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The Latest by Lisa Evans

Senior Counsel

August 24, 2011

Tr-Ash Talk: Shake, Rattle and Coal

By Lisa Evans  /  Washington, D.C. Office

The earthquake that yesterday rattled foundations along the eastern seaboard, shut down a nuclear power plant and cracked the Washington Monument also shook a great many dangerous coal ash dams, similar to the one that failed in Harriman, Tennessee almost three years ago. Several large ash ponds are located near the epicenter of the quake, …

June 22, 2011

Tr-Ash Talk: Coal Over Clean Water

By Lisa Evans  /  Washington, D.C. Office

Tomorrow morning, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will vote on a bill to eviscerate the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate coal ash, introduced by Rep. David McKinley (WV-R).  To quote Jeff Goodell of Rolling Stone, this is not just a fight about coal ash,  “it’s about demonizing the EPA, stalling the clean energy …

May 25, 2011

Tr-Ash Talk: Dumping On The Americas

By Lisa Evans  /  Washington, D.C. Office

The arrogance and disregard for public health of the Virginia-based power giant, AES Corporation, is stunning. In 2002, AES, one of the world’s largest power companies, built a coal-fired power plant in Guayama, Puerto Rico without a solid waste landfill of any kind. Although the 450-MW power plant churns out almost 400,000 tons of toxic …

May 18, 2011

Tr-Ash Talk: EPA Delays Leave Americans at Risk

By Lisa Evans  /  Washington, D.C. Office

Yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released final assessment reports that detail the structural integrity of 38 coal ash dams.  The agency began inspecting coal ash dams in May 2009, and EPA contractors have, to date, completed assessments of 228 dams.  Of these 228 coal ash dams, EPA inspectors gave a rating of “poor” to …

April 29, 2011

Tr-Ash Talk: Setting the Record Straight

By Lisa Evans  /  Policy and Legislation Team

Several House members and right-wing bloggers believed they struck gold after House members indulged in a bit of chicanery at an April 15th Environment and Energy subcommittee hearing on a bill to remove EPA’s authority to establish strong coal ash regulations. The ruse started when Rep. Cory Gardner (R, CO) excerpted a single sentence from …

April 27, 2011

Tr-Ash Talk: Deliberate and Dangerous Delay

By Lisa Evans

News that the EPA may delay the coal ash rule until the end of 2012 or even 2013 will come as a bitter disappointment to communities across the United States. Many had faith in Administrator Jackson’s promise that this Administration would finally issue effective controls on toxic ash disposal in 2010. The regulation of coal …

March 28, 2011

Coal Ash Conundrum—The Biggest Loser?

By Lisa Evans  /  Policy and Legislation Team

The verdict is in. the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency turned a blind eye to coal ash reuse during the Bush Administration, and, in fact, the agency went a considerable way toward promoting reuses that were dangerous to human health and the environment.  After a nine-month investigation, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General concluded that the EPA failed …

March 14, 2011

Tr-Ash Talk: Reaching Beyond Rhetoric

By Lisa Evans  /  Washington, D.C. Office

“We all have a responsibility to ensure that the American people have facts and the truth in front of them, particularly when fictions are pushed by special interests with an investment in the outcome.”  – EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in testimony before Congress on March 10 in response to false claims by Republicans and special …

March 8, 2011

Tr-Ash Talk: Under the Influence

By Lisa Evans  /  Washington, D.C. Office

When members of the House of Representatives return to their districts for April recess, many should be called to task for supporting a budget rider that would kill a coal ash rulemaking designed to protect the health, homes and livelihood of their constituents. How, for example, can one explain the voting record of most of …

March 2, 2011

Tr-Ash Talk: Dam Shame

By Lisa Evans  /  Washington, D.C. Office

If you live in Indiana, it’s best not to live below one of the state’s 53 coal ash dams. The state’s laissez-fare attitude toward these deadly structures has created a potentially disastrous public hazard. Recent dam breaks in Indianapolis should have sounded the alarm, but apparently it takes more than 30 million gallons of toxic …