Coal Ash Dump Sites Polluting Drinking Water across U.S. with Heavy Metals and Arsenic

A new study has identified 39 additional coal ash dumpsites in 21 states that are contaminating water supplies with heavy metals, showing the government is inadequately monitoring these disposal sites and lax at regulating the toxic waste.

The study is entitled IN HARM’S WAY: Lack of Federal Coal Ash Regulations Endangers Americans and Their Environment and was released just days before the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) starts a series of hearings across the U.S. to consider regulation of toxic coal ash waste. A non-partisan group called the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) authored the study with the Sierra Club environmental organization and the non-profit law firm Earthjustice.

Coal ash is a waste material produced during the combustion of coal in coal-fired power plants. A 60 Minutes investigation found that U.S. power plants produce about 130 million tons of waste each year, mostly coal ash. It contains toxic materials such as lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic.

“Coal ash pollution poses serious health risks,” the report said. “People living near unlined coal ash ponds can have an extremely high 1 in 50 risk of cancer. That is more than 2,000 times higher than what the EPA considers acceptable. The toxins found in coal ash have also been linked to organ disease, respiratory illness, neurological damage and developmental problems.”

You can find out if power plants are disposing of coal ash in landfills or wet ponds near you at The Center for Public Integrity here.

The majority of coal ash is disposed of at some 1,300 sites across the county, mostly wet ponds like the one in Kingston, TN that burst in December 2008 and spilled a billion gallons of the toxic mud into a nearby river, even engulfing homes. An investigation by The New York Times found that most of these sites are unmonitored and unregulated. The ponds can dry up in the sun, making the ash into a fine dust carried by the wind.

The EPA had previously acknowledged 67 problematic coal ash dumpsites. This study identifies 39 additional coal ash dumpsites, plus another 31 sites the EIP found in February, that are contaminating drinking water or surface water with arsenic and other heavy metals. That brings the total number of known toxic contamination sites from coal ash pollution to 137 across 34 states.

“The contamination of water supplies, threats to people, and damage to the environment documented in this report illustrate very real and dangerous harms that are prohibited by federal law but are going on in a largely unchecked fashion at today’s coal ash dump sites,” said Jeff Stant, director of the Environmental Integrity Project’s Coal Combustion Waste Initiative. “Contamination of the environment and water supplies with toxic levels of arsenic, lead and other chemicals is a pervasive reality at America’s coal ash disposal sites because states are not preventing it. The case for a national regulation setting common sense safeguards for states to meet, such as liners, monitoring and cleanup standards, could not be more persuasive. The need for more direct EPA involvement is clear; leaving enforcement to the same states that have refused to do their jobs for the last 40 years is simply not a responsible course of action.”

Every one of the coal ash dumpsite groundwater monitoring wells, of those equipped with such test wells, had concentrations of heavy metals such as arsenic or lead exceed federal health-based standards for drinking water. At a site in Pennsylvania called Hatfield’s Ferry, levels of arsenic were 341 times the federal standard.

Even more frightening is that large coal ash-generating states such as Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico and Tennessee require no monitoring by law at coal ash ponds.

"The health risks from exposure to this toxic waste are real and we cannot afford to ignore them any longer,” said Lyndsay Moseley, federal policy representative of the Sierra Club. “It is clear from this report that the closer we look the worse this problem becomes. The only real solution is for the EPA to adopt federally enforceable protections as part of its push to improve public health. We’re talking about people’s lives here.”

The first public hearing on the pending EPA coal ash rule is set for August 30, 2010 in Arlington, VA. Additional public hearings will follow in Denver, CO on September 2; Dallas, TX on September 8; Charlotte, NC on September 14; Chicago, IL on September 16; Pittsburgh, PA on September 21; and Louisville, KY on September 28.

How Many Cancer Cases Does it Take to Be Classified a Cancer Cluster?

In Frederick, MD, a town surrounding Fort Detrick U.S. Army Garrison, residents wonder just how many of them must become a cancer statistic before it is considered a cancer cluster.

AOL News reports the story of Randy White who lost one daughter to brain cancer, has another daughter diagnosed with a rare stomach cancer and an ex-wife with renal cancer. Their doctors at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL told them environmental factors appeared to have caused the cancers, not genetics. White believes his family suffered exposure to cancer-causing materials in the environment while living many years near Fort Detrick in Frederick, MD.

Fort Detrick currently encompasses an area of 1,200 acres and hosts a variety of medical related research and development. However, from 1943 to 1969 it was the center of the United States’ biological weapons program, testing biological warfare such as Agent Orange.

On 399 acres called Area B, the army tested its biological warfare materials and later used it as a disposal site for chemical, biological and radiological materials. A list of materials used or disposed of in Area B is unavailable, although it is known that the Army disposed of Anthrax, acids and chemicals, radioactive carbon, sulfur, and phosphorous; and a lethal chemical agent called Phosgene at the site.

The U.S. outlawed the biological weapons program in 1969 and since then the government has performed several cleanup operations at Area B, but contamination remains.
Sampling of ground water and residential wells around Fort Detrick has shown volatile organic compounds (VOC) trichloroethene (TCE) and tetrachloroethene (PCE) contamination from Fort Detrick operations and toxic waste. Most of the drinking water wells in close proximity to Fort Detrick have been closed, and residents provided with public water or bottled water.

A residential community is located within 100 feet of the Area B disposal areas.

In April 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency added Area B of Fort Detrick to the National Priorities List and designated it a Superfund site.

The White family is not the only family affected by cancer near Fort Detrick. The Washington Post reports that more than 400 people within a two-mile radius of where White used to live with his family have developed cancer. Residents told of incidences of cancer, tumors, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and leukemia. One family lost 12 members to leukemia.

Randy White started the Kristen Renee Foundation, in honor of his daughter to find a cure for brain cancer. He has spent more than $250,000 of his own money to investigate and document contamination and cancer cases in the Fort Detrick area. Scientists have found that contaminants seeped into White’s family home in Frederick by vapor intrusion.
The Frederick County Health Department is now investigating if incidences of cancer near Fort Detrick are indeed a cancer cluster.

There is no defined number of cancer cases to qualify as a cancer cluster. A disease cluster is the occurrence of a greater than expected number of cases of a particular disease within a group of people, a geographic area or a period of time.

EPA Warns Consumers that Improper Pesticide Use in Bedbug Treatment Can Make People & Pets Sick

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an alert for consumers warning of dangers associated with improper bedbug pesticide treatments.

Bedbug infestations have been widely in the news lately, especially in New York. Retail stores including New York’s Victoria’s Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister temporarily closed to combat infestations of the tiny bloodsucking insects, according to The New York Daily News.

Bedbugs are a small, parasitic insect that feed on the blood of warm-blooded animals. Named “bedbugs” because they often inhabit sleeping areas where they feed on unsuspecting victims at night, they can also feed during the day and inhabit places other than a bed including chairs and couches, folds of curtains, in drawer joints, in electrical receptacles and appliances, under loose wallpaper and wall hangings — even in the head of a screw.

The offices of Time Warner and the Brooklyn District Attorney are the latest places requiring the use of an exterminator for bedbug control.

Bedbug infestations are difficult to control. Along with a rise in bedbug outbreaks, the EPA warns that cases in which individuals or companies who offer to control bedbugs with unrealistic promises of effectiveness or low cost are also increasing. In some bedbug situations, pesticides not intended for indoor residential applications have been improperly used or applied at greater rates than the label allows.

“While controlling bedbugs is challenging, consumers should never use, or allow anyone else to use, a pesticide indoors that is intended for outdoor use, as indicated on the label,” the EPA alert stated. “Using the wrong pesticide or using it incorrectly to treat for bedbugs can make you, your family, and your pets sick. It can also make your home unsafe to live in – and may not solve the bedbug problem.”

The Associated Press reports that Bergdorf Goodman, a New York retailer who has not had any infestation problems, hired a bedbug-hunting beagle to patrol the store for bedbugs at night after closing.

The EPA recommends these non-chemical methods to control bedbugs:

• Removing clutter where bedbugs can hide
• Using mattress covers designed to contain bedbugs
• Sealing cracks and crevices
• Vacuuming rugs, and upholstered furniture thoroughly and frequently, as well as vacuuming under beds (take the vacuum bag outside immediately and dispose in a sealed trash bag)
• Washing and drying clothing and bed sheets at high temperatures (heat can kill bedbugs)
• Placing clean clothes in sealable plastic bags when possible
• Being alert and monitoring for bedbugs so they can be treated before a major infestation occurs

If you need to use pesticides, the EPA says to follow these tips to ensure your safety and that the product works:

• Before using any pesticide product, READ THE LABEL FIRST, then follow the directions for use
• Check the product label to make sure it is identified for use on bedbugs. If bedbugs are not listed on the label, the pesticide has not been tested for bedbugs and it may not be effective
• Any pesticide product label without an EPA registration number has not been reviewed by EPA to determine how well the product works
• Make sure that the pesticide has been approved for indoor use

For more information, see Bedbugs on the EPA website.

First responders hold rally for 9/11 health bill

First responders staged a rally near ground zero Sunday to urge Congress to pass the 9/11 health care bill.

The nearly $7.4 billion bill was defeated in Congress last week.

It would have provided funds over the next 10 years to treat workers who were sickened by their exposure to the toxic smoke and debris at the World Trade Center site.

Supporters of the bill are working to get it passed later this month.

Click here source.

First Responders Blast Congress Over 9/11 Health Bill Defeat

Several September 11th organizations rallied in Lower Manhattan Sunday to urge Congress to pass the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act.

About two dozen first responders, their families and others gathered at the World Trade Center site where they called on lawmakers to stop arguing over the legislation and just approve it.

The bill would provide funds to first responders and residents who were sickened by the toxic dust from the debris.

The $7.4 billion measure was defeated in the House last week when Democrats decided to require a two-thirds majority for passage, fearing Republicans would attach amendments to the bill.

"Somebody from Congress needs to step up and apologize. They better step up and apologize for their actions down there. Because its shameful to say the least," said Kenny Specht of the Firefighter Brotherhood Foundation.

"Republicans and Democrats should have voted like Americans! They say this is a New York issue. This is a national issue," said September 11th health care advocate John Feal.

One key sticking point is whether the health care bill would cover illegal immigrants who worked the pile or were sickened Downtown.

First responders say political gimmicks from both sides should not be tolerated.

"We have Congress playing with our lives while we sit on death row," said retired Department of Transportation worker Ken George.

"When I was down here digging, Congress was down here. The politicians were down here, and they put their arms around me. They were really here. I was was proud to be an American. Now I’m saddened by what’s going on. That they are using politics. This is a bunt. This is easy. This is an easy bill to pass," said New York City Firefighter Ray Pfeifer.

The group says they plan on staging a larger rally in the coming months in Washington, D.C.

Click here source.

Sick 9/11 responders rally against lawmakers for not passing Zadroga bill, plan Washington protest – The New York Daily News

Sickened 9/11 responders vented their fury Sunday against lawmakers who failed to pass the Zadroga health care bill - and vowed to stage a massive protest rally in Washington when Congress returns from a six-week vacation.

"We will not go away," said now-retired NYPD squad commander Gary White at a Ground Zero gathering of dozens of rescue and recovery workers and their families.

"We will stand here and fight for this bill," said White, who has severe respiratory ailments and suffered two strokes after working at the World Trade Center site and the Staten Island landfill, where victims’ remains were sifted from the rubble.

The House of Representatives failed Thursday night to pass the $7.4 billion measure to cover health care costs for workers sickened at the site of the terror attacks and compensate victims. Democrats could have passed it in a simple majority vote, but opted for a procedure requiring a two-thirds majority so no amendments could be attached.

"Human life has taken a back seat," said John Feal, a demolition supervisor whose left foot had to be partially amputated after a steel beam fell on him during cleanup work.

Feal called out warring Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens-Brooklyn) and Pete King (R-L.I.), whose congressional floor shout-fest about Thursday’s vote became a TV and Internet sensation in recent days.

"You’re both right and both wrong," Feal said. "I hope you can come together for the heroes who risked their life without prejudice."

The bill was named after NYPD Detective James Zadroga, who died in 2006 from respiratory disease contracted at Ground Zero.

Click here source.

House rejects aid for 9/11 responders

WASHINGTON — A bill that would have provided up to $7.4 billion in aid to people sickened by World Trade Center dust fell short in the House late Thursday, raising the possibility that the bulk of compensation for illness will come from a legal settlement reached in the federal courts.

The bill would have provided free health care and compensation payments to 9/11 rescue and recovery workers who fell ill after working in the trade center ruins.

It failed to win the needed two-thirds majority, 255-159.

The bill is named for James Zadroga, a New York police detective who grew up in North Arlington. His supporters say he died from respiratory disease caused by his work at Ground Zero, but New York City’s medical examiner said Zadroga’s lung condition was caused by prescription drug abuse.

Zadroga’s father, Joseph Zadroga, a former North Arlington police chief, had pushed to get the bill enacted.

For weeks now, a judge and teams of lawyers have been urging 10,000 former Ground Zero workers to sign on to a court-supervised settlement that would split $713 million among people who developed respiratory problems and other illnesses after inhaling trade center ash.

The court deal shares some similarities with the aid program that the federal legislation would have created, but it involves far less money. Only the most seriously ill of the thousands of police officers, firefighters and construction workers suing New York City over their exposure to the dust would be eligible for a hefty payout.

But supporters of the deal have been saying the court settlement is the only realistic option for the sick, because Congress will never act.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you can wait and wait and wait for that legislation … it’s not passing," Kenneth Feinberg, the former special master of the federal 9/11 victim compensation fund, told an audience of Ground Zero responders Monday in a meeting on Staten Island.

Click here source.

Anthony Weiner Erupts at Republicans for Rejecting 9/11 Responders Health Bill

Most House Republicans on Thursday voted against a bill to provide $7.4 billion in aid to 9/11 first responders who became sick after the attacks. They complained that Democrats opted to bypass voting on amendments, opting instead for a process that sped up the vote but required a two-thirds majority.

Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner blew a fuse on the House floor when he heard his GOP colleagues complaining about procedure yesterday. In a dramatic one-and-a-half minute speech, Weiner hollered that Republicans were being cowardly by opposing the bill based on procedure.

The measure failed to get the two-thirds needed to pass: The vote was 255 to 159, and came down largely along party lines.

"It’s Republicans wrapping their arms around Republicans rather than doing the right thing on behalf of the heroes," Weiner yelled. "It is a shame. A shame! If you believe this is a bad idea to provide health care - then vote no! But don’t give me the cowardly view that ‘Oh if it was a different procedure’…"

Before Weiner made his remarks on the floor, Republican Rep. Peter King of New York accused Democrats of being too afraid to vote on controversial amendments and instead staging a "charade" by holding the vote.

Weiner contended that Republicans were the ones staging a charade by stalling votes under the false pretense that they could possibly support a bill if it were further amended.

"We see it in the United States Senate every single day, where members say, ‘We want amendments, we want debate, we want amendments — but we’re still a No,’" Weiner yelled. "You vote yes if you believe yes… if you believe it’s the right thing. If you believe it’s the wrong thing, you vote no."

Click here source.

9/11 Health Bill Battle

MYFOXNY.COM - The House on Thursday rejected a bill that would pay up to $7.4 billion in aid to people sickened by toxic dust from the World Trade Center.

The bill was named after James Zadroga, a police detective who died from health problems after working at ground zero. Had it passed, the legislation would have covered medical expenses for 9/11 first responders and survivors.

Now many of those who are suffering say they feel the government, including President Obama, has abandoned them.

Ken George was with the city’s Department of Transportation. He says he worked 16 hours a day for six months at ground zero after the attack. Now he suffers with heart and lung disease and takes at least 21 pills a day.

He says that just four months ago he received a letter from President Obama which mentioned honoring first responders. But George says the House vote last night doesn’t live up to that promise.

George says his medical costs are ruining him financially and that he’s at risk of losing his home.

The Zadroga bill would’ve covered medical expenses for those who got sick at ground zero. The majority of House republicans voted against the bill because they couldn’t pad it with amendments on abortion and immigration.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat of New York, was outraged. Thursday night on the House floor, he railed against what he called

"It’s Republicans wrapping their arms around Republicans rather than doing the right thing on behalf of the heroes," he said, angrily.

Kenny Specht, a retired firefighter who has thyroid cancer, agrees with the congressman.

"That was partisan politics that took place last night," Specht says. "That was Republicans getting together before last night’s vote and saying ‘We’re not going to support this bill because it’s a Democratic-supported bill.’"

Click here source.

Political dust flies over Ground Zero bill

WASHINGTON, July 30 (UPI) — House Republicans had some choice words for a bill to compensate people made ill by the dust and debris from the 2001 collapse of the World Trade Center.

The Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act was voted down by Congress Thursday after GOP House members blasted the $8.4 billion proposal as a "slush fund" that would enrich scammers and provide a gravy train for New York hospitals for the next decade.

The New York Daily News said Friday the 255-159 vote against the bill could mean it will never be passed despite Democrats’ vow to try again later this year.

"This legislation as written creates a huge $8.4 billion slush fund paid by taxpayers that is open to abuse, fraud and waste," declared Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., said he didn’t like provisions that would reimburse hospitals for care at a rate higher than Medicare.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said he might favor a scaled-down version of the program as long as it did not lead to a tax increase for Americans outside the Big Apple.

The Daily News said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., was one of 12 Republicans to back the bill in Thursday’s procedural vote. He suggested the Democrats actually wanted the measure to fail so they could use it to make the Republicans look bad.

"This bill should be more important than a campaign talking point," he said.

Click here source.