TAKE ACTION: It’s time for power plants to finally clean up their toxic waste

 

The Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule strengthens coal ash regulations to force power plants to finally clean up their toxic waste. TAKE ACTION   When coal is burned to produce electricity, a toxic waste known as coal ash is left behind. Filled with hazardous metals and toxic pollutants such as arsenic, lithium, lead, and other carcinogens and neurotoxins, coal ash poisons our water, sickens our bodies, and kills fish and wildlife. Often, coal ash was placed in unlined pits or “ponds,” which may contain tens of millions of tons of dangerous waste. These pits leak toxic waste into underlying groundwater and nearby surface waters. For too long, coal plant operators have managed to evade clean-up responsibilities at many power plant sites. Now after years of litigation and grassroots activism, the Environmental Protection Agency has finally closed a loophole that left half of toxic coal ash exempt from federal oversight. These new federal coal ash safeguards are a big win for communities near coal plants, who for decades have been living near dump sites that leak dangerous levels of toxic pollutants, putting their drinking water at great risk. The majority of coal ash dumps are located in low-income communities and communities of color. The EPA designated coal ash a national enforcement priority and has ramped up enforcement actions, acknowledging that there is widespread noncompliance with existing coal ash regulations. The longer industry delays, the more toxic waste enters our water, and the more difficult cleanup becomes. We must keep up the momentum and urge the EPA to move swiftly to enforce its rule and identify and hold power plants accountable that have evaded and delayed the cleanup of toxic coal ash. The EPA must finalize a federal permitting program for coal ash dumps to ensure proper oversight of clean-up. The companies that profited from burning coal for decades must not be allowed to walk away from hundreds of coal ash dumps leaking toxic waste into drinking water sources and our lakes, rivers, and streams. TAKE ACTION     . Sincerely, Lisa Evans Senior Counsel Clean Energy Program

DONATE NOW   Earthjustice, 50 California Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94111 About Us   This email was delivered to you by Earthjustice. Photo Credits: The aftermath of a devastating coal ash spill at the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant near Kingston, Tenn., on Dec. 22, 2008. (Tennessee Valley Authority)

TOP NEWS: State Spying Poses 'Roadblock' for Interstate Seekers of Abortion, Transgender Care

 

July 18, 2023 Top News State Spying Poses 'Roadblock' for Interstate Seekers of Abortion, Transgender Care: Report "Digital surveillance data makes profiling easy and suggests that travel data will be weaponized to identify new targets for healthcare prosecutions and investigations." Brett Wilkins Migration Bill Passed by UK Violates International Human Rights Law: UN Experts "This bill sets a worrying precedent for dismantling asylum-related obligations that other countries, including in Europe, may be tempted to follow," said the U.N. human rights chief. Kenny Stancil ACLU Urges Court to Save Children From Deadly Heat at Louisiana's Angola Prison "It has been dangerously hot in Angola so far this summer," said one medical expert. "Confining children for all or most of the day to concrete and cement buildings without air conditioning is foolhardy and perilous." Brett Wilkins Climate Advocates Blast GOP Funding Bill as "A 'How-To' Manual for Destroying the Planet"​ "While Americans take refuge from record-setting extreme heat and suffer from wildfire smoke, the House majority proposes slashing environmental funding to the lowest level in 30 years." Jake Johnson Biden Urged to Stop 'Monstrous' Texas Policy of Pushing Migrant Children Back Into Rio Grande "Where is the federal response to Greg Abbott's illegal games?" asked one observer. Kenny Stancil   'Justice May Finally Be Coming': Trump Says He's a Target in Jan. 6 Probe "Donald Trump tried to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power and keep control of the government despite losing an election," said one ethics expert. "There may be no more serious offense in a republic." Jessica Corbett

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