National Coal Ash Call-in Day

WHAT: A nationwide call in day to show the President that we all want and need strong coal ash protections.
WHEN: Monday, Nov. 24
HOW: Make a call and spread the word!

Coal ash, the waste left over from burning coal, is the second largest industrial waste stream in the United States. Coal ash contains arsenic, lead, mercury, chromium, and a range of harmful heavy metals and toxic pollutants that poison the air and contaminate drinking water supplies.

Coal ash disasters have been plaguing communities living near the dangerous dump sites — from the 2008 disaster in Tennessee, when a billion gallons of toxic sludge poured onto farmland and into the Emory and Clinch rivers, to the recent failure along North Carolina’s Dan River, when a burst storm water pipe underneath an unlined coal ash pit dumped 39,000 tons of coal ash and 27 million gallons of contaminated wastewater into the river.

The problem with coal ash pollution is getting worse and more dangerous every day and there are no federal protections. Now is the time for the administration to stand up and protect the many citizens living in the shadows of these dangerous and contaminated dump sites.

Call and leave your comment of support for a strong coal ash rule by calling the comment line at the White House!

CALL: 1-888-454-0483
Sample Phone Script

Hello. My name is [Full Name] from [City and State]. I respectfully request that President Obama finalize strong safeguards by the end of this year that truly protect the health and environment of all American communities threatened by coal ash.

Optional Talking Points (if you’d like to add them):

• The rule must close and clean up legacy dumps, provide the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with enforcement authority, establish clearly defined deadlines and transparent processes for cleanups, end all wet disposal, make publicly available groundwater monitoring data and inspections, protect the public from dangerous reuse of ash, and allow for full public participation in permitting processes.
• Now is the time for your administration to stand up and protect the many citizens living in the shadows of these dangerous and contaminated sites. I ask that the President finalize strong federal protections this year for coal ash pollution to not only prevent the next big disaster, but to stop the slow poisoning of American communities.
• Coal ash threatens the respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological systems of people living near more than 1400 dump sites across the nation. Over 1.5 million children live near coal ash storage sites and 70 percent of all coal ash lagoons disproportionately impact low-income communities.

Protecting the Central and Southern Appalachian Mountain Region