The Hill News

As a native Wisconsinite, I winced when I learned that the toxic coal ash spill into Lake Michigan happened in Oak Creek. But my next reaction was one that should be shared by each of the millions of Americans who get their drinking water from Lake Michigan. I was angry -- because this was exactly the kind of accident that should never have been allowed to happen.

Just three years ago, Americans saw an even worse coal ash spill in Tennessee, when a billion gallons of toxic sludge poured onto farmland and into the Emory and Clinch rivers. Coal ash is the waste that is left over after burning coal for electricity, and it contains arsenic, lead, mercury, chromium, and many other dangerous metals that leach into our water supply.

In that disaster, we saw first-hand the consequences of delegating the job of handling coal ash to state regulators who lack the will and ability to protect communities. We thought it would be the final straw and that national! safeguards to protect Americans from this hazardous material would surely follow. 

Read more...