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01J29/2010 10:12 AM 

"EPA Public Access Customer Service" 

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LisaP Jackson/DCIUSEPA/US @ EPA 

FWD: January 22, 2010 Dear Lisa Jackson, I am writing on behalf of Green 

America, . . . 

The following incident has been forwarded to you by Public 

Kathleen Dougherty (dougherty .kathleen@epa .gov) 

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Access . 

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kimaecofriendonline .ecm 

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January 22, 2010 Dear Lisa Jackson, I am writing 

on behalf of Green America, . . . 

4 c . Public Access - End State 

Pollutants and Toxics 

Other PolluLants and Toxics . . 

Ol/22/2010 C6 :23 PM 

01/29/2010 10 :11 AM 

Unresolved 

Kathleen Dougherty 

Quick < 5 minutes 

No 

No 

NJ 

Yes 

January 22, 2Q10 23 :21 :38 GMT 

?1 .202 .1 .184 

No 

Discussion Thread 

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Customer - O1/?.2/2010 06 :23 PM 

January 22, 2010 
Dear Lisa Jackson, 

I am writing on behalf of Green America, a national marketplace solutions 

organization founded in 1982, with 120,000 individual and 5,000 business 

members nationwide . our mission is to harness economic power - the strength of 

consumers, investors, workers, and businesses - to solve social and 

environmental problems . 

our members are deeply concerned about the environmental impacts of electric 

power generation in our country, and support the generation of electric power 

in the cleanest manner possible . In particular, for the past decade, our 

members have been active with us in raising concerns about the harmful 

environmental impacts of coal - from mining, to burning, to disposal - and 

encouraging greater regulation of this highly polluting energy source . 

As we enter a new year, I wanted to send you my thanks for the work the EPA is 

doing to reduce the environmental effects of coal-fired power and increased 

scrutiny of mountain top removal mining permits, and encourage the EPA to hold 

coal companies accountable for their abuses of the Clean Air Act and Clean 

Water Act . 

Specifically, I want to thank the EPA for reviewing and initially rejecting 79 

permits for mountaintop removal mining, for its recent ruling that carbon 

dioxide is a pollutant, and the agency's newly proposed National Ambient Air 

Quality Standard, further limiting smog . I am also pleased to hear that the 

EPA is considering a tightening of the wastewater discharge standards to 

better protect our waterways and new controls on mercury emissions . 

It is in light of these accomplishments and intentions that I wish to raise 

several concerns . Green America and its members are concerned that the EPA 

recently signaled its approval of the Hobet 45 mine in Lincoln County, WV, 

after reaching an agreement that only reduced stream impacts by 50 percent and 

reduced anticipated stream contamination . While this marks an improvement over 

the initial application, it still clearly allows for the significant 

destruction of streams and likely permanent damage to ecosystems . 

In fact, a paper entitled "Mountaintop Mining Consequences" published in the 

journal Science today by 12 leading scientists nationwide clearly concludes 

that the impacts of mountaintop removal are pervas~.ve and irreversible : 

The scientific evidence of the severe environmental and human impacts from 

mountaintop mining is strong and irrefutable . Its impacts are pervasive and 

long lasting and there is no evidence that any mitigation practices 

successfully reverse the damage it causes . 

In addition, we understand that the EPA is currently working to reach an 

agreement on the Spruce No .l mine in Logan County, WV, which would clear 2,200 

acres of forest, bury more than seven miles of headwater streams, and 

increasingly contaminate downstream watersupplies . It is hard to imagine how 

this mining operation could be allowed to go forward in a manner that 

adequately protects the environment . 

At a time when Americans are increasingly, and justly, concerned about the 

contamination of water supplies, and recognizing that the future health and 

well being of communities nationwide will be deeply and permanently impacted 

by the actions taken today around coal mining, we urge the EPA to strictly 

enforce all existing regulations, including the Clean Water Act, and use its 

authority to block all coal mining practices that cause permanent harm to our 

waterways, ecosystems, and communities (rather than merely reduce these 

harms) . 
I would also like to take this opportunity to encourage the EPA to release 

proposed regulations regarding coal ash that strictly regulate this 

environmental risk . Throughout the ccuntry, coal ash dumps pose a threat to 

our communities and over 130 million tons of new coal ash is produced each 

year . Coal ash is also incorporated into roadbeds, building materials, and 

other products, all without regulation . For too many years, this massive and 

dangerous waste stream has gone unregulated, and it is clear that the coal 

industry itself cannot be relied upon to protect the public interest . 

We need the EPA to create strong regulations to prevent another tragedy, like 

what happened in Tennessee one year ago, where l .? million cubic yards of coal 

ash spilled, causing the largest environmental disaster of its kind in US 

history and extensive harms to the surrounding communities that still are not 

being properly addressed . We are concerned about the EPA's delays in issuing 

these regulations, which were initially to be released by the end of 2009, as 

well as the agency's current lack of disclosure regarding existing sites and 

decision allowing coal ash to be deposited in a landfill in a high-poverty and 

mostly African American community in rural Alabama . 

Green America supports the strictest regulation of coal ash waste that poses a 

significant threat to human health. and the environment . Green America will 

continue to follow the EPA's work on regulating coal-fired power production, 

and will continue to support improved and increasing regulation of coal mining 

and power production . 

Sincerely, 

Kim M . Ha-nmar 

CEC, EcoFriendOnline .com 

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