Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my amendment that will ensure that vulnerable communities are protected from the unsafe storage of coal combustion residuals known as coal ash. My amendment is simple. It would prevent the coal ash regulation framework in this bill from going into effect if States fail to protect vulnerable populations from the adverse effects of haphazard coal ash storage. Vulnerable populations defined in the amendment include infants, children, adolescents, pregnant women, the elderly, racial or ethnic groups, and others identified by the EPA Administrator. Mr. Chairman, the EPA estimates that 70 percent of coal ash impoundments are located in low-income communities. Coal ash impoundments lacking proper safeguards can fail, resulting in the leaching of harmful chemicals into surface and groundwater. Coal ash stored in pools have caused water contamination in 37 States. In worst case scenarios, catastrophic failures cause coal ash slurry to flow directly into rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes. The largest coal ash spill in U.S. history occurred in 2008 in Kingston, Tennessee, when 5.4 million cubic yards of toxic sludge spilled into a nearby river, causing a Superfund site which could cost $1.2 billion in remediation costs. In February of 2014, 82,000 tons of coal ash spilled into the Dan River in Eden, North Carolina, near the district of Ms.…”