Citizens Meet the EPA

Charlotte, NC hosted one of the hearings by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week. The hearing allowed citizens to comment on the EPA plans to regulate coal ash disposal.

An overflowing conference room at the Holiday Inn Airport spilled out into the hall (in photo at right), through the lobby, and into another room full of people listening to the speakers remotely over an audio system.

The EPA Press Release of May 4, 2010 states that the purpose of the regulation is to ensure the structural integrity of coal ash impoundments, to prevent accidents like the one that occurred in Kingston, TN. There, a dike failure spilled 5.4 million cubic yards of fly ash into adjacent sloughs and into the main Emory River channel, covering about 300 acres.

The Proposal is also intended to prevent groundwater contamination and threats to drinking water. You can get a copy of the Proposed Rule on the EPA Website.

Registration was high for speakers, so time was limited. Bonnie Crihfield of Roxboro, NC flashes a smile after she spoke at the Charlotte hearing (in photo at left). She is a machine operator at Separations Technology, and concerned about the EPA's regulations regarding coal ash.

Some coal ash is safely recycled into building products like cement blocks and wallboard. Crihfield wants to continue recycling the coal ash and keep producing in her job.

The proposed regulations state that the Environmental Protection Agency strongly supports these recycling efforts. The hearing issue is really about what citizens want them to do about the residual part of the coal ash, after the recyclable contents have been removed.

The Proposal offers two plans of action, with Key Differences Between Subtitle C and Subtitle D Options of Coal Combustion Residuals.

Coal ash impoundments are numerous across the Eastern United States. A map collated by the Sierra Club shows 17 in North Carolina and 11 in South Carolina.

Upcoming hearings will be September 21 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and September 28 in Louisville, Kentucky. Due to high response, they have announced an additional public hearing in Knoxville, Tennessee during the week of October 25, 2010.

Public comment is invited by the EPA online and through the mail. Written commentary on the proposal will be accepted until November 19, 2010.

Earth Day born in 1970!

Earth Day was born 40 years ago. Friends of the Earth published an Environmental Handbook for the occasion, and sold a million copies. The Clean Air Act of 1970 was passed, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established. Also that year, Mother Earth News was founded, supplying practical information for the thousands of people headed back to the land. The magazine was later based in Hendersonville, North Carolina, for around a dozen years.

This year Earth Day has its own network, where you can search events across the country. And it's presenting exhibitions and shows, with performance artists, musicians, multi-media productions and dancers, along with the Climate Rally, at the National Mall in Washington, DC, on April 17th through 25th.

Here in the Carolinas, after a long, long winter, we are happy to show appreciation for our Earth. Here are a few of the ways.

The third Charlotte Clean and Green festival will be held tomorrow, April 17th, from 10:00 a.m until 3:00 p.m., rain or shine. Clean Air Carolina will join in this year, and Appalachian Voices will be hosting a booth. Classes and exhibits will show how we can help save our natural resources, money and health. The event is held at the Central Piedmont Community College's central campus in Charlotte. For more information, please see Charlotte Clean and Green.

On Sunday, April 18th, Sierra Club North Carolina will meet at 8 a.m. to hike the Chestnut Knob Trail at South Mountains State Park. Please contact Steve Copulsky at scopulsky@mindspring.com, 704-543-7493, or 704-458-6651.

The North Carolina Energy Office will sponsor its 7th Annual Sustainable Energy Conference in Raleigh, NC, April 20th to 21st. Speakers and exhibitors will share information on the energy economy, and participants from energy-related fields will be able to network with business leaders and decision-makers. The event will be held in McKimmon Center. Check here for more information and registration.

Celebrating Earth Week, Wofford College in Glendale, South Carolina, will dedicate their new Goodall Environmental Studies Center on Tuesday, April 20, at 4 p.m. Other activities include an Earth Day Bike, Run & Thoreauvian Saunter to Glendale Shoals; an Earth Week Forum; and Water Monitoring Day at Lawson’s Fork.

On April 24, the Cane Creek Cleanup will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers will clean the Catawba River into Cane Creek, from Hwy 9 Landing boat ramp near Lancaster, South Carolina. Volunteers are needed! Please contact canecreekcleanup@gmail.com.

Environmental and Conservation Organization (ECO) is celebrating on the Blue Ridge Community College campus. A film, "Earth Days," will be shown on April 22nd, or you can hike from Hendersonville to BRCC. See information about the Earth Day Festival on April 24th here.

Sustainable Spartanburg will meet at Thornblade Club in Spartanburg, SC, on April 22nd for lunch and a presentation, "A Case for Corporate Sustainability." And Citizen Spartanburg is sponsoring Earth Day Jam in the Park on Sunday, April 25th, from 1:00pm to 6:00 pm. Meet at Duncan Park Amphitheater to enjoy live local music and learn how you can make small changes to help the Earth.

Whatever you do for the Earth this month, get together with friends or family, but get outside!