Locations of High Hazard Coal Ash Waste
Impoundments Made Public
The
10 states on the list are
On
June 12, Senator Barbara Boxer, who chairs the Senate Environment Public Works
Committee, revealed the existence of the "high hazard" list but said
the EPA was forbidden to release this list on orders of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers and the Department of Homeland Security.
On
June 18, Earthjustice, the Sierra Club, the
Environmental Integrity Project and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed
a Freedom of Information Act request to make public the location of these sites
after the EPA refused to do so.
On
June 29, EPA released this information after interagency coordination with
FEMA's Risk Analysis Division Mitigation Directorate and the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers.
"The
presence of liquid coal ash impoundments near our homes, schools and business
could pose a serious risk to life and property in the event of an impoundment
rupture" said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. "By compiling a list of
these facilities, EPA will be better able to identify and reduce potential
risks by working with states and local emergency responders."
A
high hazard potential rating is not related to the stability of those
impoundments but to the potential for harm should the impoundment fail.
Senator
Boxer commended the Obama administration for releasing the list of high hazard
coal ash waste sites, but said she still intends to conduct committee hearings
on the issue.
"I
called on the administration to release the list of these high hazard sites so
that people have the information they need to quickly press for action to make
these sites safer," Boxer said. "The Environment and Public Works
Committee will continue its investigation of these coal ash waste impoundments,
and as part of our oversight, I plan to conduct additional hearings on this
issue."
Earthjustice attorney Lisa
Evans said, "We are pleased to see that our request was not ignored and
are heartened by this decision. Coal ash dump sites contain harmful levels of
arsenic, lead, mercury and other toxins that can contaminate drinking water
sources or potentially flood surrounding communities, as happened last December
in
Following
the failure of an impoundment at the Tennessee Valley Authority facility in
More
than 1.1 billion gallons of coal ash spilled at
As
part of its response to the
The
list of high hazard units was compiled from information submitted to EPA by the
electric utilities in response to the EPA's request.
Evans
said, "This administration is fulfilling its commitment to scientific
integrity and open government, and we hope that additional information about
the location, size and ownership of the hundreds of other toxic coal ash sites
will be made equally available as soon as possible. We also hope the EPA
continues on this path and proposes to finally regulate toxic coal ash and once
and for all establish the protections that communities and nearby neighbors
want, need and deserve."
Click
here for the State-by-State List of "High Hazard"
Coal Ash Waste Sites Released by EPA.
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