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FRANKLIN COUNTY GOVERNMENT If you cannot attend the Hearings you can send an email that we will share with the commissioners Or you can contact them directly at MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES MISSOURI SECRETARY OF STATE EARTH JUSTICE
www.earthjustice.org ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY (EIP)
www.environmentalintegrity.org SIERRA CLUB
www.sierraclub.org/coal/ WATERKEEPER ALLIANCE
www.waterkeeper.org MISSOURI COALITION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
www.moenviron.org U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY For information on testing your well water: To learn more about RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) AmerenUE ADVOCACY GROUPS http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/ http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/downloads/2009-07-coal-ash.pdf http://www.nrdc.org/energy/coalwaste/files/ccwfactsheet.pdf CCW LINKS http://www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/1144/ MEDIA REPORTS 11.11.09 11.11.09 11.8.09 11.04.09 11.04.09 10.15.09 White House, EPA at Odds Over Recycling Questions Complicate Scientists Speak Out on Coal Ash Coal Ash: The Hidden Story Coal Ash First Test of Obama Groups Galvanize Support for Earthworms, the Environmental Talk Show on 88.1 KDHX - hosted by Jean Ponzi TAKE ACTION!EPA COAL ASH RULE COMMENT PERIOD THROUGH SEPTEMBER 21, 2010This is our chance to tell the EPA what we want in coal ash waste regulation. Our communities have suffered for way to long and EPA wrote the minimum standards we will accept as one of the two options. Take this moment to fill out the comment forms provided at major environmental websites or take the link directly to the EPA comment page. Personalize with local examples, as much as possible. Make your comments at: In your comments, ask specifically for:
CORPS OF ENGINEERS MISSOURI RIVER AUTHORIZED PURPOSES STUDY (MRAPS) TAKE COMMENT THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2010The Corps has been directed by Congress to review the uses of the Missouri River and establish priorities in keeping with public priorities. Currently there are 8 established uses (navigation, water supply, hydropower, irrigation, flood control, water quality, recreation and fish & wildlife). The testimony provided at the St. Louis hearing suggests industry (utilities, barge traffic, agriculture, and to a much lesser degree…providers of drinking water, etc.) see their needs as "the" priorities almost to the exclusion of others. There is also a question if additional uses should be considered given priorities were set almost 60 years ago. The driving "purposes" were established by the Flood Control Act of 1944. We think priorities have likely evolved with society and science to reflect more balance between industry interests and the common good. We need people to let the Corps know that water is commonly held property of the American people and we see great value in studying and protecting its quality from the pollution of the current unchecked priorities. Utilities take from the Missouri and give back heavy metals which directly endanger our drinking water and ecology of unique Missouri River ecosystems that enrich our world. Currently an argument rages over the use of fly ash in firming up the levees along the Mississippi River near St. Louis. If we prioritized health of our waters, these actions would never be taken. Our fight against the use of fly ash indiscriminately is played out on several levels and our collective voices need to be heard. For example, the priorities set by MRAPS could either prioritize health and well being of communities or minimize them at the benefit of our economy. Why can we not safe communities and safe uses of our waterways? Ameren could operate unchecked in choosing to use fly ash in the berms around their proposed landfill in Labadie and effectively add to the heavy metal pollution of the Missouri River. Ameren could also ship their coal ash waste to Labadie from all of their plants using and endangering the Missouri River. Take a moment to submit your comments in one of three established ways:
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FLOODPLAINS: GIANT SPONGES OR CONCRETE SKIRTS? Remember those high school exercises in logical thinking? Students were told to delete the statement in the group that ran counter to the sense of the whole. Here’s a quiz like that for our time and place:
Out of seven states flooded in 1993, Missouri ranked first in building in the floodplain after waters receded, according to a Post-Dispatch study. The state accounted for 78 percent of all the new flood plain building in the seven state region. Meanwhile, a 2004 Congressional study found that federal flood insurance payouts for repetitive loss properties cost the taxpayers $200 million annually. Carolyn Kousky, in a paper published in 2008 entitled “Improving Flood Insurance and Flood Risk Management, suggests that if rates reflected the risk of flooding , it would be a disincentive for flood plain development. Another suggestion from environmentalists is to reprioritize the mandate of the US Army Corps of Engineers, the agency charged with management of federal waterways and floodplains. At present, the agency sees itself as the enabler for floodplain building, constructing levees and avoiding environmental impact studies. The Obama administration is considering an executive order that would redirect the agency to a primary mission of floodplain restoration and protection. It would require the agency not to oppose any flood plain building for which there is a practical alternative. Makes sense! ~Florence Shinkle
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