waking nightmare for citizens in Roane County, Tennessee. Those citizens -- many of them now suffering health consequences related to the ash -- still wait for strong regulations that could prevent a similar disaster for other communities near ash ponds.

In the aftermath of the Kingston event, many in the US Congress seemed to be interested in moving forward on tighter regulation of coal ash. The EPA finally came out with a proposed coal ash rule, and citizens from all over the country testified at official (and unofficial) hearings to express their concerns. But in April this year, Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) introduced H.R 1391, a bill to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating fossil fuel combustion waste under subtitle C of the Solid Waste Disposal Act.

Yesterday's Tr-Ash Talk Bog at Earthjustice explored Rep. McKinley's possible motivation for a bill that clearly works against public health and safety, and the disappointment of Curt Havens, a West Virginia citizen who says McKinley promised to protect communities from another Kingston-style coal ash disaster:

Some of our elected leaders are once more maneuvering to block much-needed health protections against coal ash. Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) has sponsored a bill that would broadly remove federal authority for any regulation of coal ash ever. This bill, if enacted, also would conveniently protect his business interests. In April, Politico exposed Rep. McKinley’s business interest in ensuring that coal ash is not regulated. Rep McKinley owns the largest engineering firm in West Virginia and his company uses coal ash in concrete, as fill for roads and other uses.

Rep. McKinley also represents a district that has the largest coal ash pond in the nation, and his bill goes against what he promised West Virginian Curt Havens, veteran and constituent.  Havens was at the Energy and Commerce hearing in April, when Rep. McKinley said, about prior coal ash threats, "I want to make sure that never happens again to another family in America." (Those comments start at minute marker 2:26:26.) Again, business interests are coming before the interest of protecting public health.

via earthjustice.org

We, the people, need to keep pressure on our representatives to keep bad legislation from suppressing the protection that stronger regulation under Subtitle C would give us. HR 1391 will be be marked up in the Environment and Economy subcommittee of Energy and Commerce Committee next Thursday, June 21. Please contact subcommittee committee members and let them know what you think.