[GPCA Updates] GP RELEASE Greens blast EPA lack of preparedness in handling TVA's coal ash spill

[Green Party of California Updates]

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GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, January 7, 2009


Greens blast EPA lack of preparedness in handling TVA plant's coal
ash spill

• The hazardous waste disaster is evidence that the US should stop
using coal to generate electricity, say Greens


WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders strongly criticized the
Environmental Protection Agency's response to the recent spill of
5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash from the Tennessee Valley
Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant.

"The EPA has failed to follow through on its stated intention to
regulate coal ash as hazardous waste," said Frank Jeffers of the
Green Party's Eco-Action Committee
(http://www.gp.org/committees/ecoaction/index.php).  "Nationwide,
how big is this mess?  Very very big.  There are thousands of coal
waste sites all over the country, and when it comes to coal wastes,
you can figure about anything that could be in it, is in it."

According to a December 29 article in The New York Times
(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/us/30sludge.html), byproducts
from the Kingston plant in just one year include "45,000 pounds of
arsenic, 49,000 pounds of lead, 1.4 million pounds of barium, 91,000
pounds of chromium and 140,000 pounds of manganese. Those metals can
cause cancer, liver damage and neurological complications, among
other health problems."

As a result of the spill, the toxins have now been poured into a 400
acre area, rendering the land uninhabitable.

Greens called the spill a preventable disaster, noting that if the
EPA had implemented its recommendation in 2000 to label coal ash as
a hazardous waste, the coal ash would have been contained in a pond
with a composite liner system.

According to the Times article, the EPA backed off this
recommendation "in the face of industry opposition, promising
instead to issue national guidelines for proper ash disposal, though
it never did."

"The enforcement of such guidelines is not optional.  Safe drinking
water standards are not optional.  Such cowardice in the face of
industry pressure is unacceptable.  Americans deserve a strong
advocate for their health and the health of their environment," said
Linda Cree, co-chair of the Eco-Action Committee.

Greens called on President-elect Obama's chosen EPA administrator,
Lisa P. Jackson, to:

• Label coal ash as hazardous waste

• Retrofit all coal ash ponds and coal ash landfills with composite
liner systems

• Require a complete and accurate inventory of coal combustion waste
(CCW) sites, including abandoned sites

• Issue public advisories on the hazards posed to communities by all
CCW sites

• Relocate and reimburse local residents impacted by the sludge

• Mitigate damage to local water supplies and establish a local
environmental advocate to monitor water quality

Green Party leaders said that the sheer size of the Kingston coal
ash spill, estimated to be more than 40 times larger than the Exxon
Valdez spill in Alaska, is evidence that the US should begin to
phase out the use of coal to generate electricity.

The Green Party has long advocated phasing out existing coal plants
and a ban on new ones, part of an aggressive national policy based
on conservation, efficiency, and renewable energy.  See the Green
Party EcoAction Committee's "First 100 Days Energy and Environmental
Policy"
(http://www.gp.org/committees/ecoaction/documents/First_100_Days.pdf).

"With more than 400 coal power plants in the US, the odds of a
disaster of this magnitude occurring again are alarmingly high.  To
safeguard our shared natural heritage, we must adopt the EPA's prior
recommendation that coal ash be treated as hazardous waste and
contained as such.  Anything less, in the face of foreseeable
catastrophe, is irresponsible," said Art Browning, member of the
Harris County (Texas) Green Party and producer of Greenwatch Live!
(Houston Public Access TV).  Mr. Browning witnessed the dangerous
effects of fly ash from a coal-fired electricity generation plant in
Kingston, Tennessee, where he grew up.


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
• Tally of Green election victories
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/election-results.html
• Green candidate news
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php
• Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections

"Hundreds of Coal Ash Dumps Lack Regulation"
The New York Times, January 7, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/us/07sludge.html


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