EPA is holding a series of eight public hearings on the agency’s proposals to regulate the disposal and management of coal fly ash from coal-fired power plants. EPA’s proposal is the first-ever national effort to ensure the safe disposal and management of coal ash from coal-fired power plants.  One of the remaining hearings will be in Louisville, KY on September 28th. 

            

The hearing in Louisville will begin at 10 a.m. and continue until 9 p.m. with a break at noon and 5 p.m. The hearing will continue past 9 p.m. if necessary. Walk-in requests to speak will be accommodated as time permits. Written comments will be accepted at the hearing. The agency will consider the public’s comments in its final decision.

 

The need for national management criteria and regulation was emphasized by the December 2008 spill of coal ash from a surface impoundment near Kingston, TN. The proposal will ensure for the first time that protective controls, such as liners and ground water monitoring, are in place at new landfills to protect groundwater and human health. Existing surface impoundments will also require liners, with strong incentives to close these impoundments and transition to safer landfills which store coal ash in dry form. The proposed regulations will ensure stronger oversight of the structural integrity of impoundments and promote environmentally safe and desirable forms of recycling coal ash, known as beneficial uses.

 

EPA has proposed two main management approaches, one of which phases out surface impoundments and moves all coal ash to landfills; the other allows coal ash to be disposed in surface impoundments, but with stricter safety criteria. 

 

More information about the proposed regulation: http://www.epa.gov/coalashrule. To view the chart comparing the two approaches: http://www.epa.gov/coalashrule/ccr-table.htm.

The Friends of Coal’s outreach campaign continues with next week’s 2010 Central West Virginia Business and Coal Forum in Summersville.  The event will begin at 5:30 at the Summersville Arena and Convention Center. The focus of the event will be the opportunities and challenges facing the coal mining in Appalachia. Speakers will include Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association and representatives of several of the major coal companies and organizations in the region. The event will be keynoted by Lt. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, president of the West Virginia State Senate, who will speak about the legislative perspective on coal mining. The event will be followed by a reception from 8:00-9:00 p.m.  It is sponsored by the West Virginia Coal Association, the Friends of Coal and the Coalition for Mountaintop Mining.

 

If you would like to schedule the Friends of Coal for a presentation or event, please call 304.342.4153.

CHARLESTON – The West Virginia Coal Association and the Friends of Coal would like to thank all the folks from across Appalachia who made the trip to Washington, DC for Wednesday’s rally to support coal mining jobs.

 

More than 2,000 coal miners, their families and friends from across the region made the two-day trip to the nation’s capitol to attend the rally in Russell Park beside the U.S. Capitol. The crowd heard messages of support from several of the region’s prominent political leaders, including U.S. Senators Jay Rockefeller and Carte Goodwin, Representatives Shelley Capito and Nick Rahall, Gov. Joe Manchin as well as national and state elected officials from across the region.