"You flip on a light switch. That power is not coming from that light switch—that power is generated somewhere else. And it impacts people."
The Moapa River Indian Reservation, tribal home of the Moapa Band of Paiutes, sits about 30 miles north of Las Vegas—and about 300 yards from the coal ash ponds and landfills of the Reid Gardner Power Station. If the conditions are just wrong, coal ash picks up from Reid Gardner and moves across the desert like a toxic sandstorm. The film An Ill Wind tells the Paiute Indians' story.
Several bills have been introduced in Congress that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from properly regulating coal ash dumps, endangering public health and the environment:
S. 1751, "Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act "
Introduced by Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), S. 1751 would allow construction of ash dumps that don't meet drinking water standards for arsenic, lead and other pollutants; allow indefinite operation of unstable and dangerous ash ponds; shut out citizens who live near coal ash sites from permitting decisions that affect their health and safety; allow states to waive any health and safety standards and require EPA to defer to those decisions, and prevent EPA from ever revisiting a coal ash rule, even in the event of increased risk from ash dumps.
This bill is nearly identical to H.R. 2273, which the Obama Administration publicly opposed in a statement of administration policy.
H.R. 2273, "Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act"
Introduced by Rep. David McKinley (R-WV), H.R. 2273 endangers public health and the safety of thousands of communities by failing to regulate coal ash as hazardous waste. Despite the demonstrated health impacts, little is being done to ensure that the billions of tons of coal ash stored in waste ponds and unlined dumps do not harm American citizens.
Nearly half a million citizens commented to the EPA on their proposed rule to finally regulate coal ash, but Rep. McKinley's bill would ignore all those concerns and immediately undermine federal efforts to clean up these toxic dump sites.
The EPA developed new testing methods which demonstrate that the levels of many toxic metals found in coal ash are much higher than the safe drinking water standard. In fact, the differences are huge, kind of like the weight difference between a Miami Dolphin and a blue whale. Learn more by clicking the image above or reading an Earthjustice report on EPA's findings.
Featured Reports:
State Of Failure: How States Fail To Protect Our Health And Drinking Water From Toxic Coal Ash
August 2011
· Full Report
EPA's Blind Spot: Hexavalent Chromium in Coal Ash
February 2011
· Full ReportMore Publications:
Coal ash contaminates our drinking water and affects us all.
Fish are poisoned by coal ash, and sometimes end up on our plates.