A new report Coal Ash, the toxic threat to our health and environment has been published by Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) in the USA. It is an analysis of the health hazards of the legacy of coal combustion, the coal ash dumps that epitomise power generation landscapes.

About a third of the nation’s coal ash storage sites are wet ponds. “These are the ones that have the potential of a catastrophe such as we saw in Tennessee,” said Barbara Gottlieb, who directs the coal program Code Black for the Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Conservation groups are challenging the approval of a project to export coal to Asia from Longview. Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility called the project a “lose-lose-lose proposition for human health.”

PSR mobilized health professionals to testify against unsafe coal ash disposal at EPA hearings around the country. PSR also wrote and distributed a new study, “Coal Ash: The Toxic Threat to Our Health and Environment.”

The group Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility (IPSR) launched an anti-coal campaign today. IPSR Coordinator Maureen McCue spoke at a statehouse press conference and released a report showing 92% of Iowans live within 30 miles of a coal plant.

Maureen McCue, a University of Iowa professor and coordinator of the Iowa chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility, said her group is launching an educational campaign to make Iowans aware of the health risks and costs associated with the state's reliance on burning coal to generate nearly 75 percent of its electricity.

This article on coal power in Los Angeles quotes PSR on the health impacts of coal-fired power plants.

PSR is mentioned in this article on the environmental impacts of coal ash.

The non-profit health advocacy group Physicians for Social Responsibility say ash dumps pose “an acute risk of cancer and neurological effects as well as many other negative health impacts.”

Over the last year and a half, at least 10 power companies have announced plans to close more than three dozen of their oldest, least efficient coal-burning generators by 2019. A few are being replaced by new, more efficient coal plants, but many more are being replaced by gas-fired plants.

Cherie Eichholz, Executive Director of Washington PSR, explains the dangerous health impacts of coal plants.

Seizing an opportunity to shape a policy with nationwide implications for health, PSR mobilized its network to urge the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to adopt strong, health-protective regulations for the disposal of coal ash.

PSR national board member and Washington PSR President Steven Gilbert, PhD, DABT, explains the dangerous health effects of hazardous coal ash waste and urges the EPA to enact strong regulations on coal ash disposal.

A recent report by the group Physicians for Social Responsibility titled "Coal Ash -- The toxic threat to our health and environment" provides an overview of the specific dangers linked with coal ash and the scale of the problem in the United States.

PSR chapters, board members and staff have been raising concerns nationwide about the health impacts of coal ash disposal. Barbara Gottlieb was interviewed on the Knoxville, TN NPR station the morning of the final EPA public hearing on coal ash regulation.

PSR met recently with the Environmental Protection Agency to present our new report on coal ash and health and to voice support for strong, health-protective regulation of coal ash disposal. Our presentation focused on concerns that highlight the need for robust regulation at the federal level – including, in some cases, steps that go beyond the EPA’s current proposal.

Pilsen’s air is dirty. While hundreds of runners gasped for it, passing the Chicago Marathon’s 20-mile marker Sunday, just blocks away dozens were rallying to keep it clean.

Dr. Steven Gilbert, president of Washington PSR, discusses the health care costs of coal plants.

Dr. Steven Gilbert, president of Washington PSR, explains the health impacts of coal plants.

Barbara Gottlieb, deputy director of the Environmental Health Program for Physicians for Social Responsibility, says coal ash contains 19 harmful heavy metals, including arsenic, lead and mercury. "And these substances, if they're eaten or drunk or inhaled, can cause cancer. They can cause nervous system impacts such as cognitive deficits and developmental delays. They affect virtually every major organ system in the human body."