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==Proposed Regulation of Coal Waste==
{{#evp:youtube|YEp30Qyh9Yg|Arsenic on your cereal?|right|210}}
In October of 2009 the EPA sent the White House a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for toxic [[coal ash]]. President Obama's choice as the head of the White House Office of Management and Budget, [[Cass Sunstein]], oversees such policies, but as of March 2010 has refused to act on the EPA's plea. Sunstein has come under scrutiny for allowing his office to meet with coal industry representatives more than 20 times since October 2010. All such meetings took place behind closed doors and were not open to the public. An anti-Sunstein website was launched in response in an attempt to force Sunstein and the White House to act on the EPA's proposed rule.<ref>[http://ashsunstein.com/?p=153 Ash Sunstein] AshSunstein.com, accesses March 16, 2010.</ref>
In December 2009, there was a Congressional hearing in the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on "Drinking Water and Public Health Impacts of Coal Combustion Waste Disposal," largely in response to the 2008 [[TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill]] and [[EPA]] reports on the health and environmental risks of [[coal ash]] and [[coal waste]]. Dr. Donald McGraw, the GOP's expert witness at the hearing, testified that arsenic is natural and coal waste benign, as seen in this video.
SW: sectioning
Small amounts of heavy metals can be necessary for health, but too much may cause acute or chronic toxicity (poisoning). The constant leaching of heavy metals from coal mining and coal plants leads to bioaccumulation in plants and animals, creating the danger of toxicity.<ref name="Toppin"/> Heavy metal toxicity can result in damaged or reduced mental and central nervous function, lower energy levels, and damage to blood composition, lungs, kidneys, liver, and other vital organs. Long-term exposure can result in slowly progressing physical, muscular, and neurological degenerative processes that mimic Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, muscular dystrophy, and multiple sclerosis. Allergies are not uncommon and repeated long-term contact with some metals may even cause cancer.<ref name="toxic">[http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-156.shtml "Heavy Metal Toxicity"] Life Extension, accessed November 2009</ref>
===[[Lead]]===
Electrical utilities emit [[lead]] in flue gas from the burning of fuels, such as coal, in which lead is a contaminant. For example, a boiler burning a million pounds of lignite coal will release 420 pounds of lead into the atmosphere.<ref name="elf">[http://www.envirolaw.org/documents/FAQsLeadinChildrensFoods.pdf "Lead in Children’s Foods: Frequently Asked Questions"] The Environmental Law Foundation Report, accessed July 2010.</ref>
Whatever its source, lead that falls onto soil sticks strongly to soil particles and remains in the upper layer of soil. Since it does not degrade over time, this contamination problem continues. It can be taken up by plants, and food processing can often introduce lead contamination through bronze plumbing parts, lead in water, or other sources. In 2010, the Environmental Law Foundation enlisted a U.S. [[Environmental Protection Agency]] lab to screen 400 samples from 150 branded food products marketed to children, including apple juice, grape juice, packaged pears and peaches (including baby food), and fruit cocktail mixes. The results: 125 out of 146 products tested, or 85 percent, contained alarming amounts of lead.<ref name="elf"/>
===[[Mercury]]===
{{#evp:youtube|VA4DP4bNyUM|Most Power Plants Still Spewing Toxic Mercury|left|210}}
In March 2010 the [[Environmental Integrity Project]] (EIP) released a report using available [[EPA]] data that indicated half of the country's 50 largest mercury-emitting power plants have increased their emissions in recent years, as can be seen in this video.<ref>[http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news_reports/news_03_17_10.php "EIP Report: Electric Power Industry "Not Making A Dent" in Dangerous Mercury Pollution, Which Rose at Over Half of the Nation's 50 Dirtiest Power Plants"] Environmental Integrity Project, March 17, 2010.</ref>
===[[Arsenic]]===
Arsenic is the most common cause of acute heavy metal poisoning in adults, and does not leave the body once it enters.<ref name="toxic"/>
===Coal Waste===
Despite the negative health and environmental effects of heavy metals, as of March 2010 coal ash is categorized as nonhazardous and is therefore not regulated by the [[EPA]]. In May 2009, the [[Environmental Integrity Project]] and [[Earthjustice]] released a report finding that the Bush Administration failed to release information suggesting an alarmingly high cancer threat for people who live near coal ash waste dumps. According to the study, the Bush Administration only made a portion of the data available, hiding the true extent of the health risks associated with coal ash disposal sites.<ref name="sue"/>
===October 2009: Proposed Regulation of Coal Waste===
{{#evp:youtube|YEp30Qyh9Yg|Arsenic on your cereal?|right|210}}
In October of 2009 the EPA sent the White House a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for toxic [[coal ash]]. President Obama's choice as the head of the White House Office of Management and Budget, [[Cass Sunstein]], oversees such policies, but as of March 2010 has refused to act on the EPA's plea. Sunstein has come under scrutiny for allowing his office to meet with coal industry representatives more than 20 times since October 2010. All such meetings took place behind closed doors and were not open to the public. An anti-Sunstein website was launched in response in an attempt to force Sunstein and the White House to act on the EPA's proposed rule.<ref>[http://ashsunstein.com/?p=153 Ash Sunstein] AshSunstein.com, accesses March 16, 2010.</ref>
In December 2009, there was a Congressional hearing in the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on "Drinking Water and Public Health Impacts of Coal Combustion Waste Disposal," largely in response to the 2008 [[TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill]] and [[EPA]] reports on the health and environmental risks of [[coal ash]] and [[coal waste]]. Dr. Donald McGraw, the GOP's expert witness at the hearing, testified that arsenic is natural and coal waste benign, as seen in this video.
====May 2010: EPA Proposes Competing Approaches To Regulate Coal-Ash Waste====
==Arsenic limits lifted at Wateree Station==
On March 8, 2010 it was announced that the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control agreed to eliminate arsenic limits in a wastewater discharge permit for [[South Carolina Electric & Gas Company]]'s (SCE&G) [[Wateree Station]]. SCE&G needs State approval for its coal ash ponds because wastewater from the site runs directly into the Wateree River. The ponds take waste from the company's 40-year-old coal-fired plant. Since the 1990s, high levels of arsenic, a carcinogen, have been found in groundwater and in seepage to the Wateree River from coal ash ponds at the power plant. Sierra Club and other environmental groups are posing to fight the permit on the grounds that arsenic ought not be eliminated.<ref>[http://www.renewablesbiz.com/article/10/03/dhec-loosens-arsenic-limit-sceandg-discharge-utilitys-plant-feeds-wateree-river "DHEC loosens arsenic limit for SCEandG: Discharge from utility's plant feeds into Wateree River"] Sammy Fretwell, RenewableBiz.com, March 8, 2010</ref>
==Heavy metal releases in Kingston coal ash spill higher than initially reported==
