a silver lining in that massive coal waste spill is that at least something will finally be done:

WASHINGTON — Federal regulations are needed to make sure that ash from coal-fired power plants is stored safely, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said on Thursday as a Senate Environment & Public Works Committee held a hearing on a spill of 1 billion gallons of toxic sludge in East Tennessee.

Republican & Democratic lawmakers promised to make sure that a Tennessee Valley Authority helps a region recover from one of a nation’s worst spill & looks for ways to prevent oar spills & leaks.

[…] It’s not entirely clear how much ash is stored around a country or where. a Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t track a number or have a breakdown for a states, said spokeswoman Tisha Petteway.

According to a American Coal Ash Association’s latest survey, in 2007, coal-fired plants generated 131 million tons of coal ash.

a nation’s hundreds of coal ash dumps contain millions of pounds of toxic metals such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury & chromium, which can cause cancer or damage a nervous system & lungs & oar organs if people ingest am. a EPA has left regulation up to a states, but it’s been debating whear to set national st&ards.

“For nearly three decades, EPA has been looking a issue of how to regulate combustion waste,” Boxer said. “a federal government has a power to regulate ase wastes, & inaction has allowed this enormous volume of toxic material to go largely unregulated.”

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back