Reps. Johnson, Schneider, Tonko & Cohen Lead Letter Supporting New EPA Regulations on Coal Ash
Toxic metals threaten health, safety of low-income communities, children. ‘Our communities – particularly environmental justice communities – bear the burden.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04), along with Reps. Brad Schneider (IL-10), Paul Tonko (NY-20) and Steve Cohen (TN-09), and more than 45 other members of Congress are voicing their support for new EPA coal ash regulations through rulemaking.
In a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director Michael Regan today, Rep. Johnson and his colleagues applauded the EPA for addressing decades-old loopholes that have allowed contamination of groundwater at levels exceeding federal safety standards.
But the lawmakers are urging the agency to do more.
Coal ash contains toxic heavy metals, such as arsenic, boron, cobalt, and lithium and the dumpsites in landfills are primarily located in low-income communities.
“As long as there remain loopholes in the Coal Ash Rule, EPA is allowing industry to avoid cleanup and remediation, leaving our most vulnerable communities exposed to ongoing pollution,” the members of Congress wrote in the letter. “Our constituents – and all Americans – need and deserve the strongest safeguards and protections.”
Other members who signed the letter are Reps: Susan Wild (PA-07), Cori Bush (MO-01), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Nanette Barragan (CA-44), Donald Beyer (VA-08), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Andre Carson (IN-07), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Gerald Connolly (VA-11), Danny Davis (IL-07), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Bill Foster (IL-11), Valerie Foushee (NC-04), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Raul Grijalva (AZ-07), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Barbara Lee (CA-12), Summer Lee (PA-12), Teresa Fernandez Leger (NM-03), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Betty McCollum (MN-04), James McGovern (MA-02), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Donald Payne (NJ-10), Katie Porter (CA-47), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02), Linda Sanchez (CA-38), John Sarbanes (MD-03), Adam Schiff (CA-30), Robert Scott (VA-03), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Bennie Thompson (MS-02), Dina Titus (NV-01), David Trone (MA-06), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Nydia Velazquez (NY-07), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Frederica Wilson (FL-24).
To read the full letter, click HERE.