Louisiana Activists Tell EPA: "Get Tough on Coal Ash"

Between September 7th and 9th, a group of vibrant, energetic individuals from Louisiana traveled with Sierra Club organizers Jordan Macha and Devin Martin to Dallas, Texas. The group stayed at the prestigious Hyatt Hotel overlooking the Dallas skyline, dined on local Tex-Mex fare, and mingled with activists from across the South. The weather was not sunny--remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine passed over the city for most of the day, and a group of volunteers even witnessed a violent tornado touch down and rip across the city from their 18th floor hotel window. The purpose of the trip, however, was not to socialize, chat about the weather, and pass a good time, although that inevitably happens anytime Delta Chapter Sierra Club members get together. People assembled at the Hyatt to attend an EPA public hearing on the issue of coal ash--specifically, whether or not the EPA should officially label coal ash as a hazardous material and regulate the use and disposal of it on a federal level.

Coal ash is the leftover waste product of burning coal, and the U.S. produces tons of it--131 million tons a year, to be exact. About half of this is "recycled" into products like concrete, bricks, and other construction materials. The other half gets disposed of in landfills, mixed with water and put into impoundments (sludge ponds), or simply dumped into local waterways like the Mississippi River. This is possible because coal ash is currently less regulated than household trash. For years, the coal industry has tried to convince people that coal ash is no more dangerous than the rocks or soil in your backyard. But new research has confirmed what environmental and community activists have stated for years: coal ash is toxic, and in nearly every single case where it is disposed, it is threatening communities and the environment.

People living near coal ash disposal sites are exposed to an environmental hazard equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Coal contains nearly every element on the periodic table, including lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium, chromium and selenium. When coal is burned, the carbon matrix that normally buffers these heavy metals is combusted and released into the air, adding the greenhouse gas CO2 to our atmosphere and leaving behind a concentrated toxic waste. In 2008, a large impoundment storing wet coal ash broke, spilling millions of cubic feet of coal sludge across the area near Harriman, Tennessee. This event spurred many to reconsider how we treat coal ash.

Fourteen Louisiana volunteers, mostly students and recent graduates eager to create a better future for themselves and their neighbors, took to the stand on September 8th to urge the EPA to carry out its mission of protecting human and environmental health by regulating coal ash as a hazardous material at a federal level. They were joined by more than a hundred other Sierra Club volunteers and community activists from several states and used personal stories and new research to get their message across--that people and the environment come before profits. With 11 coal ash landfills in Louisiana alone, our activists had a lot to talk about, from environmental justice issues to the risk of bio-accumulation of heavy metals in in the fish and wildlife of "Sportman's Paradise." Sadly, not everyone at the hearing agreed with this message, as several coal and concrete industry officials presented rather unconvincing arguments as to why the EPA shouldn't or couldn't properly regulate coal ash--arguments that mostly centered around the assumption that health-saving regulation would have a negative impact on their profits. As one woman exclaimed, to the applause of dozens of people in the audience, "you guys are talking about profits, and I'm talking about people!"

This trip would not have been possible without the tremendous help of members of the Society for Peace, Environment, Action, and Knowledge (SPEAK), a University of Louisiana at Lafayette environmental group, as well as the enthusiasm of members of ReConnect at Southeastern Louisiana University. Also, the Sierra Club Beyond Coal campaign was more than generous to provide the travel, lodging, and even some meal expenses to give people to opportunity to speak out. Next time, we hope to see you among the people who take it upon themselves to speak for the health of our families and our planet.

Image credit: Alan Morin/Citizens Coal Council/Hoosier Environmental Council

Speak Out Against Dangerous Coal Ash!!

Do you think toxic waste from coal fired power plants should be treated just like household trash?

Neither do we.

Believe it or not, coal ash is not currently considered hazardous, even though it is laden with mercury and other heavy metals that contaminates our air and water supplies. But finally, after decades of waiting, the U.S. EPA is proposing to regulate coal ash as a toxic substance.

We want to make sure the EPA adopts these historic regulations. This is a crucial step to moving the US to a clean energy future.

We need your voice. Your personal comments will go a long way to help protect public health, the environment of your community, and usher in a clean energy economy.

The closest hearing to us in is in Dallas, so the Sierra Club will provide buses and accommodations - all you need to do is come along for the ride. It doesn't matter where you are located in the state - we'll figure out a way to get you there!

**All travel expenses will be covered by the Sierra Club**

We will leave Louisiana on Tuesday, September 7th and return the morning of Thursday, September 9th. There will be coordinated pick-up locations along I-10 and I-49.

If you're interested in coming along for the ride, or would like more information on how to make a comment, please contact me at jordan.macha@sierraclub.org or 504.861.4837. If you can't make the trip but would still like to send comments to the EPA, contact us and we can send you an email or postcards to do so.

Hope you can join us at this important event!

http://action.sierraclub.org/coalash_dallasLA

Sierra Club Gulf Coastal Monitoring Continues:

Barataria Bay

On Wednesday, July 21 a group consisting of representatives from Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, Sierra Club Delta Chapter, National Public Radio and the American Birding Association set out from eastern Grand Isle north into Barrataria Bay to make observations of then current conditions. We traveled to Queen Bess Island, Grand Terre Island, and Cat Island. These islands are rookeries for Pelicans, Egrets, Spoonbills and numerous others. Our observations took place at a time when active inundation of oil had subsided for the previous three weeks. So we did not see oil on the water but were able to see oiled vegetation in island shorelines and some partially oiled birds. Some oiled boom had been washed up into the shoreline but was being left there for later retrieval. Partially oiled boom surrounded sensitive parts of the islands. Bird population looked generally good to my inexperienced eye but we were advised that overall population was down about 15 percent and that the worst effects on population would occur in the reproductive cycle when newly fledged birds try to make it through oiled vegetation and inner pools of water that have not been well cleaned of oil. Grand Isle and Barataria Bay have been some of the areas most affected by BP oil.

Freshwater Bayou

On Saturday, July 24 another group consisting of eight volunteers set out in four canoes down Freshwater Bayou which is west of Atchafalaya Bay and Marsh Island. The group split up, two boats going east and two going west paddling for several miles in each direction along the gulf shore. The water was very smooth and conditions were unusually favorable for paddling on the gulf. No new oil or affected wildlife was observed during the outing. The monitoring trip in the area of Freshwater Bayou is an area that has been consistently monitored by Sierra Club Acadian Group and Water Sentinals volunteers since the time of the BP disaster. This area appears to be doing well in response to only very light oil.

The Deep-Water Drilling Moratorium

Documents prepared by the oil industry as environmental assessments for oil leases in deepwater show that blowout preventers have a predicted failure rate of 28 percent. Experience with blowout preventer malfunction on Deepwater Horizon and in numerous other cases bears this out. Conversations with working drillers indicate that the occurrence of well blowouts and near blowouts is much more frequent than generally reported. The willingness of big oil companies and workers to take these risks for big financial rewards does not mean that the rest of us should be willing to accept the same risks to devastation of our coastal waters and those portions of our economy and culture that depend on them. The drilling moratorium is a reasonable response by government to the BP oil disaster because many other deep water rigs are using the same technology that failed with Deepwater Horizon.

It is high time to evaluate the risks and our legal, regulatory and technical mechanisms for controlling that risk. The negative impact on local jobs is an unfortunate but unavoidable outcome to the necessary reassessment of the escalating risks of offshore oil development in deep water. Assumption by the oil industry of full financial responsibility in all cases would help to limit risk taking behavior and would encourage industry investment in safety technology. That is not the current situation. Currently the oil industry enjoys limits to its financial risk through a congressionally authorized $75 million cap on liability. So the taxpayers can be left holding the bag for substantial cleanup costs from large incidents. The taxpayers certainly have a right to regulatory control if they are expected to pay numerous and substantial tax subsidies for oil exploration and development as well as assume risk for cleanup costs. Indeed the failure of BP to invest in adequate technical capability to immediately stop the flow of oil from a deepwater incident clearly shows the need for more thorough government oversight and for greatly increased industry investment in safety.

This does not mean that we shouldn’t seek a timely conclusion or adjustment to the drilling moratorium. Louisiana jobs and the families they support are important to the economic health of our region. Unfortunately they have been caught up in a spiral of unchecked increase in risk for financial return. We think it is important to find a balance of financial liability and regulatory oversight that represents the interest of the taxpayers in protecting our coastal economy, cultures and environment from future oil disasters.

Haywood (Woody) Martin, Chair, Sierra Club Delta Chapter

Delta Chapter Coastal Monitoring Continues

The Sierra Club Delta Chapter Water Sentinals and Acadian Group conducted another of our series of coastal monitoring trips on June 12, 2010. We had a contingent of 13 volunteers combined from our groups and troop 503 of the Boy Scouts under Harold Schoeffler. We put Harold’s 21 ft. boat in at Intercoastal City and motored south through southwest pass and then east to coastal beaches on Marsh Island. A group of four volunteers disembarked to patrol the beaches there while the remaining volunteers went on to disembark and patrol beaches near Chenier au Tigre.

Our sightings and loggings included normal background numbers of dead fish, no dead turtles or dead birds. It appears that significant damage from oil has not occurred in areas around Atchafalaya Bay but we have observed that light oiling has occurred on Marsh Island and west of Freshwater Bayou. Light oiling consisted of fresh oil on reeds in isolated locations and some small fresh tar balls. We have not confirmed that these originated with the BP site though we have taken samples which may give us that information.

Our trip concluded with an informative presentation by Erin Wilsoni of the Beehive Collective about several of their murals depicting earth environmental and health effects of fossil fuel consumption. We plan to continue our southwestern coastal monitoring and we continue to look for volunteers and friends of Sierra Club who would be interested in participating. If you are interested in volunteering please send your email address to chair@louisiana.sierraclub.org and to Devin Martin at devin.martin.sc@gmail.com. For more information about the Beehive Collective you can go to http://www.beehivecollective.org/

Report from Melanie Driscoll of Audubon about Bird Rescue

Thank you all for your concern about the birds and the bird rescue effort, especially in the wake of last Friday’s heartbreaking photos of very heavily oiled birds. I have heard and I understand the concerns expressed by caring individuals, but everything I have seen and learned from the field assures me that the bird rescue is being handled professionally and well.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) are leading the field rescue effort. The land transport is handled by LDWF, SPCA, and Louisiana State Animal Response Team (LSART), and facilitated by volunteers from Audubon. The bird stabilization, washing, and rehabilitation are managed by Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research (http://www.tristatebird.org) and International Bird Rescue Research Center (http://www.ibrrc.org).

I have known many of the USFWS and LDWF field team members for years. They are dedicated professionals working up to two-week shifts, and are on planning calls on their couple of days off before they head out to the field again. Some are leaving family members who are ill or have other needs. The Tri-State and IBRRC staff left their homes and families for what they hoped would be one month. They have just doubled their staff to handle the increasing numbers of rescued birds, and the first people on the ground have no idea when they may return to normal lives or their homes. Your hearts may be breaking when you see the pictures, but please remember that the front-line responders have to handle oiled, stressed, and sometimes dying birds every day. They are always professional, always caring, and their hearts are breaking too. Their dedication and work deserve our respect and our gratitude.

I know there have been a lot of reports from people who see oiled birds and are distressed that those birds have not yet been rescued. (You can help by calling the oiled wildlife hotline EVERY time you see oiled wildlife: 1-866-557-1401.) There are many reasons you may see or hear of oiled birds in habitat. First, many of the lightly oiled birds cannot be captured safely, and some are even gone from their reported locations before rescue personnel arrive. Rescue personnel and agencies are also in the unenviable position of having to leave some oiled birds in colonies in order to not harm the colony success to rescue some individuals. Going into an active colony to capture oiled birds leaves eggs and young exposed to intense heat, increased risk of predation, and may even push healthy adults out into oiled habitats. The 120-plus miles of habitat estimated to be impacted by oil is a measurement across the coastline – as if that were a linear feature. Given the many delta lobes and the fringed marshes and islands full of cuts, canals, and channels, there are many more miles of coastline to actually search for birds. This is a massive operation, and there is not adequate way to saturate the habitat to look for birds without causing more harm through the impact of boat traffic and human disturbance. Finally, if you are out looking for oiled birds during an oil spill, you should expect that you will see them. It is upsetting, but you are providing a helpful service to searchers and the birds themselves if you promptly and accurately report their location. Stay nearby until rescue teams arrive, if you can. When a report comes in, a team follows up on it very quickly, and each report is checked out. If you are doing surveys or see oiled wildlife, please report it immediately, carefully describing your location. That is one valuable way that citizens can help the birds.

Many people want to help rescue the birds, but bird rescue is dangerous for birds and for the rescuers. Many of these birds are large and have large bills, some with hooks or serrations on them. As much as people want to help, the birds perceive humans as a threat. They may strike out to defend themselves, injuring people. Also, many birds are already under severe physical stress, and inexpert capture attempts or handling may directly cause their death. The cleaning is also very stressful for birds – more for some than for others. Any group or individual that attempts to clean birds without the research and knowledge of how to do so appropriately risks killing any birds that are handled. The vets and wildlife rehabilitators working at the Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers across the coast are the best people to clean and rehabilitate the birds.

Paraprofessionals, such as vet techs and people with at least 3 months of wildlife rehabilitation experience, are encouraged to sign up through the LSART website (www.lsart.org) to help at the Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. More than 30 people per day are now needed to clean cages and to prepare food for birds.

The response is continuously shifting to adapt to the actual conditions. When birds were being brought to Grand Isle and having to undergo a long ground transport to the rehabilitation center, a stabilization trailer was set up to hydrate, feed and stabilize the birds to improve their odds of surviving the trip. Shorter boat transport was also arranged. As birds are brought in more frequently to new areas, new ground transportation is arranged, and Audubon volunteers are brought in to facilitate communication and transport needs. As more oil hits shores, more staff are added to the rescue and rehabilitation effort. New techniques have been developed to capture birds with less stress to them. Audubon and many local partners are ready to help as requests come from USFWS and the Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers.

Audubon (www.audubon.org) and the Gulf Response Involvement Team (GRIT) (www.lagulfresponse.org) have well over 20,000 volunteers registered to help with these efforts. As needs increase, more of these volunteers are being deployed. Audubon is also working with high-level USFWS personnel to help integrate the oiled bird monitoring data into the official Natural Resources Damage Assessment – the official process by which overall damage from the spill will be calculated. We are also working with partners to develop and staff other monitoring efforts, and will work with agencies to help ensure that bird monitoring will be done across the Gulf Coast for years to come to monitor the impact and recovery of bird populations.

There is a report on oiled wildlife numbers every day on the Deepwater Horizon Incident website: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doctype/2931/55963 . There are several useful things to note in the actual files. First, the numbers will always lag behind the captures by a day or sometimes a little more. Birds are brought in, then must be stabilized and evaluated before they can be assigned to a category. The counts are compiled at the end of a day or the beginning of the next day. Also, it is valuable to note that, of the birds collected dead, many show no signs of oiling at all. This reflects several realities. Many birds die annually and would never be found without such extensive effort to rescue oiled birds – more people looking means more dead birds are found. There may be indirect ways, though, that the oil spill contributes to those numbers. Increased activity in the habitat for protection, rescue, and cleaning efforts could displace, stress, or kill some birds. Also, the release lags behind the cleaning – there is not currently a number in the report that indicates how many of the oiled live birds have been cleaned or how many have survived cleaning. The lags in information make it more difficult to evaluate the success of the efforts overall.

Melanie
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Melanie Driscoll

Director of Bird Conservation
Louisiana Coastal Initiative