Report Mining Waste

jennie.alvernaz@sfsierra.sierraclub.org
Fri, 22 Jan 1999 16:20:43 -0500


COMMENT ON REQUIRING REPORTING OF MINING WASTE

Help level the playing field for reuse and recycling. Mining waste
considerably exceeds all municipal solid waste; much is toxic and
most degrades ecosystems.

[Forwarded from Michael Gregory:]

HELP prevent the mining industry from forcing EPA to drop their
current initiative to expand Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) reporting
to include MINING wastes.

Maybe you can help get the word out to people to send letters
SUPPORTING THE EXPANSION OF TRI TO INCLUDE METAL
AND COAL MINING INDUSTRIES AND, SPECIFICALLY, MINING
EXTRACTION (NOT JUST BENEFICIATION WASTES: BOTH
KINDS PRESENT SERIOUS HAZARDS TO THE ENVIRONMENT
AND HUMAN HEALTH)

EPA is receiving a lot of pressure to drop the idea, so they need
public support badly. The deadline FOR RECEIPT OF COMMENTS
AT EPA is Monday, 26 AUGUST.

LETTERS CAN BE SENT BY EMAIL TO:
oppt.ncic@epamail.epa.gov.
Send in a plain, unformatted ASCII file.

Or Mail three (3) copies to
OPPT Docket Clerk, TSCA Document Receipt Office
(7407), US-EPA-OPPT Room E-G099, 401 M
Street SW, Washington DC 20460.

FOR BOTH HARDCOPY AND ELECTRONIC COMMENTS, Be sure
to include the following: identifier statement at the top of the letter::
"Please direct these comments to Docket Control Number OPPTS-
400104, attention Tim Crawford."

You might want to note that including mining in TRI is consistent
with the original intent of the Emergency Planning and Community
Right to Know Act and is really the only practical way communities
have to find out what is being released to the environment by mining
operations.