Many voices needed to support Clean Water Act enforcement

Right now is a critical time for Kentuckians to stand up for clean water and for honest, effective enforcement of the laws that are supposed to protect our health and environment from corporate polluters.

Please join KFTC members and other Kentuckians in telling the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to stand strong for our health and water! Governor Beshear and the Kentucky Division of Water have systematically failed to enforce the Clean Water Act. The EPA must hold the line and do its job.

Your voice and presence are needed!

Attend a public hearing with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency next Tuesday, June 5 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Civic Center in Frankfort.

Come early for a 6 p.m. press conference with KFTC and allies that will take place in the Kentucky Room of the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Frankfort, next to the convention center.

Click here to let us know you are coming. We'll send you additional information and help coordinate rides.

If you want to speak at the hearing, it's also recommended that you register in advance on EPA's website.

Below are some key facts Kentuckians should know going into this hearing.

• It is time for transition in Kentucky and Central Appalachia. As Kentuckians, we call for a just economic transition for coal workers and communities and an end to the destruction of our land, water and people caused by surface coal mining.

• The health of Kentuckians living near surface mining operations is significantly at risk. The rate of children born with birth defects is 42% higher in areas with mountaintop removal mining, compared to nearby non-mining communities. People living in mining communities also suffer higher rates of cancer, chronic heart, lung and kidney disease, and mortality.

• Kentucky's approach to permitting water pollution for coal mining operations is fatally flawed and does not comply with state and federal law. Kentucky's Division of Water does not properly evaluate whether a mining operation has a "reasonable potential" to generate discharges high in conductivity, total dissolved solids or metals that would violate water quality standards. The state's water pollution permits lack enforceable, chemical-specific limits. The state permits rely on unenforceable practices and biological monitoring that are not sufficient to protect water quality.

• The Beshear administration continues to act as if its primary role is to issue pollution permits and shield coal companies from the law. Kentucky's Division of Water has used a simplified process to authorize water pollution from more than 2,500 coal operations since 2009. The state has joined a lawsuit against the EPA over its approach to Clean Water Act enforcement. And Governor Beshear's Energy and Environment Cabinet has gone to court repeatedly (and unsuccessfully) to prevent citizens groups from challenging its weak enforcement efforts.

• The EPA must hold the line and affirm its objections to water pollution permits that do not comply with the Clean Water Act. The EPA's objections are supported by overwhelming scientific evidence about the relationship between surface mining and harm to water quality. In fact, the EPA should take over all Clean Water Act permitting and enforcement in Kentucky.

• Kentucky's coal industry and political leaders must stop peddling fear and falsehoods. Coal production in Central Appalachia has been declining steadily since the early 1990s. This is a long-term trend, which is accelerating as a result of economic and geologic conditions. Efforts by the U.S. EPA to protect our health are not the cause. Shielding companies from the Clean Water Act is not the solution.  

Note: The EPA will also hold two additional hearing sessions on Thursday, June 7 at the East Kentucky Expo Center in Pikeville. This day is being organized by the industry to be a huge political rally for coal. KFTC is encouraging our members to make our voices heard at the Frankfort hearing and through written comments. Our message is aimed at Governor Steve Beshear, who has systematically failed to enforce the Clean Water Act and protect our health. If you do plan to attend the Pikeville hearing, be sure to let us know.

For more information about these hearings, click here.