Lake City, Tenn. (May 5) – Coal ash – a waste product of burning coal, including that from the devastating practice of mountaintop removal mining – will likely have another defining title to tout in ninety days. The dirty waste material, the cause of the 2008 coal ash spill in Harriman, Tenn., has two fates under a new rule to be determined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): a subtitle C hazardous classification, or a subtitle D non-hazardous status.

Yesterday, the EPA announced the two disposal options in a 500-page report, and set a ninety-day public comment period that will provide activists and residents the opportunity to cite evidence that coal ash is a hazardous waste. Coal ash contains dangerous pollutants, and threatens public health if stored in unlined landfills and ponds, a practice allowed today.
 
“Environmental justice activists have for years wanted coal ash to be considered a hazardous waste in order to better control and minimize negative effects to public health and land. We are relieved to see the EPA moving forward on this important topic,” said Cathie Bird, Strip-mine Committee Chair for Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment. “There is substantial information released in EPA’s report, but for clarity’s sake, it can really be summed up as a classification issue. We have two routes; one protects the U.S. and the other does so minimally, and possibly not at all.”
 
Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment, a 2,200-member strong non-profit started by coal-miners 38 years ago, is pleased to see a hazardous classification for coal ash considered. It represents an important step in the work to end mountaintop removal strip-mining in Tennessee.
 
“We will be urging our members to let the EPA know that we want coal ash regulated as a hazardous waste. We have ninety days, and we will be moving quickly, be rest-assured.”  
 
To speak with a SOCM member regarding EPA’s coal ash classification proposal, please contact Christina Connally Honkonen, 615.260.4595.
 
 
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SOCM is a member-run organization that encourages civic involvement and collective action so that the people of Tennessee have a greater voice in determining their future. The mission of SOCM is to empower Tennesseans to protect, defend, and improve the quality of life in their communities across the state. SOCM is working for social, economic, and environmental justice for all. We are committed to the journey of becoming an anti-racist organization. Recognizing our interdependence, SOCM is committed to overcoming social and institutional racism and embracing our diverse cultures.