The Hispanic Latino Coalition in Louisville held a People Not Profiles demonstration yesterday to challenge Arizona's anti-immigrant laws.  

Over 100 protesters (including KFTC members) gathered outside the building housing Louisville's immigration offices to protest Arizona's controversial SB1070. After hearing speakers from several local organizations, the march progressed to Fourth Street Live, where a "Show Us Your Papers" demonstration was held. 

People taking part in the action approached random people in the streets and asked them to "show me your papers, please" in order to engage them in conversation about the Arizona law.

Pictures are from the Louisville Fairness Campaign.

Action Alert from our friends at REACT (Rubbertown Emergency ACTion) in Louisville.

Contact Congressman John Yarmuth & Congressman Ed Whitfield and ask them to send a representative to the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act of 2010 hearing this Thursday, July 29th at 10 AM in the Rayburn Room 2123.

Congressman John Yarmuth: 1-202-225-5401

Congressman Ed Whitfield: 1-800-328-5629

HB 8520 is a bill we MUST support. This bill brings us closer to making sure our exposure to toxic chemicals from smoke stacks and consumer products (i.e., toys, baby bottles, etc.) is reduced. The bill not only deals with testing chemicals prior to them being released into the market place but also includes environmental justice provisions that would help those communities, like those near Rubbertown.

Additionally, Ed Whitfield is on a key committee and needs to hear from us.

Please take a few minutes to call and feel free to use the verbiage above to let the congressmen know this is important to you. Then let us know how things went.

Thank You!

Eboni Neal Cochran, REACT (Rubbertown Emergency ACTion)

More than 30 years after it was temporarily exempted from national solid waste regulation laws, coal ash remains largely unregulated – but that is about to change. The U.S. EPA is soliciting public feedback on recently proposed coal ash standards and is expected to adopt some this year. If appropriately stringent controls are adopted, the industry will be forced to protect the public from exposure to coal ash toxins.

EPA  just posted the proposed rules on the federal register website and is soliciting public comments until early September. KFTC is requesting that a public hearing about these proposed regulations be held in Louisville.

To learn more about the issue, read here.

Further, Louisvillians are actively opposing a proposed 60-acre coal ash landfill currently under consideration right now for the LG&E Cane Run power plant. LG&E wants to get this expansion passed before new, more strict regulations are implemented. Eventually reaching a height of 14 stories, the proposed impoundment is located in the middle of south-end neighborhoods and is adjacent to many homes.

Learn more about the Jefferson County campaign here.

On the first Saturday in August every year, hundreds of politically-minded people (most associated with either the Republican or Democratic party), along with many candidates and public officials come to a tiny, tiny town in far, far western Kentucky for a rigorous day of stump speeches and barbecue that often set the tone for the three months leading to Election Day in November.

This year, the Fancy Farm Festivities fall on Saturday, August 7th.

In 2007, 2008, and 2009, KFTC sent between about 6 and 15 members to witness the spectacle of the event, but also to pass out stickers and balancing the scales newsletters and to engage the crowd and politicians alike on deeper issues and to build support for our campaigns.

Some of us are talking about what it would be like to try to make out mobilization this year much bigger, possibly with heavy support from the Bowling Green and Jefferson County chapters that are closest to Fancy Farm. 

If you're interested in participating, please contact Dave Newton at Dave@kftc.org for more information.  We'll likely carpool over on Friday, August 6th and return home late on Saturday, August 7th.  If we have a member with an RV that would like to come out with us, that would be especially great.

This post was written by Jefferson County KFTC member and intern Beth Bissmeyer.

Hearing the stories of the devastation caused by Mountaintop Removal coal mining is what first got me involved in KFTC. A few years later, I continue to be outraged by what my friends in Eastern Kentucky deal with daily, but I now also find myself enthralled by what is happening in my hometown, Louisville, with coal ash.

Over the past few months, I've learned more about my connections to the cycle of coal beyond extraction through learning about coal ash, which is the stuff that's leftover in smokestacks and furnaces after coal is burned in power plants. In February, I first learned of E.ON's plans to add a 60-acre coal-combustion waste (CCW) landfill adjacent to their Cane Run Rd. power plant in South Louisville, five miles away from the neighborhood I grew up in and from where I now live. Coal ash is a new issue to me and to many folks, but one thing's for sure, it's not the kind of stuff you want in your neighborhood or next to your city's water source. Coal ash contains concentrated amounts of heavy metals and other pollutants that have been found to cause cancer and other health problems in humans. A 2007 EPA report found that those living near coal ash dumps have a 1 in 50 chance of getting cancer. There is already a coal ash impoundment at the Cane Run Rd. site that the EPA considers “high hazard,” meaning that a dam break is likely to cause significant damage, including loss of life.

Jefferson County KFTC members have started organizing on this issue, mobilizing people to submit comments on E.ON's Section 404 permit through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and on the 401 Water Quality Certification Permit through the Kentucky Division of Water. Members made the permits viral through email and Facebook, and some also phone-banked and made fliers. Even though there was a short window of time to organize, members helped generate more than 100 letters and emails on the 404 permit.

Last Tuesday, concerned citizens were given the opportunity to speak out at a public hearing held by the Kentucky Division of Waste Management. More than 125 people filed into the cafeteria at Conway Middle School, and while some were KFTC members, most of the people there were residents who live next to the proposed coal ash landfill site who organized on their own.

Several people who spoke at the hearing told of health problems they and their neighbors have ranging from high instances of asthma, learning disabilities, kidney disease, and multiple forms of cancer. Some noted that the area is polluted enough with not only the Cane Run Rd. power station, but also multiple chemical companies and an old toxic chemical dump. Monica Burkhead, a resident of Riverside Gardens who organized people in her neighborhood to come to the hearing by putting up fliers and going door-to-door, said of the already-standing coal ash landfill,

“You've got black soot everywhere; you buy a new car and within two years, your car's paint job is shot. You've got kids that have learning disabilities. There's excessive amounts of ADHD. There's excessive amounts of cancer, kidney disease. People are sick there constantly. They're dying. I'm just sick and tired of it. I've lived there for 35 years and all I do is watch people die.”

Terri Humphrey gave comment while she and Monica held photos of the proposed site and of the 2008 Kingston coal ash spill. She spoke to the dangers of coal ash and to the frustration of finding discrepancies in information on the proposed landfill from different agencies who have a say in the process. Many residents didn't even find out about the hearing until a day or two before.

One older woman who's lived in Riverside Gardens for decades, Rose Wilson, fought back tears as she told the room that she's raised so many kids, her own and the neighborhood's, and is so tired of seeing them all get sick.

While the room was filled with people who are justifiably upset about this proposal, there was also a strong sense of community and need to act. A second hearing was promised by the Kentucky Department of Waste Management official who moderated the hearing, and Metro Council representative Judy Green said she and neighboring council representative Rick Blackwell will introduce a resolution to try to halt the application process until the EPA makes a decision on how to regulate coal ash. Still, the greatest sense of urgency came from community members.

Adonna Williams, a resident of Riverside Gardens, said, “Everybody, they get upset and they want to slack off, but you've got to stand there, you've got to fight the fight. If you don't fight the fight, if you don't keep on, if you don't keep going, then they'll always win.”

Let's keep fighting the fight.

Take Action!

Stand with Adonna, Monica, and other residents of South Louisville and speak out against this proposed coal ash landfill. Comments may be submitted in writing by the close of business on June 18^th to:

Ronald D. Gruzesky, P.E.

Division of Waste Management

200 Fair Oaks

Frankfort, KY 40601-1190

Please reference AI # 2121 and Application APE200100001 on any correspondence.

Some media coverage of the hearing:

• WAVE 3
• FOX 41
• WHAS 11
• Courier-Journal

To learn more about this issue and how you can get involved, please contact beth@kftc.org.

3:45 PM

Greetings from Longest Avenue and Bardstown Road, Louisville Loves Mountains Festival 2010!

 In just a few minutes the street will be buzzing with people, but for now it's occupied by a crew of excited KFTC members playing frisbee. The music is kickin', the prayer flags are hung, food and beer are setting up, We can even see some blue peaking through the clouds... Now all that's missing is YOU! 

Here's a rundown of the days events, as I'll be updating them throughout the day:

Congressman John Yarmuth and Representative Jim Wayne are expected to be in attendance, and the Magnolia Photo Booth will also be available for part of the festival!

We have the following incredible artists donating their time and energy, with more to be announced very shortly! 

EMCEE: Mike Mays (4pm - 7pm), Laura Shine (7 pm-10pm)

4:45 PM Potluck Ramblers
http://potluckramblers.com/

5:30 PM Nora Ben and Eli 
http://www.norabenandeli.com/

6:15 PM Appalatin 
http://www.appalatin.com/

6:45 PM River City Drum Corpshttp://www.worknotes.com/ky/louisville/therivercitydrumcorp/index.html

7:00 PM KEYNOTE SPEAKER -- Makalani Bandele, Affrilachian Poet

7:30 PM Thomas A Minor & the Picket Line
http://www.myspace.com/thomasaminorandthepickinline

8:45 PM -- Maiden Radio
http://www.myspace.com/maidenradio 

9:30 PM Daniel Martin Moore and Special Guests
http://www.danielmartinmoore.com/

BBC and NABC will be selling beer, Ramsi's and Boombozz will be selling food, and of course there will be coffee from Heine Brother's Coffee and books to peruse from Carmichael's Bookstore. There will be kid friendly activities including "Muffintop Removal" by Shelly Biesel and people will be welcome to add to our banner project, an anti mountain top removal art project started by member Whit Forrester. 

You don't want to show up without a little cash, the Louisville Loves Mountains 2010 t-shirt looks great, and they'll sell fast at $15. Kentuckians for the Commonwealth t-shirts and stickers are also available, as are books and DVDs on the subject of mountaintop removal and coal mining. 

If you have a friend who isn't a member yet, bring them on down... It's going to be a great day!

5:38pm

Things are in full swing! Mother Nature has granted us sunny blue skies and a nice breeze...

Congressman Yarmuth just showed up and will be speaking and making the rounds in the next couple of hours. Don't miss an opportunity to shake hands!

Also, the event is 100% family friendly! There are plenty of four-legged friends and children hanging out in the crowd. Bring the kids for a fun lesson in "muffintop removal," or tap your feet to the music!

Speaking of which, I'm off to enjoy the bluegrass tunes over a slice of Boombozz pizza.. Pictures to come!

6:57pm

We weathered a little impromptu rain shower, but nothing has dampened the spirit of the event! Those who didn't huddle under the tents seeking shelter were happily dancing in the rain.. 

Longest Avenue is now full of people jamming to the thunderous beats of River City Drum Corp. Luckily, that's the only thunder rumbling down the alley!

It's a very heartening and humbling experience to be in the midst of a successful gathering for such an important cause. We're signing folks up to take mountain witness tours, registering new members, and engaging new generations of activists. 

There's no reason to reading about it from home... Come eat dinner from Ramsi's or Tony Boombozz and be part of this year's festivities, we're here for another three hours!

7:34pm

Affrilachian poet Makalani Bandele, this year's keynote speaker, just delivered a powerful speech reminding our Louisville audience that the effects of mountaintop removal are not just distant regional problems, they impact the political, environmental, judicial, and social dynamics of our entire state.  Every instance of injustice breeds the possibility of another, which weakens the individual liberties of every member of the Commonwealth. 

Bandele left us with a powerful message: "What happens up on the mountain comes right down here to Louisville. We are all interconnected, and we need to remember that."

8:05pm

Thomas A. Minor & the Picket Line just took the stage. Maiden Radio is up next, followed by Daniel Martin Moore and a very special guest... You don't want to miss this, 9:15pm will be a magic hour for music!

8:18pm

Carmichael's Bookstore is providing some very gracious temporary shelter from the rain. A little thunder and lightening put the music on hold, but everyone seems intent on waiting it out. Once the weather subsides everything will be back in action... Check back for weather updates!

8:53pm

The rain has won out... Things at Longest and Bardstown will be winding up, but the remaining bands haven't given up! Thomas A. Minor, Maiden Radio, and Daniel Martin Moore with special guests will be playing at 10pm at the Monkey Wrench, 1025 Barret Ave.

Let's hope that Mother Nature's victory over the festival is a good omen that she's ready to stand tall against King Coal! 

See everyone at the Monkey Wrench, we're going to wrap up this successful day with the party it deserves!

Saturday, 10:55am

Good things absolutely come to those who wait, last night at the Monkey Wrench was testament to that. The music started shortly after 10pm and didn't wrap up until the early morning hours! 

Daniel Martin Moore pulled out all the stops when he brought Jim James and Ben Sollee on stage with him. Word must have spread fast because every inch of the club was packed shoulder to shoulder with singing, smiling faces... It was an epic close for Louisville Loves Mountains 2010! 

We can't wait to see you all next year!

Election Day is here!

We're a little more than half-way through, with good ground work happening all over the state.

In Bowling Green, folks are making the last of their voter mobilization calls.

In Louisville, we just had a big voter mobilization motorcade, go through four neighborhoods, reminding people to vote.

Folks there are also still making voter mobilization calls and giving rides to the polls.  

In Eastern Kentucky, Perry County members are investigating a vote-buying scheme in the county from which several people say they've received $20 for a pledge to vote for particular candidates.  We've been notifying authorities to try to get them shut down.  The Lexington Herald-Leader is running a piece about vote-buying reports all over the state.  More on this soon.

In Lexington, two members are making calls to our member list, reminding them to get out and vote.

In Scott County, members passed out Voter Guides on Main St in the morning and are making a few of their last calls.

In Northern Kentucky, folks are passing out Voter Guides and getting ready for their big Chapter Formation meeting tonight at 7pm.

In Madison County, we've been passing out voter guides, and giving out the phone number to the local cab company who's giving out free rides to the polls. 

  

  

Yesterday, Saturday, May 15 was a pretty unremarkable day in most respects.  For us, collectively as Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, there wasn't anything singularly huge on the calendar, but we decided to try to compile quick stories about a lot of little things that happened throughout the day and present them as this - A Day in the Life of KFTC. 

At 7 a.m. KFTC members in northern Kentucky came together outside of Ockerman Middle School in Florence to start setting up tables for the big Relay for Life yard sale.  Alex Searles organized the KFTC table, but eight members participated in all, selling items that they donated to the  cause and passing out information about KFTC.  They also invited those interested to the big NKY KFTC Chapter Formation meeting on Tuesday.  By the end of the event at 4 p.m., they brought in $150 and made a lot of key contacts with new people.  Members also left with KFTC Voter Guides to hand out over the next few days.

At 10 a.m. the KFTC booth at the Butchertown Art Fair in Louisville got rolling.  Many of the candidates for mayor were there and most of them dropped by the KFTC table to say hello.  The event was in a neighborhood where KFTC does a lot of work, so many people at the festival  recognized us, and cheered for KFTC.  It gave a lot of our members who don't volunteer with us every month a chance to drop by and plug into our work.  A few people said they'd been meaning to join KFTC and took membership envelopes or joined on the spot.  Others asked about voting locations and we made lists of people to call back on Monday with that information.   Nine hours later, at 7 p.m., we packed up and headed home. 

At 10:30 a.m. a workshop started at the Pine Mountain Sustainability Symposium on "Steps Towards Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy" the workshop was facilitated by KFTC leaders Carl Shoupe and Roy Silver, among others.  This was just one of many events our members participated in throughout the powerful three-day conference designed to bring together specialists, practitioners, educators, and organizers to share their experiences and learn about model projects throughout southeastern Kentucky.  The symposium included hands-on trainings, workshops, woodland hikes, and garden tours with local and regional experts working on food, energy, and forest issues.

At noon, Tyler Birdwhistell and Bethany Baxter met in downtown Georgetown to go door-to-door in the Scroggin Park Housing Authority neighborhood - passing out KFTC Voter Guides and letting people know where their voting location is.   After about two hours, they had covered half of the neighborhood, which was enough for a couple of us to come back the next day and finish it up in an hour and a half. 

"I ran into one woman who is a former felon - so she'd had her right to vote taken away from her when she was much younger.  She told me the she worked for years to get her right to vote back and that she almost gave up a few times.  But she got them back during the Patton administration and has voted ever since." - Tyler Birdwhistell

At 3 p.m. a small group of KFTC folks visited the Peace and Global Citizenship Fair at Bluegrass Community Technical College in Lexington.  It was a great event organized by BCTC’s Students for Peace and Earth Justice.  For our part, we canvassed the crowd with a big stack of KFTC Voter Guides, asking people to cast an informed vote on Tuesday.  Kudos to BCTC’s Students for Peace and Earth Justice for putting together a great event that is getting a bit bigger every year. 

At 4 p.m. the Madison County KFTC members kicked off their Spring Friendraiser, with more than 70 people enjoying a potluck, cornhole and games, a great silent auction, live music by Mudpi, a short program about the awesome work of KFTC, and apparently a game that involved more than a little rolling around in the mud.  Members brought in $700 in donations and had a lot of fun before winds picked up and a hailstorm heralded an early end to the event.  We'll likely have a separate blog entry on this exciting event in the next few days, so stay tuned.  

In addition to all of that, members ran voter mobilization phone banks throughout the day in Bowling Green, Louisville, and in at-large (non-chapter) areas of the state, to name a few places, and members passed out KFTC Voter Guides or handbills about the election at events and in their neighborhoods throughout the commonwealth.  

No doubt, our 6,000+ members across the state accomplished an awful lot in the name of social justice on Saturday that will never make it to this blog - conversations with neighbors, writing letters to elected officials, etc.

It's a lot of little things, but this was just one day.  And day after day in community after community, it adds up.  So keep at it folks. 

What can we do tomorrow?

On Thursday, May 6, the Jefferson County Voting Rights Coalition took a great first step towards connecting with a large base of community members around this important issue.  Through the efforts of coalition partner Anthony Smith (Making Connections), we were able to meet with leaders with the Interdenominational Ministerial Coalition.  Member George Eklund and KFTC Voter Empowerment Organizer Shameka Parrish contributed to the presentation of a PowerPoint compiled by the coalition in order assist members and other leaders guide a dialog around Voting Rights with new bases.

Member George Eklund talks to the IMC about Voting Rights

The following is feedback from coalition partner Anthony Smith from Making Connections Louisville:

"There was about 8-10 of the pastors in the room. I know the IMC's base represent about 60 churches.  The pastors in the room seemed very engaged and offered some great ideas on how to move the work forward with the Faith Base community.  Really like the diversity that we brought to the room.  It's helps to show that this issues has an effect on more then just one community.

The PowerPoint presentation, really helped to keep the conversation focused and gave a lot of great information in a short time.

The idea that Frank [IMC president] shared about training pastors on the issue, so they can go back and share the message was very enlightening for me.  What would it look like for us to train groups so that they would be able to go back share the message with others.

We got to make this issue as personal as possible for everyone we talk to."

-Anthony D. Smith, Network Member and Director of Network Organizing
Making Connections Network

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unveiled two options today to regulate waste from coal-burning power plants in order to better protect public health and drinking water sources. The two competing alternatives would provide varying levels of protection to the state water resources, and could take years to implement.

“The time has come for common-sense national protections to ensure the safe disposal of coal ash,” said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. “We’re proposing strong steps to address the serious risk of groundwater contamination and threats to drinking water and we’re also putting in place stronger safeguards against structural failures of coal ash impoundments. The health and the environment of all communities must be protected.”

Coal ash, also known as coal combustion waste and coal combustion residue, contains toxic chemicals and heavy metals such as arsenic and lead — pollutants that cause cancer, birth defects, reproductive problems, damage to the nervous system and kidneys, and learning disabilities in children.  Kentucky coal-burning plants generate a total of 8.5 million tons of this waste every year, housed at 44 impoundments across the state. Of these impoundments, 7 have been labeled as imminent threats to human health and safety by the EPA. To learn more about it, click here.

One proposal option, the "Subtitle C" option, would designate coal ash as a hazardous waste. This type of waste already has a national regulation and permitting system in place under the federal "Resources Conservation and Recovery Act" (RCRA). Coal-burning power plants and state enforcement agencies would be expected to take steps over the next 5 years to ensure that existing and new impoundments meet these stricter guidelines. A plethora of scientific research has shown that coal ash meets the federal definition of "hazardous" and is also leaching into groundwater and drinking water sources near storage sites.

Under option 2, or non-hazardous regulation, the EPA would require wet coal ash impoundments to be retrofitted with a composite liner, rather than being phased out. If the disposal site chooses not to comply, the regulation would prohibit receiving additional coal ash, and require the closure of the unit within five years. The closure process and post-closure groundwater monitoring would be self-implemented, with no federal or state oversight. The EPA notes that this option would be much more difficult to monitor and enforce.

Both designations would leave in place the rule allowing coal ash to be recycled in so-called "beneficial uses" such as drywall, concrete and other construction materials. Many of these uses are virtually untested for their health effects or have little benefit in application. For example, at the proposed Smith plant, which would generate 520,000 tons of the waste annually, its coal ash would be buried with structural fill, which the company describes as a "beneficial re-use." Both options would also prohibit coal ash disposal in unlined landfills, although disposal in old mining sites would still be allowed.

Jefferson County chapter member Beth Bissmeyer supports the first option. "It's outrageous that storage and disposal of a substance that contains known cancer-causing pollutants has gone unregulated for so long. I live within five miles of the Cane Run Road coal-burning power plant and coal ash landfill and roughly 10 miles from the Mill Creek power station that also stores coal ash. The more I learn about the dangers of coal ash and its harmful effects on the health of people and the environment, the more sickened I become, knowing that the safety and health of my community is being neglected. Seeing the EPA finally take some steps toward coal ash regulation is great, but I hope they go far enough and declare coal ash a "hazardous waste." To do any less would be unjust and unreasonable."

The announcement comes after the EPA failed to meet self-imposed deadlines in the past concerning the designation of coal ash as a hazardous substance. The proposals will be turned over to the public for a 90-day comment period and one or more public and stakeholder hearings, after which the EPA will announce a decision.

“I would want communities to know that I believe, that EPA believes, it is very important to get on with this regulatory process,” said Jackson. “There has been lots of discussion already. We’ve heard from elected officials, from members of congress, from state governments, from private industries. I’d like to hear from public citizens about what they think is the most effective rule.”


In December of 2008, one billion gallons of toxic coal ash burst through a dam near a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant in Kingston, Tenn., polluting the Clinch and Emory rivers and launching the safety of coal ash into the national environmental debate.

The public can make comments on the proposed coal ash regulations until the end of the year once the final rule is posted (check in the next couple of weeks). Make comments by typing in EPA–HQ–RCRA–2009–0640 in the search box at www.regulations.gov.

(Parts of this blog entry are copied from Appalachian Voices)

Locations of coal ash impoundments in Kentucky: