Stop Coal Ash Contamination

Demand that EPA –

Prevent exposure to toxic coal combustion waste that is “reused” in construction, building materials, and consumer products;
Put coal ash under the federally enforceable hazardous waste requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act;
Regulate coal combustion waste from generation to final disposal, including coal ash “beneficially re- used” in construction, agricultural fields, and consumer products.

Tell EPA to regulate coal combustion wastes under Subtitle C and to stop supporting coal ash reuse without adequate environmental and human health safeguards.

EPA is accepting comments on the coal ash regulatory proposals until September 20, 2010. Comments may be sent by e-mail, fax, or mail: Identify your comments by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2009-0640. Email to rcra-docket@epa.gov; Fax to 202-566-0272; or send two copies by mail to: Hazar

dous Waste Management System; Identification and Listing of Special Wastes; Disposal of Coal Comb

ustion Residuals from Electric Utilities Docket, Attention Docket ID No., EPA-HQ-RCRA-2009-0640, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 5305T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20460.

You can send your comments directly to the RCRA docket by using the sample comments provided below. Feel free to share, personalize, or amend these comments. Visit PEER.org for more information about coal combustion wastes used in consumer products, agriculture, and building materials.

Subject: Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2009-0640

Your Letter:

The Kingston coal ash spill, as well as the proven and potential damages from buried and beneficially used ash used as fill in Pines, Indiana, and at the Battlefield Golf Course, clearly demonstrate the need for strong Federal regulatory oversight of coal combustion waste.  These wastes should be regulated under strict, federally-enforceable environmental protections as listed waste under Subtitle C.  To protect human health and the environment from unknown quantities and exposure pathways of toxics in coal combustion wastes, EPA should also close the loophole that enables “beneficial use” to avoid regulation as special wastes.  In no cases should a “beneficial use” exemption allow unregulated placement of coal combustion wastes in the water table or as general fill.

Without strict definitions and environmental and health protection regulations for beneficial use, there will be no way to prevent toxics in coal combustion wastes from being recycled back into the environment.  New air pollution controls mean that more toxics are being removed from air emissions and instead leaving the power plants as solid waste. Re-release of toxics may result from beneficial uses such as combustion when used as raw feed in cement kilns, aerial application to icy rivers, loose application as skid control on roads, wallboard or concrete manufacturing and disposal, unmonitored application to agricultural fields, and increasing use in consumer products like countertops, cosmetics, and even toothpaste.  Because pollution controls, feedstock, and ash handling can change the nature of the materials, new studies are needed to characterize coal combustion wastes from each source before any beneficial use can be deemed safe for the environment.

We need to take the lessons from the proven and potential coal combustion waste damage cases and regulate beneficial uses along with disposal until we are sure that effective measures are in place to adequately protect human health and the environment.

In sum, EPA should:

?	Regulate coal combustion wastes under the federally enforceable provisions of RCRA Subtitle C; and  
?	Close the loophole for beneficial reuse of toxic coal combustion wastes unless and until regulations are in place to: adequately define each “beneficial use”; to characterize the materials and the risks posed to human health and the environment by beneficial uses; to assess the risks posed during transportation, manufacture, handling, product lifespan, and end of life of each beneficial use application; and to appropriately label consumer products and building materials that contain coal combustion wastes.

Environmental Protection Agency Hazardous Waste Management Syste

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