Great Texas Clean Up

Remember Coal Ash?

2011-04-11T06:54:00.000-07:00

From Politico's Morning Energy:

Thursday the Environment and Economy panel will go after EPA’s plans for federal regulations on coal ash and other waste products from coal-fired power plants. EPA is considering two options for the rules: one preferred by environmental groups that would regulate ash as a hazardous waste and set binding standards for its disposal, and another industry-backed option that would declare ash non-hazardous, giving states more leeway in setting their own disposal standards.

EPA escapes the cut

2011-04-11T06:51:00.000-07:00

The EPA barely escaped becoming collateral damage in last week's budget battle.

"EPA ESCAPES – The EPA has emerged unscathed from Friday’s last-minute budget deal as Democrats successfully fended off GOP attempts to cripple the agency’s climate regulations.

The agreement includes “no climate change or EPA language,” a senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said after the deal had been brokered Friday, and the agency went unmentioned in a summary circulated by House Speaker John Boehner. Even a proposed study of the economic consequences of environmental regulations – a compromise Senate Democrats appeared ready to accept on Friday – has been dropped from the final deal, as Obama and Boehner found little common ground on the study’s specifics.

Republicans had hoped to use their budget leverage to strip EPA of its climate authority, as well as to attack regulations on mountaintop removal mining, coal ash waste from power plants and a host of other agency initiatives. Ultimately, the GOP dropped its anti-EPA provision at the eleventh hour, having used it to leverage billions in spending cuts."

Read the rest at Politico's Morning Score.

Plus, the fight over the air toxics protection begins: "On Friday the Energy and Power panel is back in action to take on EPA’s air quality regulations for industrial boilers, power plants and cement manufactures."

Stay tuned!

Get Involved!

2011-04-07T08:58:00.000-07:00

There are many ways YOU can get involved in making sure the EPA does its job and protects Texas from toxic pollution.

1) Collect comment cards to show the EPA that regular Texans care about having a strong mercury protection, and send them to the Sierra Club office in Austin (1202 San Antonio Street, Austin TX 78701)

Download here (login: clubhouse, password: explore). The file is "** EPA Air Toxics Protection -- Comment Postcard - 3/11 ** (click to download PDF file)"

2) Write a Letter to the Editor to educate your community. Click here for a one-stop shop.

3) Host a screening of Coal Country, or Fighting Goliath, for your friends and family. Contact Flavia.Delafuente@SierraClub.org to get started.

4) Follow our campaign blog, www.cleanuptexasnow.org, to stay tuned!

For questions, comments, and concerns, email Flavia at Flavia.Delafuente@SierraClub.org

Sulphur Springs Mercury Hair-Testing Event

2011-04-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

Last week, folks in Sulphur Springs gathered at their local Pizza Hut to talk about the effects of a lignite mine in their backyards and the Monticello coal plant, only an hour away. About twenty people were in attendance, and nine folks got their hair tested.

If you want to host a mercury hair-testing event in your area, email

flavia.delafuente@sierraclub.org

Final Standard for Air Toxics

2011-03-29T13:26:00.001-07:00

EPA Issues Final Standard to Protect Americans from Boilers’ Toxic Air Pollution

Health protections will modestly reduce dangerous emissions

Washington, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a final health standard that will limit emissions of mercury, lead, arsenic, acid gases and other toxic pollutants from industrial boilers. This commonsense air toxics safeguard, often called the “Boiler MACT (Maximum Available Control Technology),” will save thousands of lives, and prevent thousands of cases of asthma attacks, heart attacks and hospital visits.

Industrial boilers are on-site power plants at places like universities and industrial facilities like chemical plants, refineries and paper mills. By controlling these plants’ pollution, EPA’s air toxics safeguard will protect Americans from breathing some of the most dangerous and toxic pollutants known to us – arsenic, lead, acid gases and mercury. Even in small amounts, these life-threatening air pollutants are linked to cancer, birth defects, brain damage and even early death. Without this critical protection, millions of tons of air toxics will continue to be released into our air each year.

“Corporate polluters are literally making us sick, and these long overdue protections from EPA will save lives and improve the health of millions of Americans,” said Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club. “Though the announcement today is modest by comparison to the proposals put forth by the EPA last June, we urge Administrator Lisa Jackson to forge ahead to protect our children and families’ health.”

Not content with having weakened important protections like the air toxics safeguard, polluting industries continue to push their agenda to roll back and even block public health protections and clean air standards.

“If the corporate lobbyists succeed in killing these health protections, Americans will pay the price with the lives and health of their family members,” said James Pew, staff attorney at Earthjustice. “Controlling the toxic pollution from industrial boilers will save lives, prevent billions of dollars in unnecessary health care costs, and put thousands of Americans to work.”

Who's got the MACT?

2011-03-29T12:18:00.001-07:00

Not Texas. And we need it.

Due to the Clean Air Act, the EPA will be proposing a series of public health protections this year, including boiler MACT, which is intended to limit hazardous air pollutants, or air toxics. The boiler MACT (maximum available control technology) protection will cut down on emissions of air toxics like mercury, arsenic, lead, dioxin, and acid gases.

How? It basically means that all of our dirty ol' powerplants will need to install equipment to match the best-performing and cleanest plants for each type of pollutant. Existing power plants will have more time to meet the standard—taking into account available technologies and cost.

To be clear: mercury is a neurotoxin. It can cause central nervous system damage. It is the reason for which many lakes and rivers have warnings about eating the fish, and why pregnant women are advised not to eat any seafood at all.

Of course, some people don't think the EPA should exist, or enforce the Clean Air Act, blah blah blah. Well, forget them. We need this. And we need to show that we want the EPA to do its job.

Get Active. Sign up to be a Texas Healthkeeper.

But why should Texans care?

One teaspoon of mercury is sufficient to contaminate a 20-acre lake. Our lakes.

But we'll let these pictures do the talking: it's probably worth a thousand words.

From Environment Texas.

From Environment Texas.

From Environment Texas.

Ready to protect our Texas rivers, our land, and most importantly, our health?

Join us!

Get Active. Sign up to be a Texas Healthkeeper.

Flavia de la Fuente
Conservation Organizer

Republican Budget Launches Sneak Attacks on Clean Air Protections (switchboard.nrdc.org)

Court Admits Blame for Med-Waste Incinerator Confusion (nytimes.com)

Boiler Battle (pubs.acs.org)

Why Mercury is a Problem (sierraclub.typepad.com)

EPA Seeks to Delay Controversial Air Pollution Rules for Boilers (nytimes.com)

Study identifies 39 Additional Contaminated Coal Ash Sites

2010-08-26T08:47:00.001-07:00

From Environmental Integrity Project

Days before the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) kicks off a series of regional hearings across the United States on whether and how to regulate toxic coal ash waste from coal-fired power plants, a major new study identifies 39 additional coal-ash dump sites in 21 states that are contaminating drinking water or surface water with arsenic and other heavy metals. The report by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), Earthjustice and the Sierra Club documents the fact that state governments are not adequately monitoring the coal combustion waste (CCW) disposal sites and that the USEPA needs to enact strong new regulations to protect the public. The report shows that, at every one of the coal ash dump sites equipped with groundwater monitoring wells, concentrations of heavy metals such as arsenic or lead exceed federal health-based standards for drinking water, with concentrations at Hatfield’s Ferry site in Pennsylvania reaching as high as 341 times the federal standard for arsenic.

For the Press Release, click here.

For Report, click here.

For News Conference audio, click here.

New Coal Ash Report

2010-08-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

U.S. COAL ASH CRISIS WORSENS: NEW STUDY TO IDENTIFY OVER THREE DOZEN ADDITIONAL COAL ASH WATER CONTAMINATION SITES IN 21 STATES

As Coal Ash Hearings Begin Across U.S., EIP, Earthjustice and Sierra Club Report to Reveal Ineffective State Oversight & Growing Need for EPA to Step Into Gap; Sites Overlooked by EPA Found in AR, CT, FL, IL, IA, KY, LA, MI, NE, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, SD, TN, TX, VA and WI.

WASHINGTON, D.C.//NEWS ADVISORY//More than three dozen coal-ash dump sites in 21 states that are contaminating drinking water or surface water with arsenic and other heavy metals are not being monitored properly by state governments and require the intervention of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to a major new report that will be released at 11 a.m. EDT Thursday (August 26, 2010) by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), Earthjustice and the Sierra Club.

To date, the EPA has acknowledged the existence of 67 coal combustion waste (CCW) disposal sites that have contaminated water with toxic chemicals. However, a February 2010 EIP/Earthjustice report documented 31 additional sites in 14 states that the EPA should have included on its list. The more than three dozen additional sites in Thursday’s report bring the total number of toxic contamination cases to more than 100. Even EPA acknowledges that there are likely many more cases that have not yet been documented.

Set to be released just days before the first in a series of major coal ash rulemaking hearings, the EIP/Earthjustice/Sierra Club report shows that, at every one of the CCW sites equipped with groundwater monitoring wells, concentrations of heavy metals like arsenic or lead exceed federal health-based standards for drinking water, with concentrations at one site in Pennsylvania reaching as high as 341 times the federal standard for arsenic.

The 21 states with more than three dozen additional sites also being ignored by the EPA are (in alphabetical order): Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.

The first public hearing on pending EPA coal ash rule is set for August 30, 2010 in Washington, DC. Hearings will follow in: Denver, CO on September 2; Dallas, TX on September 8; Charlotte, NC on September 14; Chicago, IL on September 16; Pittsburgh, PA on September 21; and Louisville, KY on September 28.

News event speakers will include:

· Jeff Stant, director, Coal Combustion Waste Initiative, Environmental Integrity Project;

· Lisa Evans, senior administrative counsel, Earthjustice;

· Lyndsay Moseley, federal policy representative, Sierra Club;

· J. Russell Boulding, environmental scientist, Boulding Soil-Water Consulting; and

· Barb Reed, whose son was a victim of pollution from FirstEnergy’s Little Blue Run Impoundment, Greene Township, Beaver County, PA.

TO PARTICIPATE: You can join this live, phone-based news conference (with full, two-way Q&A) at 11 a.m. EDT on August 26, 2010 by dialing 1 (800) 860-2442. Ask for the “coal ash water pollution" news event.

CAN’T PARTICIPATE?: A streaming audio recording of the news event will be available on the Web as of 4 p.m. EDT on August 26, 2010 at http://www.environmentalintegrity.org.

CONTACT: Virginia Cramer, (804) 225-9113 x 102 or Virginia.cramer@sierraclub.org

Ailis Aaron Wolf, (703) 276-3265 or aawolf@hastingsgroup.com.

The Environmental Integrity Project (http://www.environmentalintegrity.org) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established in March of 2002 by former EPA enforcement attorneys to advocate for effective enforcement of environmental laws. EIP has three goals: 1) to provide objective analyses of how the failure to enforce or implement environmental laws increases pollution and affects public health; 2) to hold federal and state agencies, as well as industries , accountable for failing to enforce or comply with environmental laws; and 3) to help local communities obtain the protection of environmental laws.

Earthjustice (http://www.earthjustice.org) is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. Earthjustice works through the courts on behalf of citizen groups, scientists, and other parties to ensure government agencies and private interests follow the law. On Capitol Hill, Earthjustice works to protect and strengthen federal environmental laws and preserve special places, like the Arctic.

The Sierra Club (http://www.sierraclub.org) is America’s largest, oldest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. Inspired by nature, our 1.3 million members are working together to protect our communities and the planet.

Coal Ash in Texas

2010-08-17T11:29:00.001-07:00

Our girl Eva breaks it down!

Oklahoma Fights Coal Ash

2010-08-16T07:41:00.000-07:00

Bokoshe-In the Air We Breathe from Jar of Grasshoppers on Vimeo.

American News Project exposes Coal Ash

2010-08-13T10:17:00.001-07:00

Latest news on coal ash

2010-08-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

New Mexico residents are asking Bill Richardson to stand up for tougher rules on coal ash.

Reusing coal ash opposed by many Americans.

TVA stands for "Tell the Valley Anything"

From EarthJustice, the coal ash battle heating up

The EPA has added two hearings to the original seven, there will now be hearings in:

Arlington, Virginia

Denver, Colorado

Dallas, Texas

Charlotte, North Carolina

Chicago, Illinois

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Louisville, Kentucky

A Radioactive Surprise in Coal Ash

2010-08-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

We know about the Bad Health Brigade, and that coal ash contains toxic amounts of them, but there's an insidious friend of theirs that just isn't getting any attention at all.

Burning coal can produce Radon (it's actually TENORM, technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials), Polonium 210 and Lead 210- and it can be emitted as solid radioactive material, as gases, and as both.

For example, Radon gas emissions at the proposed NRG coal-fired power plant result from its presence in the coal, which means that alarming quantities of radon gas will be released into the air during large-scale coal combustion.

Radon gas emissions at the proposed Oak Grove plant result from the presence of radon in the coal, and significant quantities are released into the environment. The highest potential concentrations of radiation would be in the Robertson County area closest to the Oak Grove plant.

However, there is NO information about the average concentrations of radon and its radioactive relatives in the coal in the permit application, the TCEQ's technical review, or the draft permit for the Sandy Creek plant.

The Law:

1) TCEQ's Regulatory Definition of "Air Contaminant" in state law includes "radioactive material".

2) Radon is a radionuclide classified as hazardous air pollutant/HAP under Title III of the Clean Air Act.

Why isn't the TCEQ regulating radon exposure to radon and its carcinogenic byproducts? Well, they don't regulate much.

Has any radiation been detected near coal plants? In Texas!?

Yes.

The U.S. Geological survey conducted extensive flyovers of the US looking for radiation hotspots. Every coal-fired power plant had two radiation hotspots. One for the coal and one for the coal ash piles.

Radionuclides in Powder River Basin coal indicate concentrations in the low parts per million range according to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) studies.

The highest concentrations would be in the Robertson County area closest to the Oak Grove Plant. Radon gas emissions at the proposed Oak Grove coal-fired power plant results from its presence in the coal, and significant quantities of radon gas are released into the air during large-scale coal combustion.

Cancer: Coal's Hidden Cost

2010-08-03T09:17:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 6, 2007

Contact:

Lisa Evans, Earthjustice (781) 631-4119

Eric Schaeffer, Environmental Integrity Project (202) 296-8800

Jeff Stant, Clean Air Task Force (317) 359-1306

Neil Carman, Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter (512) 472-1767 or 512-299-5776

Cancer: Coal's Hidden Cost.

New EPA Risk Assessment finds extraordinary cancer risk; lack of federal regulations endanger U.S. water supplies

Washington, D.C. The risk of getting cancer from coal ash lagoons is 10,000 times greater than government safety standards allow, according to a draft report from the Environmental Protection Agency obtained by an environmental group. Although the EPA acknowledges this risk, it has neglected to adopt regulations that will limit exposure and protect against the health threats of America’s second-largest industrial solid waste stream, coal ash.

While EPA has not yet formally released the revised assessment, environmental groups received a summary of the draft, which indicates that the cancer risk for adults and children drinking groundwater contaminated with arsenic from coal combustion waste dumps can be as high as 1 in 100 – 10,000 times higher than EPA’s regulatory goals for reducing cancer risks

EPA’s failure to limit pollution from coal combustion waste, or coal ash, has poisoned surface and groundwater supplies in at least 23 states, by EPA’s own admission. Coal combustion waste is the solid waste produced by coal-fired power plants, which produce approximately 129 million tons of the waste each year. The waste is contaminated with toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium, chromium and selenium. There are currently about 600 existing coal ash landfills and surface impoundments in the U.S.

There are currently plans to build over 150 coal-fired power plants in the United States by 2030. Pollution from coal ash impoundments will undoubtedly worsen unless EPA takes the necessary steps to protect neighborhoods and communities from this dangerous pollution source. EPA acknowledges that coal ash landfills and surface impoundments have contaminated water above federal drinking water standards in: Texas, Maryland, New York, Virginia, Wisconsin, Indiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The agency also acknowledges that more cases of drinking water damage occur, but that monitoring systems are not in place to detect contamination at a large percentage of the existing dumps.

“Texas ranks Number One for burning more coal and lignite than any other state in the nation and next to Kentucky, Texas is Number Two in hazardous coal-combustion waste generated at 12,943,000 tons per year!” said Neil Carman, Clean Air Program Director for the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club. “Now, energy companies want to build many more coal plants in the state and that presents another serious problem. Besides dirty air from the millions of tons of smokestack emissions, we would have to contend with polluted surface and groundwater from unsafe coal ash waste disposal if we build these plants. Not a good idea.”

“We've seen surface water contamination by coal combustion waste and we’re concerned that without better rules governing disposal of this waste, both our surface water and groundwater resources are in danger,” said Travis Brown of Neighbors for Neighbors, a grassroots citizens' group.

Neighbors for Neighbors ranchers, farmers and rural residents based in Lee, Bastrop, and Milam counties in Texas have been fighting strip-mining, air pollution and coal waste dumping practices by Alcoa Corporation operating in their area for many years. TXU plans to build an additional coal fired power plant in the area – TXU Sandow 5.

“The E.P.A. report should cause great concern for Texans, especially those who live near seventeen existing coal plants and the related dumping grounds for coal combustion waste.” said Brown.

A broad coalition of 27 environmental and public health groups, led by Earthjustice, Clean Air Task Force and the Environmental Integrity Project, recently submitted a proposal to EPA detailing ways to protect against pollution from the millions of tons of coal ash disposed annually by U.S. coal-fired power plants. The groups also requested that EPA take immediate action to investigate and abate pollution at coal ash dump sites.

“It’s very simple,” said Earthjustice attorney Lisa Evans. “Coal combustion waste currently disposed without adequate safeguards poses an imminent and substantial endangerment to health and the environment in dozens of communities throughout the country. EPA has made no effort to protect the public against these pollution sources for over seven years. We believe it is time to act.”

In 2000, EPA committed to establishing regulations for coal ash disposal. Since then, the agency has met repeatedly with industrial polluters and will soon issue a Notice of Data Availability (NODA), which is expected to defer federal waste regulation in favor of a voluntary industry agreement. However, the voluntary industry agreement, announced by a consortium of coal-fired electric utilities last fall, promises no controls on the hundreds of existing waste dumps and gives industry three years to place monitoring wells around dumps within a mile of drinking water sources.

Simple measures such as isolating the waste from groundwater, prohibiting dumping of coal ash in sand and gravel pits, and lining landfills and surface impoundments would have a huge impact on limiting pollution from these facilities.

“The people who are exposed to a greater cancer risk by drinking water poisoned by coal ash landfills and surface impoundments need to be heard,” said Jeff Stant, Director of the Power Plant Waste-Safe Disposal Project for the Clean Air Task Force. “EPA has ignored affected communities for far too long.”

“Many coal ash disposal sites lack the most basic safeguards such as liners, covers, and groundwater monitoring--standards that are routinely required for household trash at sanitary landfills,” states Eric Schaeffer, Director of the Environmental Integrity Project. “In fact, in many cases, the operators are simply dumping the waste straight into groundwater and face no cleanup requirements by states.”

The National Academies of Science (NAS) found in a March 2006 report studying the practice by utilities of dumping coal combustion wastes in coal mines, that high contaminant levels in leachate, or runoff, from coal ash dumps has contaminated drinking water and caused considerable environmental damage, including the local extinction of multiple species. The NAS report cited EPA’s commitment in 2000 to promulgate federal regulations to require adequate safeguards for disposal of toxic ash and called for the development of regulations mandating safeguards for minefilling. The Environmental Protection Agency, nevertheless, has neglected issuing these much needed safeguards.

The Bad Health Brigade

2010-08-03T08:59:00.000-07:00

Coal stack emissions and coal combustion waste produce:

Arsenic: Cancer, Birth defects, Respiratory problems, Suspected mutagen (DNA damage), Heart problems, Gastrointestinal, Headaches, Impaired memory, Nervous system problems, Sexual dysfunction.

Lead: Retardation and brain damage, especially in children. Learning disabilities. Endocrine-disrupting and reproductive effects, Anemia, Nervous system. Hearing loss, Joint pain, Kidney diseases, Heart, Spontaneous abortions, Vomiting, Weight loss, Nervousness, Irritability, Sudden infant deaths,Decreased thyroid function, Headaches, Immune system damage,Chromosome mutations.

Mercury: Target organs like the brain, kidneys, central nervous system,eyes, skin, respiratory system and bowels affected, Birth defects,Neurological damage. Endocrine-disrupting and reproductive effects, Emotional disturbances, Headaches,Spontaneous abortions, Immune system damage.

Selenium: Toxic metal with different adverse health effects.

Cadmium: Cancer, Destroys bones by decalcification, Kidneys, Endocrine-disrupting and Reproductive effects. Lung, and Gastrointestinal irritation, Behavior problems, Liver, Destruction of cell membrane, Pulmonary edema, Osteoporosis, Immune system problems, Brain and nerve cell damage, Birth Defects, Genetic mutations, Altered libido.

Beryllium: Cancer, primary lung disease, affects liver, spleen, kidneys, lymph glands, enlarged heart, conjunctivitis, adrenal gland congestion, cell mediated immune response, Ricketts, osteoporosis.

Chromium: cancer, pulmonary problems, birth defects, liver, DNA-chromosome changes, headaches, immune system problems, blood changes, nose bleeds, low birthweight babies, nervous system problems, kidney trouble

Nickel: cancer, cardiac arrest, delirium, cyanosis, death, emphysyema, epigastric pain, fatigue, headaches, increase in blood reticulocytes, increase in serum bilirubin, lethargy, chromosomal aberrations, metal fume fever, muscle pain, pneumonia, vomiting, vision loss.

Why should coal ash be classified as hazardous waste?

2010-08-03T08:55:00.000-07:00

Great question!

We need to recognize that coal plant waste disposal facilities are huge, barely regulated toxic waste dumps. Some of the dumps are nothing more than strip mine pits and where they pollute the groundwater we depend on for drinking and agriculture. The power industry has been poisoning America's heartland for years, not only with air pollution but also with toxic waste.

The EPA clearly needs to regulate coal combustion waste under RCRA and listing it as a hazardous waste due to

1) toxic heavy metals (arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium plus other metals),

2) dioxins,

3) other cancer-causing organic compounds that are products of incomplete combustion, and

4) low levels of radionuclides. EPA has avoided doing this so far. No solid waste liners or any leachate monitoring are currently required, which is scandalous since ground water contamination can and is occurring.

Join the Coal Fight!

2010-08-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

The EPA has proposed two rules to regulate toxic coal ash, and they're going to hold only five hearings across the country to hear from citizens. One of those hearings is going to be in Dallas, Texas, on September 8th, so we are putting all hands on deck to make sure that there's a powerful voice demanding a strong coal ash rule.

Not sure what coal ash is? It's all the waste produced when burning coal (you can imagine how toxic it is). It may look like dirt, but it tastes like a Superfund site: monitoring data at 31 coal ash sites found arsenic, lead, selenium, cadmium, thallium antimony, mercury, boron, sulfate, and more exceeding drinking water standards in groundwater at 26 of the sites.

Right now, coal companies are free to put it wherever they like, usually in ponds, landfills, and uncovered earthen pits.

The EPA has proposed a strong option, which would classify coal ash as hazardous waste, and under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Subtitle C, the EPA would have the power to federally enforce the following requirements: getting a permit for a disposal site, require effective clean-up in the case of a leak, groundwater monitoring, and storage sites. The soft option means continuing to classify coal ash as solid waste, which means that the regulation would be state-to state and enforcement would depend on the oh-so-easy citizen lawsuits. If you remember Pirates of the Caribbean, the soft option is kind of like Pirate Code. It's more of a guidelines, really, which means Elizabeth Turner is still going to be a prisoner on the Black Pearl and coal companies are still going to dump coal ash wherever they like.

Not sure how destructive this can be? See what happens when 1 billion gallons of coal ash sludge destroy a Tennessee community.

This was an obvious destructive catastrophe, but coal is a silent killer too. Living near a coal ash site is like smoking twenty, yes, that's right, TWENTY packs of cigarettes a day. Except if you live near a coal ash site, you can't just quit. You have to leave your home.

In Texas alone, the Brandy Branch Coal ash dump, the Southwestern Electric Power Co. coal ash dump, and the Texas Utilities Electric Martin Lake Reservoir have leaked elevated levels of selenium and toxic metals. There are no leachate collection systems in Texas, and there is no groundwater monitoring. It's worse than using a plastic bag for your goldfish- it's definitely going to leak.

But it's not just about coal ash. This is about making sure that polluters are responsible for external costs. This is about making sure that when there is environmental impact, the burden of responsibility falls on those who are responsible for the impact, not for those who suffer the collateral damage.

Join the coal fight at www.cleanuptexasnow.org and don't forget to follow us on Twitter.

Great Texas Clean Up

Remember Coal Ash?

EPA escapes the cut

Get Involved!

Sulphur Springs Mercury Hair-Testing Event

Final Standard for Air Toxics

Who's got the MACT?

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Study identifies 39 Additional Contaminated Coal Ash Sites

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New Coal Ash Report

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Coal Ash in Texas

Oklahoma Fights Coal Ash

American News Project exposes Coal Ash

Latest news on coal ash

A Radioactive Surprise in Coal Ash

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Cancer: Coal's Hidden Cost

The Bad Health Brigade

Why should coal ash be classified as hazardous waste?

Join the Coal Fight!