"300 Public Interest Groups Enter Coal Ash Control Battle"

"WASHINGTON, DC -- More than 300 public interest groups representing millions of people from all 50 states sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Friday opposing S.3512, the Coal Ash Recycling and Oversight Act of 2012. This bill would remove responsibility for coal ash management from the federal government and hand it to the states."



"Coal ash, the by-product of burning coal, contains toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, lead and mercury. Billions of tons of this toxic waste are stored in unlined ponds, landfills and mines in almost every state.

Introduced August 2 by Republican Senator John Hoeven of South Dakota, and Democrats Kent Conrad of South Dakota and Max Baucus of Montana, S.3512 prevents the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from finalizing its proposed coal ash rule or ever issuing regulations for the nation's second largest industrial waste stream."

Environment News Service had the story September 17, 2012.
 

Source: ENS, 09/18/2012