Press from yesterday's protest.
First, the Charleston Daily Mail had a story announcing the protest: http://dailymail.com/News/statenews/201106230478 I was told WV Public Radio also announced the protest, but I can't find a link.
Television: http://www.wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=102028 http://www.wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=101883 (Charleston-Huntington) http://www.wtrf.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=101883&catid=3&... (Wheeling)
News articles: Vicki Smith's AP story http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WV_COAL_ASH_PROTEST_WVOL-?SITE=AP&... It got picked up by numerous papers http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/2011/06/wva-sierra-club-fights-mckinleys-... http://www.weirtondailytimes.com/page/content.detail/id/140629/W-Va--Sierra-... http://timeswv.com/westvirginia/x2099992739/Activists-fight-McKinley-s-coal-... (Fairmont)
(Capito's District) http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201106230481 (I think the Charleston Gazette got it, but their web page does not load today.) http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/563669/W-Va--Sierra-Club-... (Martinsburg, WV)
The Morgantown paper requires a paid subscription, but here is their story:
DOMINION POST page 4A Friday 24 June 2011:
http://ee.dominionpost.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=RFBvc3QvMjAxMS8wNi8yNCNBcjA...
Area Sierra Club protests McKinley’s coal ash bill BY DAVID BEARD The Dominion Post
One day after a House subcommittee OK’d Rep. David McKinley’s coal ash regulation bill, the Sierra Club West Virginia Chapter picketed his Morgantown office and handed over a letter asking him to withdraw the bill. Club members contend coal ash is toxic and needs Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) oversight. The Republican’s bill, HR 1391, comes in response to an EPA proposal to reclassify coal ash - a byproduct of coal combustion used in such things as cement and drywall, and on surface mines to mitigate acid drainage - as a hazardous waste. It reinforces states’ powers to enforce their own standards, which may exceed EPA standards. According to the bill memo, the EPA proposes two alternate rules. One would make coal ash a hazardous waste under subtitle C of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (called RCRA), calling for protective measures including landfill liners, groundwater monitoring and fugitive dust controls. The second proposal would keep it nonhazardous under RCRA subtitle D, but calls for the same protective measures. The EPA said neither rule would revise most aspects of “beneficial reuse” in cement, bricks, drywall and such. HR 1391 would preclude the EPA from regulating coal ash in any way under subtitle C. West Virginia Reps. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican, and Nick Rahall, a Democrat, are among the cosponsors. The House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy approved the bill in a voice vote Wednesday. Club members picketed alongside Beechurst Avenue on Thursday morning, bearing such signs as “Coal Ash + Our Water = Toxic Brew.” Then they headed inside the Seneca Center and downstairs to McKinley’s office to present a packet of papers and speak briefly with McKinley’s field representative, Pam Krushansky. In a letter to McKinley, Sierra Club Energy Committee Chairman James Kotcon says, “In essence, your bill blocks EPA from doing its job. ... Dozens of coal ash dumps around the nation are polluting air and water with hazardous materials such as arsenic, cadmium, selenium, mercury and lead.” The Morgantown Energy Associates power plant near the Seneca Center produces coal ash used on area surface mines. After the meeting, members said there are safer alternatives - such as limestone - for treating mine drainage. The letter also notes that West Virginia’s 1st Congressional District has a “high concentration of coal ash disposal facilities,” including the Albright landfill in Preston County. The Sierra Club, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and West Virginia Rivers Coalition are suing Mon Power, and its parent company FirstEnergy, over the Albright coal ash landfill for allegedly discharging excessive levels of arsenic into Daugherty Run and the Cheat River. Bill proponents contend coal ash doesn’t meet EPA toxicity standards, while opponents contend EPA has updated its science. Proponents also say the proposed EPA rules could kill hundreds of thousands of jobs and raise utility rates by as much as 25 percent. Subcommittee Chairman John Shimkus said state agencies, including the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, support the bill and say they can regulate this without federal control. McKinley sent this statement to The Dominion Post in response to the protest: “I appreciate the citizens who came to my office today to voice their opinion. While we do disagree on the issue of coal ash, I am glad they are engaging in the debate. “My legislation ... actually strengthens state regulatory authority over these materials. The legislation would prevent the Obama administration’s attempt to reclassify these materials as a hazardous waste - a designation previous administrations have deemed inappropriate. “Even this week during an Energy and Commerce subcommittee, both Democrats and Republicans voted to classify coal ash as a nonhazardous material because the science proves it is nonhazardous. “In addition, the economic consequences of a hazardous designation are disastrous; one study found it would cost America more than 300,000 jobs in the next 20 years across a variety of industries. Public health is just as important as jobs, and they are not mutually exclusive in this case. By passing this bill, we will strengthen environmental protections and protect hundreds of thousands of jobs.”
The bill’s next step is consideration by the full Energy & Commerce Committee. No date has been set yet, according to House sources.
Let me know if you find anything else?
Jim Kotcon
Jeff Stant jstant@environmentalintegrity.org 6/23/2011 6:08 PM
I heard from Sam that you had twelve people there and generated some press. Do you have any links to it?
GREAT JOB!!! I'd like to keep this thing going and growing. But that's fantastic that you did it!
Please post any press to Sierra's CCW listserve.
Thanks
Jeff
Jeff Stant Director, Coal Combustion Waste Initiative Environmental Integrity Project 5819 Lowell Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46219
Phone: 317-359-1306 Mobile: 317-331-3607 Email: Jstant@environmentalintegrity.org