Hold a Corporate Polluter Accountable

You remember the "Smokestack Six" - four women and two men that scaled a 700-foot smokestack to highlight the dangers of a dirty coal plant and the Bush administration's failure to protect communities living in the shadows of polluting power plants.

Originally these activists were charged with a felony - but after thousands of you spoke out in support of the group, this excessive and unwarranted charge was dropped and the case was resolved. These six brave men and women are now serving their jail sentences, ranging from five days to one month. But we know that Allegheny Energy, the owner of the Hatfield's Ferry plant where the protest took place, is the real criminal. Allegheny apparently would rather see peaceful individuals in jail instead of cleaning up the plant that causes 237 premature deaths in Southwestern Pennsylvania each year.

Please ask Kathleen McGinty, head of the Pennsylvania Department of Environment, to stop stalling and risking the lives of community members. The time to clean up Hatfield's Ferry is now!

Step 2: Read the letter we've provided. Feel free to edit it.

Dear Allegheny Energy, Inc., Kathleen McGinty, Pennsylvania Department of Environment, Mr. Paul J. Evanson, President and CEO,

I am writing out of grave concern regarding Allegheny Energy's Hatfield's Ferry power plant, located in Masontown, Pennsylvania.  As you know, Allegheny Energy was under investigation by the Clinton-era EPA for violation of the Clean Air Act at Hatfield's Ferry and two other plants in Pennsylvania, but the Bush administration has since dropped the case.

As you well know, Hatfield's Ferry is one of the dirtiest and most dangerous power plants in the country.  In fact, it's the country's second largest emitter of sulfur dioxide, the pollution that causes acid rain and smog. It also releases immense amounts of nitrogen oxide and mercury, both dangerous pollutants. According to a recent study by the same researchers that the Bush administration commissioned to evaluate its energy plan, pollution from this plant causes 237 premature deaths each year.  With all of this evidence, Allegheny still chooses to put its corporate profits ahead of the health and safety of the community surrounding Hatfield's Ferry.

As head of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection, you assured Eliot Spitzer and other attorneys general that you would force Allegheny to clean up its dirty plants and told them that they did not need to pursue legal action against Allegheny in the state of Pennsylvania. I believe that you have violated this agreement and I will ask Attorney General Spitzer to reopen the investigation of Allegheny's Pennsylvania plants unless you take immediate action and force Allegheny Energy to clean up its act!

cc: Paul J. Evanson, President and CEO, Allegheny Energy

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Hold a Corporate Polluter Accountable

Step 2: Read the letter we've provided. Feel free to edit it.

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