WaterKeepers
see riverkeepers<div>
</div><div>http://waterkeeper.org/</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">120 desmog</font></p><div class="views-field views-field-created" style="margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><span class="field-content"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">January 18, 2020 - 13:20 • <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/user/julie-dermansky" title="View user profile." class="username" style="text-transform: uppercase;">JULIE DERMANSKY</a></font></span></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-series"><div class="field-content" /></div><div class="views-field views-field-title-1" style="line-height: 1.3em; font-weight: 800; margin-bottom: 1em;"><span class="field-content"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2020/01/18/diane-wilson-formosa-point-comfort-texas-plastic-pollution-settlement" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Activists Find Evidence of Formosa Plant in Texas Still Releasing Plastic Pollution Despite $50 Million Settlement</a></font></span></div><div class="views-field views-field-body" style="overflow: inherit;"><div class="field-content"><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2020/01/18/diane-wilson-formosa-point-comfort-texas-plastic-pollution-settlement#disqus_thread" data-disqus-identifier="node/14156" style="text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: bottom; padding-top: 1px; display: inline !important;">
</a>On the afternoon of January 15, activist Diane Wilson kicked off a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community/San-Antonio-Bay-Waterkeeper-128611780622397" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">San Antonio Estuary Waterkeeper</a> meeting on the side of the road across from a Formosa plastics manufacturing plant in Point Comfort, Texas. After Wilson and the waterkeeper successfully sued Formosa, the company agreed to no longer release even one of the tiny plastic pellets known as nurdles into the region’s waterways. The group of volunteers had assembled that day to check whether the plant was still discharging these raw materials of plastics manufacturing. </font></p></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-view-node" style="text-align: right; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="field-content"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2020/01/18/diane-wilson-formosa-point-comfort-texas-plastic-pollution-settlement" style="outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">READ MOR</font></a></span></div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coal-ash-oklahoma-pruitt-2579396022.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/coal-ash-oklahoma-pruitt-2579396022.html</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">P</font><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ruitt Grants Oklahoma Leniency to Dispose of Toxic Coal Ash Without Federal Oversight</span></font></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="js-scroll-trigger" data-target="body" data-triggers="render-rebelbar" data-toggle-class="with-floating-shares" data-loaded="true" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></span></font><div id="utm_campaign" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url" data-elid="2579396022" data-authors="Olivia Rosane" data-headline="Pruitt Grants Oklahoma Leniency to Dispose of Toxic Coal Ash Without Federal Oversight" style="margin: 10px; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="body-description"><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Monday, Oklahoma became the first state to be granted a permit from the Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" target="self" style="text-decoration-line: none;">EPA</a>) to dispose of its own <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal-ash" target="self" style="text-decoration-line: none;">coal ash</a>, <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/business/apxepa-shifts-oversight-of-coal-waste-to-a-state-for-1st-time/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">The Associated Press reported</a>.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The move displaces the federal government as the body responsible for coal ash disposal in EPA head <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt" target="self" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Scott Pruitt</a>'s home state. Coal ash is the residue left over from burning <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal" target="self" style="text-decoration-line: none;">coal</a> for power that often contaminates groundwater. It is a change that industry has lobbied for and environmental groups have opposed.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">States have demonstrated that "they don't care about the health and safety of communities near coal ash dumps," Earthjustice attorney Lisa Evans told The Associated Press.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">About 100 million tons of coal ash is produced by U.S. plants every year, often left in disposal ponds that leak into groundwater, contaminating it with pollutants like arsenic and radium. Tests ordered by the EPA this spring of groundwater around plants in various states found elevated pollution levels, according to The Associated Press.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Despite this, "industry has asked for leniency, less stringency. That's the direction they're going," Evans said.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, switching coal ash oversight to states was part of an "action plan" proposed by coal industry executive Robert Murray this spring to Pruitt and other officials in the Trump administration.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pruitt defended the decision, saying in a statement that the move empowered "those who are best positioned to oversee coal ash management—the officials who have intimate knowledge of the facilities and the environment in their state."</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pruitt also <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-coal-ash-disposal-2541726001.html" target="self" style="text-decoration-line: none;">moved to weaken</a> Obama-era coal ash disposal regulations in March, but the rule change allowing states to control coal ash disposal was actually passed by Congress and signed by former President Barack Obama in 2016, according to <a href="https://stateimpact.npr.org/oklahoma/2018/02/16/environmental-groups-fight-states-effort-to-regulate-coal-ash-on-its-own/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">NPR</a>. The law said that state rules had to be "as protective as" federal guidelines.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I am pleased that Oklahoma is the first state in the nation to receive approval of its Coal Combustion Residuals permit program. We actually incorporated the federal rule into our state permitting rules program over a year ago," Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Executive Director Scott Thompson said in an <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-approves-first-nation-state-coal-ash-permit-program-oklahoma" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">EPA press release</a> about the decision.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But at a hearing in February, Oklahoma environmental groups said the DEQ was not prepared to adequately regulate coal ash.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The DEQ rules are weaker than the EPA rules," Oklahoma Grand Riverkeeper and activist Earl Hatley told NPR in February. "This is just a boon for industry to do what they want."</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Waterkeeper Alliance senior attorney Kelly Foster further expressed concerns that the DEQ plan did not provide enough information on how companies would be made to comply with regulations and how the DEQ would take on new responsibilities with existing resources.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Georgia and Texas are following Oklahoma in taking steps to control coal ash disposal, The Associated Press reported.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></font></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/environment/3-ways-epa-chief-scott-pruitt-protects-polluters-not-people">https://www.alternet.org/environment/3-ways-epa-chief-scott-pruitt-protects-polluters-not-people</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pruitt certainly calls into question his fitness to serve our country. Far more dangerous, though, is his utter fealty to polluters, which drive policies that present devastating threats to the air we breathe and the water we drink. The consequences of his disastrous decisions jeopardize the health and welfare of current and future generations. </font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The three examples below represent just a few of Pruitt's gifts to industrial polluters for which he should be removed from office immediately.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>1. Eliminating Regulations on Coal Ash: w</strong><span style="text-align: center;">ater pollution from coal-fired power plants—and particularly their coal ash dumps—is the single largest source of toxic water pollution in the United States; coal plants dump more toxics into our waters than the other top nine polluting industries combined.</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There are <a href="https://waterkeeper.org/trump-administration-guts-safeguards-nations-no-2-toxic-pollution-threat/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">more than 1,400 coal ash dumps</a>, containing millions of tons of toxic waste, at power plants throughout the United States. Roughly half of them have no liners and 70 percent are situated in low-income communities. Waterkeeper Alliance has investigated dozens of coal ash dumps all over the country and found toxic pollutants like chromium, cadmium, arsenic, mercury and lead discharging out of more than 90 percent of them into waterways used by citizens for drinking, swimming and fishing.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These <a href="https://earthjustice.org/features/the-coal-ash-problem" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">toxins increase risks</a> of multiple types of cancer, heart disease and organ failure.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2015, the EPA—for the first time—<a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2015/first-ever-coal-ash-rule-published-safeguards-begin-this-fall" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">set standards</a> for how power plants store and dispose of their coal ash. Despite the clear threat that coal ash presents to public health, Pruitt's EPA now wants to eliminate even these bare minimum standards. Pruitt claims that regulations are killing the coal industry. To the contrary, renewables and market forces are putting coal out of business—despite his attempts to keep the industry on life support.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Under the guise of providing flexibility to states, Pruitt wants to roll back rules that help protect our drinking water from coal ash. His proposed rollbacks project to <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-proposes-first-two-rules-amend-coal-ash-disposal-regulations-saving-100m-year" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">save the coal industry between $31 million and $100 million</a> in compliance costs. But what about the financial and emotional costs imposed on communities suffering from leaking coal ash dumps in their communities? For every day that Pruitt props up the coal industry, Americans suffer loss to their health and property.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Upon taking office, one of Pruitt’s first actions was to take aim at the definition of "Waters of the United States," which identifies the waterways that are protected from pollution under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Pruitt is looking to <a href="https://waterkeeper.org/proposed-revisions-to-wotus-reduce-clean-water-protections/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">significantly narrow the definition</a> presumably in order to enrich his polluter pals.</font></p></div></div><div></div><div>SF</div><div>
</div><div><div>New Law Expands Oil Spill Protections for California Waters and Wildlife</div><div>
</div><div>Baykeeper advocacy was a key reason the law was passed</div><div>
</div><div>Dear P,</div><div>
</div><div>I'm thrilled to announce that a new state law has just gone into effect to provide California's rivers, lakes, and creeks with protections from oil spills that were previously given only to the state's coastal waters.</div><div>
</div><div>Plus, the law also ensures continued funding for the California agency that rescues wildlife injured by an oil spill.</div><div>
</div><div>These expanded oil spill protections are critical now. California is experiencing a huge influx of oil brought in from other states by rail. Much of it is coming to Bay Area refineries located on the shore of San Francisco Bay, and traveling through our local communities.</div><div>
</div><div>Now, all of California's waterways will have protections in place to prevent and respond to oil spills. And our state will be prepared to care for wildlife endangered during an oil spill.</div><div>
</div><div>I'm proud to say that Baykeeper's advocacy efforts helped ensure the passage of this bill.</div><div>
</div><div>Thank you for supporting Baykeeper's work to protect San Francisco Bay and its watershed from oil spills. This victory for the Bay and for California waters is also your victory.</div><div>
</div><div>As more oil is shipped into the state by rail, the danger of oil spills into California's inland waters is rising.</div><div>
</div><div>There are 7,000 locations in California where railroad tracks cross over a water body. Last year in the US, more than a million gallons of crude oil was spilled as a result of rail accidents.</div><div>
</div><div>The new law addresses this major threat by expanding the scope of the state Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR). OSPR's readiness and cleanup programs will now cover both coastal and inland waters.</div><div>
</div><div>The law also secures funding to keep open the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, the California agency that rescues, cleans, and cares for wildlife injured by an oil spill.</div><div>
</div><div>In addition, the Oiled Wildlife Care Network's scope has also been expanded. Now, it will rescue wildlife endangered by an oil spill on the coast or in the state's rivers, creeks, and other inland waters.</div><div>
</div><div>The new oil spill protections are funded by a 6.5-cent fee on every barrel of oil entering California. Previously, fees were levied only on oil arriving by tanker ships. This legislation expands the fee to all oil, whether it arrives by tanker, pipeline, or rail.</div><div>
</div><div>You can read more about the new oil spill protections on our website.</div><div>
</div><div>Baykeeper has been working on several fronts to protect San Francisco Bay and its wildlife from the threat of increased shipping of oil in and out of the region.</div><div>
</div><div>Our efforts include fighting the expansion of the Valero refinery in Benicia, fighting the re-opening of a now-closed Pittsburg oil terminal, and advocating for a recently-passed Oakland City council resolution opposing the shipment of oil by rail through that city.</div></div><div>
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