By Locust Fork News Journal

Coal ash is contaminating drinking water supplies in the U.S., and it is only getting worse as the waste stream grows in volume and toxicity. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency made it official on June 21, giving the public only a short period to comment on the first-ever federal rule for coal ash disposal at hundreds of dumps and landfills across the country.

The environmental group Earth Justice is trying to get 50,000 emails sent to the EPA telling them to set strong, federally enforceable safeguards against this hazardous waste.

The EPA’s proposed coal ash rule is far from perfect, the group says. Instead of setting a clear direction on cleaning up coal ash, the EPA instead offered two options: one that uses the strongest protections under the law to curb the coal ash threat, and another that maintains the status quo, offering no federally enforceable requirements to clean up the coal ash mess.

A national coalition of more than 250 environmental and public health groups are working together to fight the lobbyists for the coal and power industries who want little or no oversight over coal ash dumping.

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