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Washington, DC -- Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources listened to Gambrills, Md. resident Norman Harvey as he explained how the unregulated disposal of Coal Combustion Waste (CCW) products such as fly ash have contaminated drinking wells in his community with dangerous levels of cancer-causing heavy metals.
Currently the disposal of CCW is not federally regulated and the purpose of the hearing was to examine the impact of CCW on communities such as Gambrills and demonstrate the need for federal regulations.
“It is reprehensible that our residents have been exposed to these dangerous toxins,” said Congressman John Sarbanes. “Today’s hearing, with Mr. Harvey’s testimony putting a face on the impact of this dumping on our communities and with the expertise of Secretary Wilson, is a vital step toward establishing the right federal standards. Those responsible for dumping these materials should be held accountable for failing to adequately test and monitor for contamination, and we hope that the federal response will ensure that other communities won’t ever have to contend with what the Harvey family and others in the affected community are facing.”
Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been engaged in rulemaking for fly ash disposal they have not yet proposed any solutions or policies that would address the concerns of residents in Anne Arundel like Mr. Harvey who have been directly affected. Today’s hearing underscored the importance of putting a process in place for the disposal of fly ash to address these concerns. The testimony given today by the two Maryland witnesses will help ensure that the EPA establishes policies to appropriately protect the environment and public health from the dangers posed when fly ash is improperly/illegally dumped.
According to the EPA, fly ash is a powdery material made up of tiny glass spheres and consists primarily of silicon, aluminum, iron and calcium oxides. U.S. power plants produce millions of tons of fly ash annually as a byproduct of burning coal at electric utility plants. The EPA has confirmed 24 cases in which human or ecological health had been severely compromised by CCW dumping. Most recently in 2007 health officials determined that a dump with 8 billion pounds of fly ash in Gambrills, Md. had contaminated two dozen drinking wells.
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