Coal Ash: A Toxic Cocktail

Clean Water Network
Mother's Day Week E-Bulletin 5/8/12

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Power of Water Updates Follow Below:

Last Call at the Oasis documentary released this past weekend, Bad Coal Ash Bill Alert, EPA Electronic Reporting Rule, Welcome Casey Knecht, Pesticides & more in this Bulletin!

Thank you again to everyone who joined us for America's 1st Annual FLOAT-IN Earth Day! To read more about the Earth Day

event, including the final agenda and writeups on the clean water champion award winners, click HERE. To see a collection of photos click go to our facebook page.

Clean Water Network's POWER OF WATER NEWS ALERTS

New Water Documentary, "Last Call at the Oasis" OPENS

last call at the oasis

A new compelling documentary, detailing the global water crisis, was released this past weekend. Our partners at Participant Media asked CWN to get the word out about this important movie. Watch and share the trailer for @Last Call at the Oasis with your networks at http://on.fb.me/LastCallTrailer

The Fifty Shades of Coal Ash:

Stop the "Freedom to Dump" Coal Ash Alert

As reported in our alert earlier this week, U.S. House lawmakers approved a disastrous "freedom to dump" amendment on April 18th, to the Transportation Bill, that would largely block EPA's authority over coal ash disposal, a by-product of coal fired power plants. The amendment would leave states as the primary regulators, a frightening proposition in some states and their neighbors. The U.S. House Transportation Extension, which would extend funding from the federal Highway Trust Fund through September, is the House's response to a Senate Transportation bill.

The measure, which would essentially prohibit EPA from setting enforceable standards for the safe disposal of toxic coal ash, was approved by a vote of 293-127. The bill now goes to the transportation conference committee, which is expected to meet today May 8, where 14 senators and 33 representatives will negotiate new, "must-pass" transportation legislation.

To read an excellent overview of the attempt on Capitol Hill to deep six federal oversight over coal ash, click on the following link for great write-up in OMB Watch: http://www.ombwatch.org/node/12065/

Background: The EPA is proposing for the first time to regulate coal ash as a hazardous waste. Coal ash includes a broad range of metals, including arsenic, selenium, and cadmium. It often ends up in porous landfills or unlined ponds threatening local water supplies and public health. The agency issued a draft coal ash disposal proposal in May 2010 under RCRA, and is expected to finalize the rule some time later this year. The rule was created in response to a 2008 coal-ash accident in Kingston, Tennessee., that spilled more than 5 million cubic yards of coal

Coal Ash Spill in Tennessee.

ash into the nearby Clinch and Emory Rivers and could require up to $1.2 billion to clean up. The Kingston disaster is the largest toxic spill in U.S. history - 5 times larger than the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. While the Kingston spill was devastating, it is not an isolated incident - since 2002, millions of gallons of spilled or leaking toxic slurry have contaminated streams and groundwater in states across the country. Toxic Coal ash has been linked to 189 cases of water contamination in 35 states.

Despite the toxic nature of coal ash and numerous cases of contamination, there are currently NO federal standards to ensure this industrial waste product is disposed of safely. State laws governing disposal are weak or non-existent. To read more on toxic coal ash and to access Clean Water Network's position statement please click HERE.

Take Action NOW!

CALL YOUR SENATORS AND URGE THEM TO OPPOSE THE "FREEDOM TO DUMP" COAL ASH PROVISION IN THE TRANSPORTATION BILL! If your Senator is on the Conference Committee it is even more imperative for you to call. Check HERE for an article that includes the names of both Senate and House Transportation conference committee members.

Urge your Senators to say NO to any amendments that gut federal coal ash protections. The transportation bill means safe roads and safe communities. Polluting it with "Freedom to dump" amendments that will poison our communities with coal ash, is unfair to millions of Americans living near these coal ash sites. It is bad for our precious water resources and for public health!

Supporting stronger standards for coal ash disposal is the right thing to do!

To locate your Senators' Washington DC and State Contact Office Information click on: www.senate.gov and follow the prompts. You can also call the Capitol Hill Directory and ask to be connected at 202-224-3121.

CALL, WRITE, TWEET AND EMAIL TODAY!

It will only take a few minutes of your time and it will make a difference. Drop us an email to let us know how it went at CWNHeadquarters@cwn.org.

EPA NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule on the Menu!

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing the Clean Water Act (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Electronic Reporting Rule. The proposed rule will substitute electronic reporting for paper-based reports, saving time and resources for permittees and states while improving compliance, transparency, and better protecting the Nation's waters. This bill would go a long way in terms of transparency and more timely information sharing. According to some experts, there is some concern on the part of State governments about the expense of transitioning to an electronic reporting system, but overall this is a win win for the public and in the long run will be beneficial for all stakeholders.

More information on the rule can be found at:

http://exchange.regulations.gov/exchange/topic/npdes

Welcome Casey Knecht!

Casey was born and raised in Southern California. He is a junior at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, majoring in Civil Engineering. He is living in Washington D.C. for the summer while interning with the Clean Water Network. He is very casey interested in the environmental impacts of engineering projects and will be researching various fields including coal ash disposal and hydraulic fracturing. He is excited for this opportunity to learn more about the relationship between engineering, environment, and government.

Pesticides

Last year Clean Water Network sent letters opposing HR 872 a disastrous bill, that if passed in the Senate, would pollute our waters with pesticides, which will have dire consequences for public health and the economy nationwide.The proposed bill which passed the US House of Representatives 292-130, (see CWN's Dirty Water Voting Chart HERE to see how your member of Congress voted) would amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Clean Water Act to exempt discharges of pesticides to waterways from the Clean Water Act's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program.

FIFRA regulates the sale and use of pesticides but does not provide protections tailored to the conditions in specific bodies of water. Relying only on that law would cause a dangerous vacuum in protecting human health and ecosystems. Pesticides discharged into our waterways harm aquatic life and contaminate drinking water supplies. The legislation seeks to undo an important 2009 federal appeals court ruling in National Cotton Council v. U.S. EPA, that found EPA's pesticide permitting under FIFRA insufficiently regulates pesticide users who discharge into waterways. The court ordered EPA to begin issuing permits under the water pollution law by 4-9.

Because of this court decision, EPA has moved forward with a NPDES general permit for pesticides.

There is now movement on the part of industry groups to add the same language from HR 872 to the 2012 Farm Bill. According to recent press reports, Senator Ben Cardin (MD), chairman of the Senate environment committee's clean water subcommittee, says that he and environment committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) would raise jurisdictional challenges to the Farm Bill if the agriculture panel kills EPA's pesticide spray permit in the version of the bill it is slated to begin marking up April 25. We will keep you updated on all new developments.

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