An Ill Wind Blows

An Ill Wind Blows

The Moapa River Indian Reservation, in the right foreground. The Reid Gardner Power Station can be seen on the left side of the photo, partially obscured by a cloud of coal ash. (Photo by Moapa Band of Paiutes)

Posted 23 July 2011, by Staff, EarthJustice, earthjustice.org

Related Text: · Coal ash ‘storms’ plague Indian community

The Moapa River Indian Reservation, tribal home of a band of Paiute Indians, sits about 30 miles north of Las Vegas—and about 300 yards from the coal ash landfills of the Reid Gardner Power Station. If the conditions are just wrong, coal ash picks up from Reid Gardner and moves across the desert like a sandstorm. The film An Ill Wind tells the Paiute Indians’ story. View the individual parts (at the original site), or watch the complete film

Help Protect Communities From Coal Ash Contamination
We need protection against coal ash, yet power companies and the coal industry have been flexing their lobby muscle in Washington, pressuring the EPA and the White House to take a relaxed approach to regulating coal ash.

Industry wants to keep the status quo of weak state standards that do little to protect communities and our health. Our household garbage is better regulated than coal ash! Sign a petition to support the EPA’s decision to classify coal ash as hazardous waste and encourage the agency to make a swift decision that sets federally enforceable safeguards for coal ash disposal.

Acknowledgements Many thanks to the Moapa Band of Paiutes for allowing us to tell this story and to Vinny Spotleson of the Sierra Club and Dan Galpern of the Western Environmental Law Center for helping with the project.

Behind the Scenes  “The deep, dark irony of the Paiutes’ situation is that none of their power comes from the Reid Gardner coal plant. So they get all of the problems and none of the benefits.”Multimedia Producer Chris Jordan writes about the making of this film in “An Ill Wind Blows in Moapa”.

Coal Ash

Coal ash is the hazardous waste that remains after coal is burned. Dumped into unlined ponds or mines, the toxins readily leach into drinking water supplies.

Key Resources:

• Campaign Home: Coal Ash Contaminates Our Lives
• unEARTHED: Recent news about coal ash
• Feature: River Runs Black: The Devastating Coal Ash Spill on the Emory River
• Graphic: Safe drinking water standards
• Interactive Map: State Fact Sheets on Coal Ash
• Interactive Graphic: The Story of Coal
• Video: Tennessee interview
• Video: Water contamination (Humor)
• Report: EPA’s Blind Spot: Hexavalent Chromium in Coal Ash (Feb. 2011)
• Report: The Toxic Threat (Sept. 2010)
• Return to Earthjustice Campaign Center

Ed Note: Please visit the original site for a full set of resources, information, photographs and links.

http://earthjustice.org/illwind

About these ads