CLOSE THE COAL ASH LOOPHOLE

This past Wednesday, we SHOWED UP in our power at the EPA’s public hearing to give testimony in support of newly proposed rules to stop energy companies from continuing to poison communities with 500 million tons of toxic coal ash dumped in unlined pits across the country. Closing this egregious loophole would address cleaning up 88 coal ash pits within two miles of a great lake, threatening the drinking water of millions.

Seven people from CJA member organizations EarthCare New Mexico, GreenRoots Chelsea, The People’s Justice Council, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, and Communities for a Better Environment testified before the EPA panel. As part of a larger delegation of witnesses from 22 states and territories, they shared the threat of coal ash to their health, communities, sources of drinking water, and natural environment. The day of action was coordinated by Earthjustice, Climate Justice Alliance, Just Transition Northwest Indiana, and Chicago Jobs with Justice in partnership with local and national members and allies.

HOW TO SUPPORT THE FRONTLINES

• Let the EPA know how you feel about the impacts of coal ash in our communities directly by registering for the virtual hearing on July 12. If you will be signing up for comment, please let us know us know so we can support you, uplift your comments, and share talking points. You can email [email protected] 

BACKGROUND

In 2015, the Obama Administration signed the U.S. EPA’s coal ash rule into law to address the risks of coal ash. The rule exempted hundreds of inactive coal ash landfills and unlined ponds across the country, allowing them to bypass critical monitoring and cleanup requirements and endangering the health and well-being of workers and the communities near these power plants.

The EPA proposed a new, expanded coal ash rule that would extend federal monitoring, closure, and cleanup protections to hundreds of older landfills, legacy ponds, and fill sites previously excluded. Earthjustice sued the EPA twice on behalf of environmental, civil rights, and community groups, challenging this loophole. The draft rule is a result of those lawsuits. This is a step forward for environmental justice, but the EPA needs to commit to enforcement and complete the job to include ALL toxic coal ash sites. The current proposal fails to extend regulations to landfills at former coal plant sites that do not have legacy ponds and also exempts ponds that did not have water in them since 2015 as well as active power plants that claim to not have any regulated units.