I was invited to speak before a group of residents in Winchester that are facing a very real possibility of EKPC, a power company, buying 200 acres of land near their homes and putting a coal ash landfill right in the middle of this rolling pristine countryside. Nick Comer from the utility company was giving a "coal ash is good" speech and I am looking around the room. This is not something these residents were expecting, they work hard, as we all do, build their homes, have children, and now, a possibility of a coal ash landfill? I was asked to talk about my experience living right across the street from a coal ash landfill. The day to day reality. Here is what I said;
Hello, my name is Kathy Little, thank you for inviting me here to speak this afternoon. I'm a mom and a nana. I have lived in my house in Louisville KY immediately adjacent to the LG&E Cane Run power plant for the last 32 years. Within their confines, they have numerous ponds, one being high hazard, and the almost filled to capacity dry ash landfill, similar to the one proposed here. It's approximately 200 yards away from my home. LG&E is in the process of requesting approval of a permit to expand and build another dry ash landfill at another location on their property. I and others are presently fighting to keep that from happening. The plant is 45 years old with three working units.
Thirty two years ago the area that I live in was rural, green, with numerous farms surrounding modest homes. It has changed dramatically with the addition of the present dry ash landfill. The company has a history of numerous violations. Just last week, lab analysis confirmed fly ash on three seperate samples taken from my house by the APCD. This fugitive fly ash is everywhere, it is brown to black, gritty and if you open your windows a fine dust settles everywhere. Airborne fly ash is extremely dangerous with the primary components being silica and limestone which cause lung disease with prolonged exposure. Fly ash in water releases mercury, chromium and other heavy metals that cause a host of illnesses including cancer. Children are particulary vulnerable to mercury intoxication which may lead to impairment of the developing central nervous system as well as lung and kidney damage. Ingesting soil from areas on which fly ash has been applied or settled is the most common way of exposure for children. I have an 8 year old granddaughter that lives with us, we have permanent custody of her, she's a great kid, she sent me an email the other day, it said "I am bitiful, I am intalagint and I have intalagince" the spelling was a little off, but the message is good, she believes in herself. I feel helpless that I cannot protect her from this chronic exposure. Fly ash is not benign and it will impact you and your children if the ash landfill becomes a reality here. Many of my neighbors are ill or have been ill with heart disease, cancer, COPD, kidney disease. Many homes were on well water up until 7 years ago, including a family with an autistic son. His mother has not had her mercury levels checked, however, she is convinced that living so close to the landfill and drinking from an unprotected water source caused his developmental delay.
As you turn left off of Lower Hunters Trace on to Cane Run Road you cannot miss seeing the ash landfill, it is huge, megastories straight up and very wide. It feels as though we are at ground zero, the craterous look of it reminds me of the topography of the moon. Large gray, rocky and most of the time there is a misty look at the top. On windy days you can see the fly ash blowing off the top. LG&E is suppose to wet it down to help prevent this from happening but the reality is, they do not, that is, unless we complain, then they'll do it for a few weeks.
Our taxable property values are 20 to 30 percent less than the same house sitting somewhere else. The current economic plunge including home values have just made a bad situation worse.
As far as current regulation of the dry ash landfill, or for that matter the high hazard ash pond, there is very little. What can be done is being done. The present dry ash landfill is unlined and is leaching enough arsenic and other heavy metals into ground water at levels that are eligible to be federal damage cases. Their present Title V operating permit and NPDES water discharge permits expired in 2007, the APCD and The Division of Water are working very slowly to update these. Rep. Joni Jenkins has introduced HB237 to the state legislature that would require official Emergency Response Plans for existing coal ash impoundments. It is presently stuck in committee and is very unlikely to see the light of day due to corporate greed. This is a safety issue and the lack of an EAP puts many residents, many children in unnecessary danger. I am telling you this because you will have a great deal of difficulty with present regulations now in place.
Thanks again for allowing me to speak.
Best wishes Winchester, fight with all you have to prevent this beautiful land from being destroyed.
