By SHAILA DEWAN
Published: December 24, 2008
KINGSTON, Tenn. — (click here) What may be the nation’s largest spill of coal ash lay thick and largely untouched over hundreds of acres of land and waterways Wednesday after a dam broke this week, as officials and environmentalists argued over its potential toxicity.
Federal studies have long shown coal ash to contain significant quantities of heavy metals like arsenic, lead and selenium, which can cause cancer and neurological problems. But with no official word on the dangers of the sludge in Tennessee, displaced residents spent Christmas Eve worried about their health and their property, and wondering what to do....
By golly, the Tennessee sludge is different than any other coal ash sludge the nation has ever witnessed. Like I said, "Republicans run on corruption, not the truth."
The corruption is rampant.
...In 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed rules requiring safer handling of the waste, but it delayed issuing a final rule after coming under intense political pressure from electric utilities, coal mining interests, and the coal ash recycling industry, which fears that treating coal ash like hazardous waste would stigmatize its products....
Ya think?
...There are currently two bills pending in Congress -- H.R. 2273 and S. 3512 -- that would block federal regulation and instead create state-implemented permit programs for the management and disposal of coal ash. But there are serious questions about the legislation's effectiveness. Earlier this month, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a report that analyzed the bills and found they failed to establish a "clear standard of protection" necessary to safeguard human health and the environment from the risks of coal ash disposal....
I am quite sure the impoverished coal communities are in gratitude for the corruption and loss of longevity.
There is absolutely nothing like USA Senators that don't believe in the strength of the federal government to protect their people.
...In addition to Senator Manchin, Senators John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), and John Boozman (R-Ark.) have also sponsored this bill.
There ain't nothing like corruption to solve unemployment problems. It is a gift that keeps on giving. As soon as the employees die from environmental exposure to toxins, their children can stop standing in line for a chance at a paycheck.
Thank you, Secretary Jackson, for your expertise, caring and good service. If only everyone was as dedicated.
KINGSTON, Tenn. — (click here) What may be the nation’s largest spill of coal ash lay thick and largely untouched over hundreds of acres of land and waterways Wednesday after a dam broke this week, as officials and environmentalists argued over its potential toxicity.
Federal studies have long shown coal ash to contain significant quantities of heavy metals like arsenic, lead and selenium, which can cause cancer and neurological problems. But with no official word on the dangers of the sludge in Tennessee, displaced residents spent Christmas Eve worried about their health and their property, and wondering what to do....
By golly, the Tennessee sludge is different than any other coal ash sludge the nation has ever witnessed. Like I said, "Republicans run on corruption, not the truth."
The corruption is rampant.
Four years after Tennessee tragedy, politicians are blocking federal oversight of coal ash (click here)
This Saturday, Dec. 22 marks four years since a massive coal ash impoundment collapsed at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston power plant in eastern Tennessee, sending over a billion gallons of toxic waste laden with arsenic, lead and radioactive elements into a nearby community. The 2008 disaster damaged 42 homes, leaving three uninhabitable, and inundated the Emory and Clinch rivers, causing a massive fish kill and ongoing contamination concerns.......In 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed rules requiring safer handling of the waste, but it delayed issuing a final rule after coming under intense political pressure from electric utilities, coal mining interests, and the coal ash recycling industry, which fears that treating coal ash like hazardous waste would stigmatize its products....
Ya think?
...There are currently two bills pending in Congress -- H.R. 2273 and S. 3512 -- that would block federal regulation and instead create state-implemented permit programs for the management and disposal of coal ash. But there are serious questions about the legislation's effectiveness. Earlier this month, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a report that analyzed the bills and found they failed to establish a "clear standard of protection" necessary to safeguard human health and the environment from the risks of coal ash disposal....
I am quite sure the impoverished coal communities are in gratitude for the corruption and loss of longevity.
Oct 20 2011
Manchin, Bipartisan Group of Senators Introduce Coal Ash Recycling Legislation (click here)
Measure Will Help Preserve Jobs, Protect Local Oversight, Hold Down Energy Costs
...Under this legislation, states could set up their own permitting program for the management and disposal of coal ash that is based on existing EPA regulations to protect human health and the environment. States will know where they stand under this bill, since the benchmarks for what constitutes a successful state program will be set in statute. This is a states-first approach that provides regulatory certainty....
There is absolutely nothing like USA Senators that don't believe in the strength of the federal government to protect their people.
There ain't nothing like corruption to solve unemployment problems. It is a gift that keeps on giving. As soon as the employees die from environmental exposure to toxins, their children can stop standing in line for a chance at a paycheck.
Thank you, Secretary Jackson, for your expertise, caring and good service. If only everyone was as dedicated.
