Court decision expected soon on local sludge ban

From an article in yesterday's Allentown Morning Call:

Just weeks after receiving letters in 2006 from the state Department of Environmental Protection that a local tree farm would be spreading sludge on hundreds of acres, residents of East Brunswick Township in Schuylkill County responded by lobbying their supervisors to enact a no sludge ban, which they approved that December.

But the tree farm, J.C. Hills, complained to the state attorney general, who filed suit against the township claiming the ordinance violated a 2005 state law that prohibits municipalities from regulating sludge.

A decision on the suit, now before the Commonwealth Court, is expected within weeks if not days. But whatever the verdict, the question of who decides on the use of sludge -- commonly known as biosolids -- is an emerging controversy in Pennsylvania and one that is gaining traction with its municipalities.

Other Schuylkill County communities that have enacted similar bans or announced support of East Brunswick's ordinance include the borough of Tamaqua and the townships of Mahanoy, Packer and Rush, where Hometown is located. Elsewhere across the state, communities in Lancaster and York counties have also taken action against sludge dumping.

Officials say sludge is no concern for drinking water

Jerry Pillus of the state Department of Environmental Protection has assured the public that the sewage sludge being dumped next to a feeder creek for Tamaqua's drinking-water reservoir is not a problem. Furthermore, he's tired of citizens raising concerns about the water. Read all about it in the April 17 post at DANTE7.com.

Sludge dumped near Hometown's drinking water reservoir

Tamaqua Borough Council member Cathy Miorelli has raised concerns about the dumping of sewage sludge on land drained by a stream that feeds the Still Creek Reservoir, the local drinking water supply, according to the Times News. The land in question is in Carbon County's Packer Township.

Miorelli's experience in trying to bring the problem to the attention of the proper authorities illustrates why many area citizens have little faith in government regulators.

After she learned about a "brown substance" piling up on the land in question, Miorelli called the state Department of Environmental Protection's complaint hotline and spoke with Tim Craven, according to the paper. Asked whether the dumping was permitted, Craven -- who is DEP's Northeast regional biosolids coordinator -- said he didn't know, and that "it would be difficult for him to find out," she said.

Craven eventually called the farmer, who reportedly said the material was lime. Craven then told Miorelli to call the farmer and verify that it was in fact lime. She told him she didn't think that was her job and requested an inspection. He said he would "really hate to do that," she told the paper.

Then on April 2, Miorelli got a phone call from Craven, who told her that it was in fact "biosolid material," and that it had come from Phillipsburg, N.J. On April 10, officials with the DEP and Tamaqua Borough and Water Authority met at the property in question but declined to check the feeder stream. The paper reports:

Mayor Christian Morrison took issue with the fact that the DEP officials apparently lied and did not perform the appropriate inspections.

"This community has lost faith in DEP and this just doesn't help,'' he said.

It would be interesting to know where specifically in Phillipsburg the material comes from. The town is home to Hydropress, a company that processes sewage sludge from New York City and elsewhere into materials spread on farmlands. In 2003, the company sued Pennsylvania's Upper Mount Bethel Township over an ordinance requiring sludge dumpers to pay a fee for road improvements and a substantial bond to ensure compliance with local regulations; the Pennsylvania Supreme Court eventually ruled that townships do not have the authority to impose such regulations.

Despite the high court's ruling, Tamaqua as well as neighboring Rush Township, where Hometown is located, have passed similar restrictions on dumping. So has nearby East Brunswick Township, which is now having its regulations challenged by State Attorney General Tom Corbett, who formerly served as an attorney for sludge hauler Waste Management Inc.

New Study Reports Pennsylvania Groundwater Contamination From Coal Ash

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 18, 2007

Contacts:
Jeff Stant, Clean Air Task Force (317) 331-3607 (cell)
Lisa Evans, Earthjustice (781) 771-8916
Eric Schaeffer, Environmental Integrity Project (202) 296-8800
Dante Picciano (570) 386-5744

New Study Reports Pennsylvania Groundwater Contamination from Coal Ash

Ash from power plants used to fill mines is poisoning water throughout PA; Local Group Petitions EPA for Assistance

Harrisburg, PA – Disposing of coal ash in mines is contaminating water supplies throughout Pennsylvania, according to a report released today by Clean Air Task Force (CATF) and Earthjustice. In 10 of 15 mines examined across the state, groundwater and streams near areas where coal ash, or coal combustion waste, was placed had levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium and selenium and other pollutants above safe standards.

"Disposing of coal combustion waste in these mines is threatening water supplies all over the state," said Jeff Stant, director of the Pennsylvania Minefill Research Project at the Clean Air Task Force. "If the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection won’t act now to stop these dangers, the US EPA should step in to protect the residents of Pennsylvania who live near coal ash mine fills."

The study, “Impacts on Water Quality from Placement of Coal Combustion Waste in Pennsylvania Coal Mines,” is available here: www.catf.us/goto/paminefill.

A 4-page background document is available here: http://www.earthjustice.org/library/factsheets/coal-ash-in-pennsylvania.pdf

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) has repeatedly touted the 'beneficial use' of coal ash in these active and abandoned mines, claiming that the practice limits the outflow of acidic water from mines. The study found the opposite was true: in six of the nine permits that used coal ash to treat acid mine drainage, acidity levels actually increased, leaving the mines more acidic at the end of monitoring, not less.

"For years, federal agencies have refused to adopt meaningful safeguards for disposing of this toxic material. They have allowed states like Pennsylvania to use coal mines as dump sites for coal ash from power plants, calling it 'beneficial use,'" said Lisa Evans, an attorney for Earthjustice and one of the report's contributing authors. "This report shows that this practice is doing more harm than good."

CATF and Earthjustice, in coordination with professional geologists and water quality experts, found that a lack of safeguards to keep coal ash out of water, inadequate monitoring and no cleanup standards has led to unaddressed contamination in two-thirds of the mines studied. The study reinforced findings by the National Academies of Science that high contaminant levels in coal ash leachate pose human health and ecological concerns and that enforceable minimum standards are needed in national regulations for the minefilling of coal combustion wastes.

"I have sampled mine pools under waste sites in eastern Pennsylvania for more than 20 years and am extremely concerned about high levels of lead and cadmium in mine pools underneath mines where coal ash has been placed," said Robert Gadinski, a professional geologist retired from PADEP who was a contributing author of the report.

The study makes 13 recommendations to improve the PADEP 'beneficial use' placement of coal ash in mines. These changes include safeguards in regulations that would require adequate short- and long-term monitoring, limits on pollution allowed from the ash, isolation of ash from water, and financial resources set aside by operators to clean up the pollution caused by their ash.

In addition, a local watershed group is demanding immediate action instead of waiting for PADEP. "Based on the findings of this report, the Mahanoy Creek Watershed Association is petitioning the US EPA today to examine the contamination of massive mine pools under the Ellengowan and BD Mines for cleanup under Superfund," said Robert Krick of the Mahanoy Creek Watershed Association. Monitoring data reveals lead and cadmium 30-40 times federal drinking water standards and hundreds of times the national water quality criteria down gradient from the 16 million tons of coal ash dumped in the two mines.

"With some 120 mines permitted to dump coal ash, Pennsylvania leads the nation in this practice, which is destined to grow in Appalachia if trends continue," said Eric Schaeffer of the Environmental Integrity Project, which has been monitoring the Pennsylvania’s coal ash program. "We hope this Report will show EPA and OSM officials that common sense safeguards, recommended by the National Academies of Science and enforced at landfills that accept far less dangerous municipal wastes, are needed."

Over 129 million tons of coal combustion waste (CCW) are generated from U.S. coal-fired power plants each year and this waste has poisoned groundwater supplies in at least 23 states according to EPA. Last month, EPA released a report that found that cancer risks from exposure to CCW lagoons is 900 times greater than government safety standards recommend. Today's study offers a glimpse into the impact that CCW disposal has had in only a fraction of mines where it is placed. Currently, there are about 600 existing CCW landfills and surface impoundments in the United States and hundreds of mine fills. These sites can contain high levels of lead, cadmium, chromium, mercury and arsenic, among other toxic chemical pollutants.

To view video footage of some of the Pennsylvania sites, please visit: http://web.mac.com/green_wuuti/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html

Groups to release report on statewide coal ash contamination

MEDIA ADVISORY:
DATE: September 13, 2007

Contact:
Jeff Stant, Clean Air Task Force, (317) 359-1306
Lisa Evans, Earthjustice, (781) 631-4119
Dante Picciano, (570) 386-5744

GROUPS TO RELEASE REPORT ON STATEWIDE COAL ASH CONTAMINATION
Study finds mines plugged with toxic coal ash have poisoned water across PA

MAHANOY CITY, PA -- A coalition of local and national environmental groups, concerned residents, and academics will gather on Tuesday, September 18th, at the site of one of Pennsylvania's largest coal ash minefilling operations, calling for the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to change the misguided practice of backfilling mines with the poisonous byproduct of coal-fired power plants. With the smokestacks of the Schuylkill Energy power plant and the toxic Ellengowan mining site in the background, the group will release an exhaustive report that documents unprecedented levels of groundwater contamination at this site and others throughout the state. The group will also call upon the federal Environmental Protection Agency to intervene and investigate the site under its Superfund authority. The report’s authors and local environmental advocates will be available to answer questions.

WHO:
Jeff Stant, Director, Power Plant Waste Program, Clean Air Task Force
Lisa Evans, Attorney, Earthjustice
Robert Gadinski, Geologist, PADEP (retired)
Robert Krick, Vice President, Mahanoy Creek Watershed Association
Brian Whitman, Professor of Environmental Engineering, Wilkes University
Dante Picciano, Attorney and Scientist
Bill Lockwood, Save Us From Future Environmental Risk

WHAT:
Press conference to release report on statewide contamination from coal mines backfilled with toxic coal ash. Conference will be held at one of Pennsylvania’s largest minefilling operations.

WHEN:
Tuesday, Sept. 18, 10 a.m.

WHERE:
St. Mary's Byzantine Cemetery overlooking Schuylkill Energy power plant, Mahanoy City, PA (click here for map)

EPA invites comments on coal ash waste disposal as evidence of danger mounts

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently seeking comments from the public about worrisome new information on the disposal of waste from burning coal -- and how the information should affect the way the agency regulates such waste.

In a Federal Register notice published Aug. 29, EPA announced the availability of new information and data contained in documents including a joint U.S. Department of Energy and EPA report titled Coal Combustion Waste Management at Landfills and Surface Impoundments, 1994-2004 and a draft risk assessment conducted by EPA on the management of CCW in landfills and surface impoundments.

The risk assessment examined 181 coal combustion waste disposal sites throughout the country and found that unlined coal ash waste ponds pose a cancer risk 900 times above what the government considers "acceptable." The report also found that coal ash disposal sites release toxic chemicals and metals such as arsenic, lead, boron, selenium, cadmium, thallium, and other pollutants at levels that endanger human health and the environment.

Environmental and public health advocacy groups including Earthjustice, the Clean Air Task Force and the Environmental Integrity Project have long called for regulations on the toxic ash produced by coal-fired power plants. Instead, a common industry practice is to mix the material with water and dump it into unlined or inadequately lined ponds, allowing pollutants to seep into groundwater supplies.

Just today, the Annapolis (Md.) Capital newspaper reported on a rural community grappling with drinking wells that are contaminated with cadmium, thallium and other toxic metals due to a nearby coal combustion waste dump operated by Baltimore-based Constellation Energy. According to Earthjustice, at least 23 states have poisoned surface or groundwater supplies from improper disposal of coal ash.

The EPA report found that coal ash dumped in unlined or clay-lined ponds and landfills pose the greatest risk. According to data collected in 1995, more than 60 percent of the country's coal ash disposal units are unlined or clay-lined. While the use of a composite liner significantly reduces the risk of exposure to health-threatening pollution, the federal government and most states do not require such protective measures.

"Strict standards regulating the disposal of coal ash are long overdue," Earthjustice attorney Lisa Evans said in a statement. "There is no excuse for further delay. The EPA has the data. They know how grave the health risk is and yet still millions of people remain exposed to this dangerous waste. Coal ash is our country's second largest source of industrial waste, and it's time the EPA made these polluters do their part to clean up."

About 129 million tons of coal ash is generated each year in the United States and dumped in some 600 coal ash landfills and industrial waste ponds. It's also increasingly used to fill in abandoned mines throughout Pennsylvania's coal regions. The Keystone State is the nation's fourth-leading generator of such waste, after Kentucky, Texas and Indiana.

Fight against sludge dumping heats up in Schuylkill County

The supervisors of East Brunswick Township, a rural community south of Hometown, have voted to defend their anti-sludge-dumping ordinance from a challenge by the Pennsylvania Attorney General, the Times News reports. The supervisors have hired to defend the ordinance its author, Tom Linzey of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund. Nearby Rush Township, where Hometown is located, and the borough of Tamaqua recently became among the first municipalities in the country to adopt similar ordinances banning sludge dumping; CELDF also crafted those regulations, which so far have not faced legal challenges.

A plan of action for Hometown...

...and all the other communities suffering from toxic dumping, by local environmental watchdog Dante Picciano: Vote out the incumbents and bring in the lawyers.

Tamaqua bans corporate waste dumping

A people's revolution that some liken to the effort to end U.S. slavery is taking place just down the hill from Hometown.

The Tamaqua Borough Council last night voted 4-3 to approve a new ordinance banning corporate waste-dumping, the Pottsville Republican-Herald reports. Mayor Christian Morrison, a Hometown native who cast the tie-breaking vote on the proposal, said he doesn't expect the controversy over the ban to end any time soon, however:

"I know we'll be challenged on this. And we welcome that," Morrison said. "It's a hard vote when you know you're going to be challenged, and you possibly could go to court and be sued over this, but when you say you're going to do everything you can to protect your community, that means everything you can."

Supporting the ordinance were Cathy Miorelli, Stephen Tertel and Mahlon Kachelries. Opposing it were Council President John "Sonny" Trudich and council members James Knowles and Micah Gursky, who called it "illegal."

Living in an old coal-mining community where enormous abandoned mine pits have been filled with toxic coal-combustion waste and river dredge over their objections, Tamaqua residents in recent years have begun fighting back against polluters with the help of the local Army for a Clean Environment and the Chambersburg, Pa.-based Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund. Last year the borough banned corporations from dumping sewage sludge and also became the first municipality in the United States to recognize the rights of nature.

"Abolitionists struggled over decades to undo constitutional law which had long defined slaves as 'property' and to transform this nation's 'property and commerce' constitution into a 'rights and liberty' constitution," CELDF Historian Richard Grossman said at the time. "Tamaqua has now challenged today's constitutional injustices -- against Nature and against the self-governing 'We the People.'"