Cassel has been working to protect communities from coal ash pollution for 15 years and said rainfall and hurricanes amplified by climate change have exacerbated these threats. And those who live near coal ash dumps, he said, continue to discover cancer at a rate that makes them think, “This can’t be normal.”
“EPA, you know the history,” Cassel said. “You made the record.”
Kristina Zierold, a professor at the University of Mississippi, said she found that children exposed to coal ash are more likely to suffer from depression and perform worse in school than children who are not exposed.
Zierold said she has been researching the impacts of coal ash on children’s health since 2011 and received a grant from the National Institutes of Health in 2015 to research coal ash and neurobiological health in children ages 6 to 14.
She and her research team used dust and air pollution samples in children’s homes to collect coal ash and screened children for neurobehavioral and mental health conditions in multiple ways.
If a child performs poorly in school, that can have cascading effects into adulthood, Zierold said. Depression in children can lead to poor social interaction, lack of learning and, in some cases, suicide, he said.
“Do you want your children to play on coal ashes in parks and playgrounds?” -Zierold asked. “Do you want them to breathe it in and ingest it? I don’t.”
Brianna Knisley, public power campaigns director for Appalachian Voices, said the 2008 Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill was one of the worst industrial disasters in U.S. history. It’s an example of what happens when the EPA leaves coal ash management in the hands of state regulators and utilities, he said.
The 900 workers who cleaned up the spill were denied protective gear and told that the coal ash they were working to remove was clean enough to eat. Hundreds of workers became ill and dozens died, Knisley said.
Aerial view of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Cumberland Fossil Plant in Cumberland City, Tennessee.
Angie Mummaw, an Appalachian Voices organizer who lives near the Cumberland fossil plant in Tennessee, said she’s tired of communities like hers being treated as sacrifice zones while the coal industry calls for permanent loopholes instead of cleaning up the messes they’ve created.
Knisley has worked with communities where coal ash was used to fill children’s playing fields and watched the Tennessee Valley Authority waste piles of toxic ash piled behind a public playground, open to the wind. The Tennessee Valley Authority did not immediately respond to questions from Inside Climate News.
“This is coal ash management without strong federal regulation and enforcement,” Knisley said. “States and utilities are not going to keep communities safe.”
This article originally appeared in Insider climate newsa nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization covering climate, energy and the environment. Subscribe to their newsletter here.
