Tr-Ash Talk: The Coal Breath of Betrayal

The author criticizes a House amendment that exempts coal ash ponds and landfills from federal regulation, arguing it prioritizes the interests of the coal industry over public health and ignores the risks demonstrated by the 2008 Kingston, TN spill.

• A House amendment attached to a transportation bill would prevent the EPA from regulating coal ash and establishing minimum standards for safe disposal, effectively allowing coal ash ponds and landfills to operate without federal oversight.
• The lack of regulation poses significant health risks, as the EPA found in 2010 that cancer risk from arsenic near some unlined coal ash ponds was 1 in 50, which is 2,000 times the EPA's regulatory goal. There are over 700 coal ash ponds across 35 states.
• The 2008 coal ash spill in Kingston, TN, involving the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant, is cited as the largest toxic waste spill in U.S. history, where 1 billion gallons of toxic ash covered 300 acres and contaminated drinking waters.

APA

Earthjustice (2012). Tr-Ash Talk: The Coal Breath of Betrayal. https://earthjustice.org/article/tr-ash-talk-the-coal-breath-of-betrayal

Chicago

Earthjustice. Tr-Ash Talk: The Coal Breath of Betrayal. 2012. https://earthjustice.org/article/tr-ash-talk-the-coal-breath-of-betrayal.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Earthjustice |title=Tr-Ash Talk: The Coal Breath of Betrayal |date=20 April 2012 |url=https://earthjustice.org/article/tr-ash-talk-the-coal-breath-of-betrayal |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{earthjustice2012trash, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Tr-Ash Talk: The Coal Breath of Betrayal}}, publisher = {Earthjustice}, year = {2012}, month = apr, url = {https://earthjustice.org/article/tr-ash-talk-the-coal-breath-of-betrayal}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }