Coal Ash Spill Litigation, Environmental Concerns, Featured - Wednesday, March 24, 2010 8:00 - 2 Comments

Coal Ash industry allowed to edit EPA reports

According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency documents released recently by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), EPA publications and reports about uses and dangers of coal combustion waste have for years been edited by coal ash industry representatives. Based on the EPA documents, PEER concludes that the coal ash industry watered down official reports, brochures and fact-sheets to remove references to potential dangers and play up “environmental benefits” of a wide range of applications for coal combustion wastes. The EPA is currently deciding whether to classify these materials as hazardous wastes following the disastrous December 2008 coal ash spill in Tennessee.

PEER asserts that during the Bush administration, the EPA entered into a formal partnership with the coal industry, most prominently, the American Coal Ash Association, to promote coal combustion wastes for industrial, agricultural and consumer product uses.  This effort has helped grow a multi-billion dollar market which the industry worries would be crimped by a hazardous waste designation. Continue…