Oklahoma Coal Ash Victims Invite White House “Regulatory Czar” To Visit

On March 25, Oklahoma residents joined coal ash victims from four other states in asking Obama regulatory czar Cass Sunstein to visit their communities, which have been devastated by toxic coal ash. The letters, including that of Tim Tanksley of Bokoshe, Oklahoma, recount individuals’ experiences of living in communities where coal ash has poisoned drinking water, endangered people’s health, and caused home values to plummet. Spearheaded by Ohio Citizen Action, letters have been sent to Sunstein from Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Ohio, Alabama, and Oklahoma.

Tim Tanksley lives just 1.5 miles from the “Making Money Having Fun LLC” dump site that is mixing toxic coal ash with wastewater from oil and gas wells. He wrote in a letter to Sunstein:

Dear Administrator Sunstein,

“Making Money Having Fun, LLC” might be having a good time dumping their coal as in Bokoshe, but I assure you that the citizens of Bokoshe are not having any fun at all.

I live just 1.5 miles from Making Money Having Fun dump site that is mixing fly ash with wastewater from oil and gas wells. Every day, we watch dump trucks drive into our town and leave piles upon piles of power plant waste. Both the power plant, AES Shady Point and the Oklahoma Department of Mines (ODM) claim this is a beneficial use of fly ash, but once again, the citizens of Bokoshe beg to differ.

The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality “ODEQ” has already identified 5 major violations at this dump, and ODEQ investigators stated that MMHF has been operating in violation of the Clean Air Act for 7 years. We have presented the ODM with findings of air and water pollution by ODEQ and the EPA, yet the ODM still refuses to acknowledge that any laws are being broken. The fly ash is in our air and in our water; it is flowing into our creeks, streams, and eventually into the Arkansas River. Our town has less than 500 residents. Among the 20 households nearest the pit, there are at least 14 people with cancer. We suffer from asthma, and constantly wonder what the long term impacts this waste will have on our children and grandchildren. How much fun do you think we are having?

We have been successful at gaining some attention from the EPA and Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, but state officials haven’t done anything to stop MMHF from dumping the fly ash in our backyard. Since the project is call a reclamation effort, MMHF is able to circumvent the rules of state regulatory agencies. Industry self regulation does not work — it’s like the fox guarding the hen house. The piles of fly ash and oil waste water have seriously contaminated our air and water supplies, and will continue to threaten the livelihood of our community for years to come. Something must be done.

We need the federal government to establish rules that will require state governments to take action to end this type of pollution. The states are not and will not do it on their own. I know that you can help get this done, given your role with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

To better understand why we need your help, will you come visit us in Bokoshe and see how much “fun” we are having with the Making Money Having Fun toxic landfill?
 

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