Sludge Safety Project Update - OVEC Wins!

Thanks to all the 50 OVEC members and volunteers who mobilized to the State Capitol this past legislative session, on March 8 (after the printing of our last newsletter) the State Senate passed SCR 15.

With the support of the West Virginia Environmental Council and the WV Council of Churches, we collectively demonstrated real citizen power!

Soon after the legislation passed, OVEC members, allies and staff met to strategize next steps. We agreed that even though the state has to do the study, it’s up to us to make sure they do it right.

Time and again, we’ve seen that government agencies can avoid carrying out a study that honestly exposes the truth about harmful industrial practices. Sometimes, agencies avoid collecting new data and simply compile existing research, and call that a "study." Sometimes, they collect data at sites that are not likely contaminated, or let the industry gather samples, or only test for a few substances instead of a full range of pollutants.

Knowing this, Sludge Safety Project members have decided we need to have an active role in the state’s study of coal sludge. We want official citizen oversight of the collection and interpretation of the data, and we want credible, independent scientists to have access to data collection and analysis.

The coal industry does all it can to protect its interests. We citizens must protect our interests—our families, our health, our future.

Join members of the Sludge Safety Project as we work with the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Health to ensure a credible, honest study of coal sludge.

We have a right to know what the coal industry is pumping underground and whether or not it is a threat to our health and well being.

Knowledge is power, and that’s what we need if we are going to make a healthier and safer West Virginia. See www.sludgesafety.org or call Patricia at (304) 235-2618 to get involved.