Improving Coal Combustion Residuals Regulation Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Chairman, my amendment provides strong and consistent safeguards to inform communities about coal ash contaminants in their drinking water supply wells.

We have heard a lot of talk about regulatory certainty, certainty for utilities, certainty for coal ash recyclers.

But what about certainty for children and families who live near coal ash sites, certainty of transparency for their parents who rely on well water to prepare their children's meals and to bathe them at night?

These parents have the right to know if their water is safe to consume, and they have a right to access that information immediately.

And what about certainty of accountability to ensure that these families can expect an alternate water supply if it has been compromised by coal ash pollution?

North Carolina can give the Nation a lesson about what poor management of coal ash looks like. It took a disastrous spill of coal ash into the Dan River to make it clear that the protection of our communities and waterways could not rely on the goodwill of powerful utilities.

North Carolina learned the hard way that, when State regulators stick their heads in the sand to allow the unfettered disposal of coal ash, spills happen.

I would like to share with my colleagues the most recent update on well testing from North Carolina's Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Out of 285 wells tested, 265 show contamination. That is more than 90 percent of the drinking water wells showing contamination.

This information is made possible to communities because of S. 729, a bill that the North Carolina General Assembly passed last year while I served in the legislature.

Following the Dan River spill, North Carolina now requires owners and operators of coal ash dams to identify all drinking water supply wells within one-half mile downgradient from the impoundments.

If sampling indicates high levels of contamination, the owner or operator must replace the contaminated drinking water with an alternate supply of water that is safe.

My amendment seeks to provide rural communities across the Nation with the same requirements that citizens in North Carolina now enjoy, requirements that will give them the certainty that their water is safe.

Americans in North Carolina and across the Nation have the right to access safe drinking water, especially rural communities who rely overwhelmingly on private wells as their main source of drinking water.

Finally, coal ash pollution often affects low-income communities who don't have the resources to go up against big utilities. Passing this amendment will give these communities the resources they deserve to protect themselves.

I urge my colleagues to join me in standing with the people of North Carolina and rural communities across the Nation who deserve transparency and nothing less.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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