Residents from Central Illinois testified before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) yesterday in strong opposition to proposed rollbacks to federal coal ash pollution rules. USEPA Head Scott Pruitt’s new proposal to weaken the already modest federal clean water protections from toxic coal ash endangers the health of the 1.5 million children that live near coal ash storage sites. Illinois has seventy-five coal ash impoundments across the state. These sites contain some of the most toxic chemicals on earth - like arsenic, lead, mercury, and chromium - which raise the risk for cancer, heart disease, and stroke, and can inflict permanent brain damage on children. Proposed rollbacks not only cede the authority to monitor pollution to polluters themselves, but also will curtail local residents’ ability to hold companies accountable for damaging local water supplies.