Coal Ash Spills Too Dangerous To Reveal To Public (says DHS)

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

Source: Huffington Post

Just how bad has the coal ash situation gotten in the United States? So bad that the Department of Homeland Security has told Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) that her committee can't publicly disclose the location of coal ash dumps across the country.

The pollution is so toxic, so dangerous, that an enemy of the United States -- or a storm or some other disrupting event -- could easily cause them to spill out and lay waste to any area nearby.

There are 44 sites deemed by the Environmental Protection Agency to be high hazard, but Boxer said she isn't allowed to talk about them other than to senators in the states affected. "There is a huge muzzle on me and my staff," she said.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/12/coal-ash-spills-too-dange_n_214739.html

---

Enemies of the US? Or people who want the makers of these messes to clean them up?

[NOW tense]

1. Open Government? n/t

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

2. not when it comes to big biz

I guess

[followthemoney]

36. Monkey Business

As long as politics is the shadow cast on society by big business, the attenuation of the shadow will not change the substance.
• Quoted in John Dewey and American Democracy by Robert Westbrook (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991), p. 440; cited in Understanding Power (2002) by Noam Chomsky, ch. 9, footnote 16

[dipsydoodle]

3. You want to see what can happen.

Read this and cry. I can remember the news coming though clear as though it was yesterday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberfan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvMvSLZVzyk

[Tansy_Gold]

30. I remember Aberfan.

I remember it on the news, in the magazines. I remember reading about the woman who gave birth to the first baby conceived after the coal tip disaster.



I followed your youtube link and it led to more and more and more.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/324836/the_aberfan_coal_disaster.html?cat=47

As usual, it was greed, excused as incompetence but underneath it all was naked greed and disregard for human lives.

Have we not learned from our collective mistakes? Obviously not. That slurry spill in Tennessee http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/24/massive-coal-sludge-spill_n_153382.html reminded me of Aberfan.

Dear goddess, what is the matter with us?





TG

[mbperrin]

4. Okay, now I understand. Photos of detainee torture are too dangerous to release.

Locations of toxic crap are too dangerous to release. What banks did with the trillions we gave them is a bank secret. It's none of my business what the Fed is doing buying their own shit. Not allowed to see reports on what we kill with drones in Afghanistan.

So WHY is it OK for me to know the address to send my tax payments? Might not someone do something dangerous with that information? Make it secret, quick!

[izquierdista]

17. You can, however, get Direct TV

And have 700 channels to watch.

[mbperrin]

29. Mmmm, that's true. I wonder how many of them have Scooby Doo reruns?

After all, those kids are always in danger, too!

[followthemoney]

37. Funny Business

As long as politics is the shadow cast on society by big business, the attenuation of the shadow will not change the substance.
• Quoted in John Dewey and American Democracy by Robert Westbrook (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991), p. 440; cited in Understanding Power (2002) by Noam Chomsky, ch. 9, footnote 16

[followthemoney]

38. Nonayer Business

As long as politics is the shadow cast on society by big business, the attenuation of the shadow will not change the substance.
• Quoted in John Dewey and American Democracy by Robert Westbrook (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991), p. 440; cited in Understanding Power (2002) by Noam Chomsky, ch. 9, footnote 16

[The Stranger]

5. Obliterating the Environment and Human Beings, Hiding it in the Name of Neocon "Security"

[dgibby]

6. All she has to do is tour mountain top mining sites in Appalachia.

Here are some interesting links if you're interested in the devastation this is causing.

http://search.aol.com/aol/search?query=mountaintop+mining+sites%2FA

[quidam56]

7. This is good ole Bush/Cheney toxic terrorism

Wise County, Virginia is turning into a toxic 3rd world moonscape. http://www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=138 Our air, land and water are poisoned but the new and improved, clean, greed, hybrid coal industry are raking it in so people, their homes and heritage don't matter.

[5X]

9. But bush/cheney aren't in charge anymore. n/t

[bvar22]

14. But the people who OWNED Bush/Cheney ARE still in charge.

That is THE problem.

[ConcernedCanuk]

15. yep - U got it

.
.
.

Barack is not in charge

just like George wasn't.

(sigh)

[pleah]

16. Exactly.

[dgibby]

19. BINGO!

[followthemoney]

40. Dirty Business

As long as politics is the shadow cast on society by big business, the attenuation of the shadow will not change the substance.
• Quoted in John Dewey and American Democracy by Robert Westbrook (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991), p. 440; cited in Understanding Power (2002) by Noam Chomsky, ch. 9, footnote 16

[kenny blankenship]

8. Welcome to Government that is as Clear as the Clean Coal that powers it

We'd like you to know that we consider you not just as a powerless citizen but also a shareholder. We appreciate your patience as you continue to hold. But for the safety of all the other shareholders, certain information, like the location of vast toxic ash dumps, will have to remain a state secret. Please continue to hold. Your elected representatives' questions will be redacted in the order in which they were received.

[Coventina]

10. Argh! C'mon Janet, you are supposed to be better than this!

Have you sold your soul already?

:mad:

[nichomachus]

11. The transparency of this administration is just breathtaking

Only because it's pretty much just like the last administration.

[izzybeans]

12. It's time to quit with the paranoid foreign policy.

Good grief. "It's too dangerous to let you know if it threatens you or not."

[RufusTFirefly]

13. Noooo! But Clean Coal will bring smiles upon the faces of all good Americans

What appalls me in the whole Clean Coal (sic) debate is that even if it were feasible, it would do absolutely nothing to stop the obscenity that is mountaintop removal and its atrocious destruction and pollution. In fact, it would almost certainly increase it as Clean Coal (sic) is less efficient and would actually require the mining of even more coal.

[dgibby]

18. TVA sending toxic coal ash to poor black communities in Ga and Ala.

http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/05/tva-sends-spilled-coal-ash-to-impoverished-black-communities-in-georgia-and-alabama.html

Hundreds of unregulated coal ash dumps.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/us/07sludge.html?_r=1

Seems Boxer's staff needs to do a quick google search on "coal ash".

[uberblonde]

20. Activists say Obama is not doing enough.

http://solveclimate.com/blog/20090611/appalachia-says-not-good-enough-obama-mountaintop-mining-plan

[katandmoon]

21. Another day, another Obushma administration coverup.

[No Elephants]

47. Obushton.

[Dakota Flint]

22. huh?

Ok, maybe I can almost believe that somehow by not publicly disclosing the locations of coal ash dumps it will keep big, bad, scary-scary enemies from doing nasty things.....but how will also keep storms away???? Maybe DHS shouldn't disclose the location of the Midwest's tornado belt.

I swear, those aliens must have increased the gain on the stupid ray they're beaming to Washington DC. At least that's my conspiracy theory.

:crazy:

[DCKit]

23. See? The tinfoil *does* work.

But all that crinkling keeps me awake nights.

[chicago legal pro]

24. This doesn't make any sense

I can maybe see the part about "enemies" of the u.s. But a storm? We are trying to keep the locations secret from a storm?

[Orrex]

26. I think that these so-called "storms" should be waterboarded

It's the only way to be safe.

[HillbillyBob]

25. The way I see it our own gubmint are bigger a threat and

that the banksters, big bidness, coal mining companies and the electric producers that use it are the enemies of the people

[derby378]

27. Since when does a government bureaucrat get to muzzle a Senator?

This irks me to no end. DHS must be scrapped.

[mvd]

28. So "national security" is more important than our residents?

I hope Boxer can convince DHS otherwise.

[Wednesdays]

31. K&R

:kick:

[slay]

32. Nice to see censorship alive and well in America - how long will this "national security" bullshit

be used to justify EVERYTHING our government wants to cover up. I've had it up to HERE with all the national security bullshit excuses coming from the Obama admin. :grr: :mad:

[Seldona]

33. Does that mean people that know where they are can't talk about it?

I've posted a couple times on what it's like at my Uncle's place. Am I going to go on some sort of list? Unbelievable.

[Crowman1979]

34. Guess they cover up their biggest campaign donor's messes somehow.

:sarcasm:

[friendly_iconoclast]

35. Too late, DHS! Here's a list of, and a link to an interactive map of coal ash dumps.

More 'security' theater that's about as convincing as when your cat hides under the bedspread
and thinks you can't see her. DHS must think only the 'special' terrorists might attack coal ash dumps.

Interactive map w/problem sites marked

http://projects.publicintegrity.org/coalash/

Here's an article w/many links on a coal ash spill, and a list of coal ash dump sites:

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/jan/09/list-power-plants-coal-ash-ponds/

Here's the list. (Note: the amounts are probably low, as the information is from 2005.
Also, the exact location of the dumps aren't given, but large power plants w/ tall smokestacks can't exactly
be hidden...)

Power plants in each state with coal ash ponds and the amount in tons stored, according to an Associated Press

analysis of Energy Department data from 2005, the latest year statistics were available.

ALABAMA

Alabama Electric Cooperative Inc. - Washington County - 28,400 tons
Alabama Power Co. - Mobile County - 282,900 tons
Alabama Power Co. - Etowah County - 34,100 tons
Alabama Power Co. - Walker County - 304,900 tons
Alabama Power Co. - Greene County - 211,900 tons
Alabama Power Co. - Jefferson County - 61,500 tons
Tennessee Valley Authority - Colbert County - 29,200 tons
Tennessee Valley Authority - Jackson County - 407,600 tons

ARIZONA

Arizona Electric Power Cooperative Inc. - Cochise County - 33,000 tons
Arizona Public Service Co. - Navajo County - 258,000 tons

ARKANSAS

Domtar Industries Inc. - Little River - 40,300 tons
Southwestern Electric Power Co. - Benton County - 19,400 tons

COLORADO

Platte River Power Authority - Larimer County - 5,700 tons

FLORIDA

Gulf Power Co. - Bay County - 70,300 tons
Tampa Electric Co. - Hillsborough County - 200 tons

GEORGIA

Georgia Power Co. - Bartow County - 93,300 tons
Georgia Power Co. - Putnam County - 416,300 tons
Georgia Power Co. - Heard County - 536,700 tons
Georgia Power Co. - Monroe County - 470,600 tons
Savannah Electric & Power Co. - Chatham County - 10,000 tons
Savannah Electric & Power Co. - Effingham County - 15,000 tons

ILLINOIS

Ameren Energy Generating Co. - Crawford County - 31,000 tons
Ameren Energy Generating Co. - Morgan County - 48,000 tons
Ameren Energy Generating Co. - Jasper County - 109,000 tons
Dynegy Midwest Generation Inc. - Randolph County - 116,000 tons
Dynegy Midwest Generation Inc. - Mason County - 86,000 tons
Dynegy Midwest Generation Inc. - Putnam County - 20,800 tons
Dynegy Midwest Generation Inc. - Vermilion County - 13,700 tons
Dynegy Midwest Generation Inc. - Madison County - 14,200 tons
Springfield City of - Sangamon County - 72,100 tons
Ameren Energy Resources Generating - Peoria County - 52,000 tons
Ameren Energy Resources Generating - Fulton County - 63,000 tons

INDIANA

Alcoa Power Generating Inc. - Warrick County - 241,900 tons
Hoosier Energy R E C Inc. - Pike County - 39,800 tons
Indiana-Kentucky Electric Corp. - Jefferson County - 21,700 tons
Indianapolis Power & Light Co. - Marion County - 175,900 tons
Indiana Michigan Power Co. - Dearborn County - 140,600 tons
Indiana Michigan Power Co. - Spencer County - 11,800 tons
PSI Energy Inc. - Vermillion County - 210,900 tons
PSI Energy Inc. - Knox County - 11,500 tons
PSI Energy Inc. - Floyd County - 125,600 tons
PSI Energy Inc. - Vigo County - 192,100 tons
PSI Energy Inc. - Gibson County - 897,800 tons
Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Co. - Warrick County - 35,600 tons
Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Co. - Posey County - 165,750 tons

IOWA

Interstate Power & Light Co. - Allamakee County - 24,000 tons
MidAmerican Energy Co. - Pottawattamie County - 104,500 tons
MidAmerican Energy Co. - Woodbury County - 50,200 tons
MidAmerican Energy Co. - Louisa County - 23,000 tons

KANSAS

Kansas City City of - Wyandotte County - 10,200 tons
Westar Energy - Pottawatomie County - 184,100 tons

KENTUCKY

Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. - Boone County - 172,900 tons
East Kentucky Power Cooperative Inc. - Clark County - 60,000 tons
East Kentucky Power Cooperative Inc. - Mason County - 4,300 tons
Kentucky Utilities Co. - Mercer County - 140,500 tons
Kentucky Utilities Co. - Carroll County - 634,700 tons
Kentucky Utilities Co. - Muhlenberg County - 30,600 tons
Kentucky Utilities Co. - Woodford County - 18,900 tons
Louisville Gas & Electric Co. - Jefferson County - 37,100 tons
Louisville Gas & Electric Co. - Jefferson County - 64,700 tons
Louisville Gas & Electric Co. - Trimble County - 150,900 tons
Tennessee Valley Authority - Muhlenberg County - 125,700 tons
Tennessee Valley Authority - McCracken County - 61,100 tons
Western Kentucky Energy Corp. - Henderson County - 12,300 tons
Western Kentucky Energy Corp. - Webster County - 21,800 tons
Kentucky Power Co. - Lawrence County - 298,300 tons

LOUISIANA

Cleco Power LLC - De Soto Parish - 51,900 tons
Louisiana Generating LLC - Pointe Coupee Parish - 139,400 tons

MARYLAND

Mirant Mid-Atlantic LLC - Montgomery County - 3,000 tons
Allegheny Energy Supply Co. LLC - Washington County - 25,100 tons

MICHIGAN

Consumers Energy Co. - Bay County - 108,800 tons
Consumers Energy Co. - Bay County - 69,900 tons
Consumers Energy Co. - Monroe County - 3,400 tons
Detroit Edison Co. - Monroe County - 482,000 tons
Lansing City of - Eaton County - 5,100 tons

MINNESOTA

Allete Inc. - St Louis County - 20,200 tons
Allete Inc. - Itasca County - 163,400 tons
Northern States Power Co. - Dakota County - 4,800 tons
Northern States Power Co. - Ramsey County - 10 tons
Northern States Power Co. - Hennepin - 6,700 tons
Northern States Power Co. - Sherburne - 355,700 tons

MISSISSIPPI

Mississippi Power Co. - Harrison County - 39,100 tons
Weyerhaeuser Co. - Lowndes County - 60,000 tons

MISSOURI

Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. - New Madrid County - 109,200 tons
Empire District Electric Co. - Jasper County - 53,500 tons
Independence City of - Jackson County - 29,750 tons
Kansas City Power & Light Co. - Platte County - 16,400 tons
Sikeston City of - Scott County - 11,300 tons
Ameren UE - Franklin County - 250,000 tons
Ameren UE - St Louis County - 111,000 tons
Ameren UE - St Charles County - 102,000 tons
Ameren UE - Jefferson County - 96,000 tons

MONTANA

PPL Montana LLC - Rosebud County - 963,600 tons

NEW MEXICO

Arizona Public Service Co. - San Juan County - 461,700 tons

NORTH CAROLINA

Progress Energy Carolinas Inc. - Buncombe County - 106,000 tons
Progress Energy Carolinas Inc. - Chatham County - 101,300 tons
Progress Energy Carolinas Inc. - Wayne County - 106,100 tons
Progress Energy Carolinas Inc. - Person County - 46,300 tons
Progress Energy Carolinas Inc. - New Hanover County - 166,000 tons
Progress Energy Carolinas Inc. - Robeson County - 47,000 tons
Progress Energy Carolinas Inc. - Person County - 212,800 tons
Duke Energy Corp. - Gaston County - 143,400 tons
Duke Energy Corp. - Rowan County - 121,900 tons
Duke Energy Corp. - Cleveland County - 96,900 tons
Duke Energy Corp. - Rockingham County - 28,500 tons
Duke Energy Corp. - Catawba County - 33,500 tons
Duke Energy Corp. - Gaston County - 93,100 tons
Duke Energy Corp. - Stokes County - 41,400 tons

NORTH DAKOTA

Basin Electric Power Cooperative - Mercer County - 194,800 tons

OHIO

Cardinal Operating Co. - Jefferson County - 490,400 tons
Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. - Clermont County - 76,700 tons
Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. - Hamilton County - 224,300 tons
Columbus Southern Power Co. - Coshocton County - 21,200 tons
Columbus Southern Power Co. - Pickaway County - 10,600 tons
Dayton Power & Light Co. - Adams County - 653,300 tons
Dayton Power & Light Co. - Adams County - 252,600 tons
Ohio Power Co. - Washington County - 143,400 tons
Ohio Power Co. - Gallia County - 90,700 tons
Ohio Valley Electric Corp. - Gallia County - 231,500 tons

OKLAHOMA

Western Farmers Electric Cooperative Inc. - Choctaw - 16,560 tons

PENNSYLVANIA

Pennsylvania Power Co. - Beaver County - 568,400 tons
PPL Corp. - Northampton County - 37,300 tons
Sunbury Generation LLC - Snyder County - 500 tons

SOUTH CAROLINA

Progress Energy Carolinas Inc. - Darlington County - 62,200 tons
Duke Energy Corp. - Anderson County - 63,500 tons
South Carolina Electric&Gas Co. - Colleton County - 101,100 tons
South Carolina Electric&Gas Co. - Aiken County - 12,500 tons
South Carolina Public Service Authority - Berkeley County - 10,900 tons
South Carolina Public Service Authority - Horry County - 7,000 tons
South Carolina Public Service Authority - Berkeley County - 34,900 tons
South Carolina Public Service Authority - Georgetown - 8,950 tons

TENNESSEE

Tennessee Valley Authority - Anderson County - 22,400 tons
Tennessee Valley Authority - Sumner County - 180,500 tons
Tennessee Valley Authority - Hawkins County - 10,000 tons
Tennessee Valley Authority - Humphreys County - 53,700 tons
Tennessee Valley Authority - Roane County - 325,900 tons

TEXAS

Topaz Power Group LLC - Goliad County - 63,500 tons
Lower Colorado River Authority - Fayette County - 39,910 tons
Southwestern Electric Power Co. - Harrison County - 120,000 tons
TXU Electric Co. - Milam County - 314,400 tons

UTAH

Los Angeles City of - Millard County - 96,700 tons
Kennecott Utah Copper Corp. - Salt Lake County - 34,300 tons

VIRGINIA

Appalachian Power Co. - Giles County - 5,800 tons
Virginia Electric & Power Co. - Fluvanna County - 85,000 tons
Virginia Electric & Power Co. - Chesterfield County - 322,600 tons
Virginia Electric & Power Co. - Chesapeake County - 34,800 tons

WEST VIRGINIA

Appalachian Power Co. - Putnam County - 391,900 tons
Appalachian Power Co. - Kanawha County - 1,600 tons
Appalachian Power Co. - Mason County - 9,500 tons
Central Operating Co. - Mason County - 137,100 tons
Ohio Power Co. - Marshall County - 48,700 tons
Ohio Power Co. - Marshall County - 307,400 tons

WISCONSIN

Wisconsin Power & Light Co. - Columbia County - 11,000 tons

WYOMING

Basin Electric Power Cooperative - Platte County - 79,100 tons
PacifiCorp. - Lincoln County - 119,000 tons
PacifiCorp. - Campbell County - 28,000 tons

[Devil_Fish]

41. DHS is going to censor Google Earth???

What a bunch of dumb shits.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

42. oh noes! you may be one of DHS's

"enemies" since you have all that infomasion!

[friendly_iconoclast]

39. Here's some more info & links about toxic coal ash

This first is a spreadsheet that shows where some of the most dangerous sites are. The second is a key to the first:

http://projects.publicintegrity.org/coalash/documents/CoalAsh_Map_Table.xls

http://projects.publicintegrity.org/coalash/documents/CoalAsh_Map_Key.txt



http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/national/07sludge_EPA.pdf



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/us/07sludge.html?pagewanted=all

January 7, 2009
Hundreds of Coal Ash Dumps Lack Regulation
By SHAILA DEWAN
The coal ash pond that ruptured and sent a billion gallons of toxic sludge across 300 acres of East Tennessee last month was only one of more than 1,300 similar dumps across the United States — most of them unregulated and unmonitored — that contain billions more gallons of fly ash and other byproducts of burning coal.

Like the one in Tennessee, most of these dumps, which reach up to 1,500 acres, contain heavy metals like arsenic, lead, mercury and selenium, which are considered by the Environmental Protection Agency to be a threat to water supplies and human health. Yet they are not subject to any federal regulation, which experts say could have prevented the spill, and there is little monitoring of their effects on the surrounding environment.

In fact, coal ash is used throughout the country for construction fill, mine reclamation and other “beneficial uses.” In 2007, according to a coal industry estimate, 50 tons of fly ash even went to agricultural uses, like improving soil’s ability to hold water, despite a 1999 E.P.A. warning about high levels of arsenic. The industry has promoted the reuse of coal combustion products because of the growing amount of them being produced each year — 131 million tons in 2007, up from less than 90 million tons in 1990.

The amount of coal ash has ballooned in part because of increased demand for electricity, but more because air pollution controls have improved. Contaminants and waste products that once spewed through the coal plants’ smokestacks are increasingly captured in the form of solid waste, held in huge piles in 46 states, near cities like Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Tampa, Fla., and on the shores of Lake Erie, Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River....

[Vidar]

43. More fucking transparency in government, Obama!

[nashville_brook]

44. if they're so dangerous then why not clean them up? fine the companies for endangerment.

[rainbow4321]

45. "TVA has settled about 50 personal claims with residents and businesses"

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/06/07/ap6514003.html

U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson's House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment oversees the TVA and already has held two hearings in Washington about the Dec. 22 breach in a huge coal ash storage facility at Kingston that released 5.4 million cubic yards of toxic-laden ashen muck into the Emory River and a lakeside neighborhood.


(snip)

Among the complaints, resident Penny Dotson told Johnson her grandson was having respiratory problems, so TVA relocated them to a rental house. But she said TVA recently told her the lease was canceled and she didn't know where they will go.

Donnie and Sharon Andrews said Sharon's chronic hepatitis is worsening and they blame the spill. They said their doctor refused to check her for heavy metal contamination, but TVA officials said toxicologists working under a TVA contract with Oak Ridge Associated Universities will provide those kinds of tests for free.

TVA has settled about 50 personal claims with residents and businesses, but has seven lawsuits pending in federal court, including some that would seek class-action status.

-----------------

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-coalash_13tex.ART.State.Edition1.3ab9924.html

As the Environmental Protection Agency moves toward controlling coal ash waste from power plants, a new study finds Texas leading the nation in current and proposed production of the waste, which contains toxic metals.

(snip)



Texas ranked first, with existing plants producing 13.5 million tons per year that contain an estimated 8,915 tons of toxic metals such as arsenic, mercury and lead. This was based on the types and amounts of coal the plants reported burning.

As many as eight possible new plants in Texas would add 4.1 million tons per year of coal ash waste, containing 4,231 tons of toxic metals. The Texas and national figures include permitted plants that are on hold for economic or regulatory reasons.
(snip)

Texas classifies coal ash as non-hazardous industrial waste, meaning disposal onsite or on nearby company property requires no permit. A power company must provide disposal construction and operation details and must prevent harm to health or the environment, said Texas Commission on Environmental Quality spokeswoman Andrea Morrow.
-------------

http://www.physorg.com/news160942759.html

Twenty-one states have five or more of the high-risk disposal sites near coal-fired power plants. The groups -- the Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice -- said a 2002 Environmental Protection Agency document that the agency didn't release until March of this year adds information about toxic releases from these facilities to nearby water systems and data on how some contaminants accumulate in fish and deer and can harm the health of people who hunt and fish.

The report said that people who live near the most problematic disposal sites have as much as a 1-in-50 chance of getting cancer from drinking water contaminated by arsenic. The highest risk is for people who live near ash ponds with no liners and who get their water from wells.

The report said the ash ponds also produced an increased risk of damage to the liver and other organs from exposure to such metals as cadmium, cobalt and lead, and other pollutants.

Although the health information mainly came from an EPA study released in August 2007, the information was largely neglected and was too technical for most people to understand, the groups said. The report and a chart of the sites "takes the numbers and fleshes them out so the most dangerous units are identified," said Lisa Evans, an attorney with Earthjustice.
-------


Documents with "blacked out" sections during the previous administration:

http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/pubs/EPA%20Blackout%20Document.pdf

Above is from:
http://environmentalintegrity.org/pub640.cfm

[hunter]

46. DHS is too Dangerous to Reveal to Public...

What a bunch of evil clowns. They'd be right at home in the old USSR.

Sigh. Now that our empire is collapsing, it's no wonder the same old shit is falling out of the sky.

Get rid of the DHS, send the fucking "Homeland" back to the slimy dark hell it crawled out of and support open government in the good old U.S.A..

Get rid of coal too. The best thing to do with coal is to leave it in the ground untouched. It is not a resource, it's a poison.