We Need Senator Nelson to Kick Coal Ash out of the Transportation Bill! Guest Blog by Angelique Giraud

Miami, help protect Martin County's supply of clean water, after all they are your upstream neighbors!

Right now, a Senate Conference Committee is debating the final version of the federal Transportation Bill. Senator Nelson is one of 14 members serving on this critical Committee. There are a few bad amendments including how our utility companies dispose of their coal ash. Floridians need to ask for a clean transportation bill, which provides jobs and protects the state’s water supply from mercury, arsenic, chromium and other toxics in coal ash. Florida has 14 coal power plants producing over 8 billion pounds of coal ash each year, and zero requirements for contamination prevention at coal ash landfills.

Martin County’s Indiantown Cogeneration Plant dumps over 200 million pounds of coal ash into unlined and unmonitored landfills. Ground water contamination by the plant could reach the Everglades Agricultural Area, the St. Lucie River, and everywhere in between.

There is not much time left, we need to ACT NOW.

1. CALL- SENATOR NELSON needs to hear from you and your allies TODAY. Tell him to REMOVE the coal ash amendment. Tell Senator Nelson to protect your health and pocketbook with clean transportation bill. Call 202-224-5274.

2. EMAIL- Send Senator Nelson a personal message.

3. GET THE WORD OUT - Write a letter to the editor, blog, tweet, and forward this message.

Senator Nelson, be a leader and protect the public and our economy over the utility companies. Kick out the coal ash provision NOW!

Angelique Giraud - Energy Community Organizer Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund

The Tip of the Coal Ash Iceberg in Florida. Guest Blog by Angelique Giraud

A heart-wrenching story of one environmental injustice...

Steve Johnson and His Daughter Stand on Coal Ash Covered Driveway

Steve Johnson and his family live on 30 beautiful acres of Florida’s Blackwater Creek, in Middleburg, a preserved wetland in northeast Florida connected to the St. John’s River. It is a quiet rural residential area and appears to be perfect for raising his family and new born daughter while running his lawn care business. Steve’s property is well maintained, he takes pride in the natural aesthetics of his land. For many years, Steve even kept free range chickens for the family’s fresh eggs. However, his picture perfect lifestyle is not as it seems. Steve has been fighting for three years to have the toxic containing coal ash, a byproduct from a coal fired power plant, removed from his land.

Steve’s story is not unique. Steve was provided with approximately 1500 dump trucks each with 20 yard loads of a coal ash, commercially called EZBase, to build up his roads. The coal ash was taken from the Northside Generating Station, owned by Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA), which is over 40 miles from his home. JEA did not advise Steve that using the product might cause dangerous repercussions, so he applied it thoroughly across his property. Soon after, the horrors began. Steve was visited by an enforcement officer from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). The officer was investigating the application and placement of EZBase. FDEP instructed Steve to remove the product as it was too close to wetlands and water bodies, risking toxic contamination. Steve was also told that the material he applied on the roads should not be inhaled or ingested, and was warned that he should pen up his chickens and keep his daughter away from playing on the newly paved roads.

Pile of Coal Ash EZBase - Some is Gravel, Some Boulders -Steve Had to Break up Boulders Himself

According to JEA’s own marketing materials, EZBase is an electric generation byproduct made of coal combustion waste or coal ash. The federal government does not consider coal ash hazardous waste, but allows states to individually determine how to regulate its use. The FDEP classifies coal ash as a non-hazardous “special waste.” This designation leaves little public health protection, even though the product contains toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, chromium, mercury, and many others.

Alarmed and frustrated about being misled, Steve hired a lawyer to sue JEA to force them to remove EZBase from his entire property. JEA refused to remove EZBase completely, claiming Steve improperly applied the product, placing it too close to protected wetlands and other sources of open water.

Steve was taken aback at this accusation, as he had specifically discussed appropriate application sites with a JEA representative before EZBase was unloaded on to his property.