Dear Friend,

Data provided by the coal industry show that 91% of coal plants across the country are currently contaminating groundwater at unsafe levels for drinking.

In the U.S. alone, coal-fired power plants generate 70 million tons of coal ash every year. This ash contaminates water supplies with carcinogens and neurotoxins, harms wildlife, and disproportionately affects low-income communities and communities of color.

Earthjustice sued to stop this deadly pollution. After more than a decade of litigation, we achieved a major victory that will force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate hundreds of previously unregulated toxic coal ash dumps. Our victory made significant progress in requiring coal plants to clean up their mess, but as they say, the devil is in the details. The EPA still needs to close a loophole that has exempted over half a million tons of toxic coal ash in landfill and ponds from federal oversight. With your support we are ensuring that the EPA holds these companies accountable to clean up the messes they have made.

Earthjustice has spent years making sure polluters are held accountable, and we’re not stopping anytime soon. From now until the end of June, your gift will be matched $2:$1 to help us take on these critical fights.

Join the fight today and your gift will be matched $2:$1 [link removed]

For far too long, most power plants around the U.S. have knowingly dumped coal ash into pits in the ground with no requirement to clean it up. The toxic waste leaches into drinking water supplies, harms nearby communities, and kills fish and wildlife.

Often, coal ash is stored 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. 70% of the dumpsites are near low-income communities and communities of color.

Earthjustice has fought to regulate the dumping of coal ash for years, and in 2015, EPA adopted its first-ever safeguards to protect people from toxic coal ash as a result of one of our lawsuits. Unfortunately, the 2015 coal ash rule didn’t go far enough.

After years of litigation and decades of grassroots activism, the EPA has agreed to address aspects of the 2015 Coal Ash Rule that left half of coal ash unregulated and effectively allowed coal plants to dodge cleaning up hazardous coal ash across the country. Now it’s up to us to ensure that they make these changes and that they are enforced.

We are so close to finally ensuring that these polluters are held accountable for the messes they created. We are just three days from our June 30 fiscal year deadline, and still need to raise $76,000 to fulfill next year’s budget goals. Your matched gift will help us see this and other fights through to the end.

Our work on the coal ash rule is just one example of how we stick with our cases until the end. These fights often take years or even decades, but I am so grateful to have your partnership as we work together for a more livable and just future for all.

Join the fight today and your gift will be matched $2:$1: [link removed]


Sincerely,
Lisa Evans
Senior Counsel,
Clean Energy Program

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