The catastrophic TVA coal ash spill in Kingston, Tennessee in 2008 that released over a billion gallons of coal sludge into the Emory River was a national wake-up call about the dangers of coal ash. There are decent odds that you or someone you know lives near toxic coal ash - there are at least 11 counties and four cities in Virginia that are home to disposal sites. After much delay, the EPA has finally issued two competing proposals for the storage and disposal of dirty coal ash waste.

The EPA is currently accepting comments from the public to help guide their decision making process.

The stronger of the two, the Subtitle C option, treats coal ash as a special waste under the more stringent “hazardous waste” designation, but both provisions ignore a loophole that has terrible implication for Appalachian coal regions– there are no standards for minefilling. The practice of minefilling is where coal companies dump coal ash waste into abandoned mines without liners or federal oversight, where it can leach heavy metals when it comes in direct contact with groundwater. Without addressing this issue simultaneously, the EPA is allowing a loophole that will actually encourage coal companies to dump more coal ash into abandoned mines, as other options are more tightly regulated.

Please use the form below to send a message to the EPA today asking them to regulate coal ash as a hazardous waste and to address the issue of minefilling as soon as possible.