Society of Environmental Journalists P.O. Box 2492 Jenkintown PA 19046 Phone: (215) 884-8174 Fax: (215) 884-8175 sej@sej.org www.sej.org January 2, 2009 Jimmy Palmer, Regional Administrator United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 4 Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center 61 Forsyth Street, SW~Atlanta, GA 30303-8960 Dear Mr. Palmer: The Society of Environmental Journalists (North America's largest organization of individual working journalists covering environmental issues) is concerned about difficulties encountered by the public in gaining access to environmental monitoring data collected by and/or in the possession of EPA at and near the site of the Harriman, Tenn., coal-ash pond impoundment breach. Journalists covering the spill have expressed frustration that it took 11 days following the release of 1 billion gallons of coal-ash slurry for EPA to release the first of its testing on the actual ash sludge that has covered several hundred acres. News organizations report that EPA has not yet released the full results of testing done on water that was affected by the spill. We encourage EPA to make public all its environmental sampling as soon as it is available. We request that the agency post those results on the EPA website in a form that allows the media and the public to easily determine what was sampled, where it was sampled, when it was sampled and how the sampling results compare to the relevant established environmental standards. There is even greater urgency for complete and immediate transparency given the results of privat e testing analyzed by an Appalachian State University lab that found alarmingly high arsenic levels. In addition, we understand that some of the environmental monitoring has been conducted by TVA or the state of Tennessee. We encourage EPA, as the nation's top environmental regulator, to require TVA, and other entities conducting environmental monitoring, to make the results of all of their testing available to the media and the public in an equally comprehensive manner. We note that the Electronic Freedom of Information Act of 1996 requires agencies to post on line material that is anticipated to be the subject of multiple FOIA requests and to expedite FOIA responses to news media when there is compelling need for dissemination of that material, as is certainly the case here. SEJ understands the monumental task of managing an emergency situation of such unprecedented magnitude. But if any entity has both the resources and mandate do to so, it's the federal government. We've been down this road before. Journalists covering Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and air quality issues after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks were frustrated by the EPA's slow response to requests for information. A September 2005 SEJ report -- "A Flawed Tool: Environmental Reporters' Experiences with the Freedom of Information Act" -- noted that EPA's failure to be forthcoming about environmental monitoring was only the latest in a long line of problems journalists were encountering using FOIA. We make these requests in the public interest and in the spirit of the Freedom of Information Act, which recognizes our nation's desire for an open society. At stake is not only the public's right to know, but also the EPA's own credibility as an honest broker of information. Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to your response. Christy George, President, Society of Environmental Journalists cc: Laura Niles U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4 Office of External Affairs Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center 61 Forsyth Street, SW~Atlanta, GA 30303-8960