United States - December 28 - A 2002 report found that Tennessee's Kingston Fossil Plant, the site of the December 22^nd coal sludge spilled, has had persistent problems with public health. The report, written by Abt Associates for the Environmental Integrity Project and Rockefeller Family Fund, found that pollution from the plant cut short the lives between 149 and 171 people in 2001. Pollution levels from the plant since then have remained relatively constant. The report blames poorly-regulated particulate pollution produced by the plant for heart disease, lung cancer, asthma attacks, and other impacts.

 "In the last ten years, the Kingston coal plant could be responsible for more than 1000 premature deaths from air pollution," said Rick Hind, Greenpeace Legislative Director. "Sadly, that's typical for coal pollution, which cuts short the lives of at least 24,000 Americans every year and is the leading U.S. source of global warming pollution.

The report is available at http://www.abtassociates.com/reports/ES-Abt_41_power_plant_report_Nov19.pdf and the relevant data is on page 6.

The coal sludge spill is now estimated at over 1 billion gallons (approximately 100 times the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill) and is thought to have contaminated the Emory and Clinch Rivers (which feed into the Tennessee) with toxic chemicals like arsenic, mercury, lead, benzene, cadmium, and others. Dead fish have been washing up on the banks downstream from the spill. Greenpeace has called for a criminal investigation of the spill. 

Greenpeace called on Congress to rapidly put a cap on pollution from coal fired power plants and invest in clean energy like wind, solar, and geothermal power.

"There can be no toxic spills from wind turbines or solar panels," Hind said.

More information:

See attached information on fly ash toxicity.

"False Hope" - Greenpeace report on "clean" coal: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/false-hope

"Dirty Air, Dirty Power" - Clean Air Task Force report on health impacts from coal: http://www.catf.us/publications/view/24

"Energy [R]evolution" - Greenpeace report on transition to clean energy. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/energyrevolutionreport

Greenpeace Legislative Director Rick Hind available for interviews.

Rick Hind Bio

Since 1991, Rick Hind has been the Legislative Director of Greenpeace's Toxics Campaign. He is one of the nation's foremost experts on a variety of toxics issues, including security issues related to chemical hazards and the chemical industry, EPA regulations pertaining to toxic incineration, the pulp and paper industry, PVC plastics, and toxic pollutants.

He has testified before Congress on multiple occasions and helped lead Greenpeace's successful global campaign to ban some of the world's most dangerous chemicals and prevent new ones from being marketed. The campaign culminated in a legally binding treaty, signed by 120 countries (including the United States), that achieved these goals.

Rick is a go-to source for journalists covering toxics and chemical security issues. He has been quoted in a wide range of national publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journalist, CBS News, NPR, FOX, and many others. His writing on toxics issues have appeared in many newspapers, including The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Philadelphia Inquirer, among others.

Rick's work to expose the vulnerability of U.S. chemical plants to terrorism and accidents resulted in a feature story on the CBS program 60 Minutes in November 2003.  He was also the subject of a front-page story in The Wall Street Journal in January, 2004.