Representative Lori Ehrlich (D-Marblehead) testified in Washington, DC before the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the topic of rule making for coal waste regulations.

EPA is holding seven public hearings throughout the US to hear views on the proposed rule: Identification and Listing of Special Waste: Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities, also known as the coal combustion residuals rule, the CCR rule or the coal ash rule. The EPA is proposing, for the first time ever, regulation of toxic coal ash.

Prolonged exposure to the many constituents concentrated in coal ash such as arsenic, lead, mercury, chromium and other heavy metals have been found to cause certain cancers, birth defects, lung disease, respiratory distress, kidney disease and other serious illness.

Details on the EPA's proposal can be found here http://www.epa.gov/wastes/nonhaz/industrial/special/fossil/ccr-rule/index.htm.

During her testimony, Representative Ehrlich urged the EPA to implement strong national regulation in the name of prevention and protection. Disasters like what happened at Wenham Lake in Massachusetts and in other states like the coal slurry spill in Inez, KY, Perry County, AL, (as reported recently by CBS' 60 Minutes) the spill in Kingston, TN and the disastrous golf course fill in Chesapeake, VA illustrate that this rule is decades overdue. 

Representative Ehrlich explained how a lack of federal policy has left states hamstrung and unable to protect their own natural resources. She also pointed out that while people don't think of Massachusetts as a 'coal state' that any state importing coal for burning or receiving coal waste from other states is a 'coal state.'

Before being elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, as a volunteer, Representative Ehrlich led the charge for a six-year multimillion dollar cleanup of Wenham Lake, drinking water for 80,000 people in Salem, Beverly, and parts of Wenham. Ice from the lake, which had once been known worldwide for its purity and had a fan in Queen Victoria who insisted on her ice from Wenham Lake, fell victim to careless dumping of coal ash from the coal-burning Salem Harbor Power Plant.

Through a citizen-led effort and an expedition onto the frozen lake in January of 2001, Wenham Lake was found to have 4-6 feet of waste at its base. Ehrlich rallied the local community, its leaders and other stakeholders to successfully remove most of the waste from the drinking water, cap the waste pit, restore the wetlands and implement a monitoring program to protect this irreplaceable resource for current and future generations. 

"In this case, the 80,000 residents who drink from this lake every day were lucky," said Rep. Ehrlich. "But how many throughout the country are not? With 130 Million Tons of this ubiquitous and toxin-laden waste produced every year, and 400+ coal burning power plants in the US there are countless other places unable to get our attention that need protection too."

Working with Secretary of State William Galvin, then Salem City Counselor Kevin Harvey, Attorney Jan Schlichtmann of Beverly, Marblehead Attorney Lisa Evans of EarthJustice and Rep. Mary Grant (D- Beverly), Rep. Ehrlich wrote legislation in 2001 to address coal ash dumping in Massachusetts that has led to disasters throughout the state such as Wenham Lake and Freetown, MA.

"The coal and disposal industries have now successfully kept this preventative and protective legislation at bay for five two-year sessions," said Rep. Ehrlich. "This is a perfect example of how states are hamstrung and unable to protect its citizens. This regulation is decades overdue and I call on the federal government to step up already.

In her testimony, Representative Ehrlich shared the colorful history of Wenham Lake featuring Queen Victoria's insistence on its ice to the present day cleanup and restoration. She spoke about the impact of unregulated hazardous dumping and urged the federal government to implement the strongest possible coal ash regulation.