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Coal Ash Stories Kicks Off Screening Tour in Columbia

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A series of documentary screenings across Missouri called the Coal Ash Stories Tour began in Columbia at the University of Missouri’s Strickland Hall Thursday night. The four documentary short films shown at the event have the goal of raising awareness of coal ash negatively affecting the waters and environment of the United States. 

The names of the four short films are “An Ill Wind,” “At What Cost?,” “Coal Ash Chronicles,” and “Downwind and Downstream.” A Q&A session followed after the presentation.

Patricia Schuba, President of Labadie Environmental Organization, said coal ash is the toxic material that’s left after we burn coal to make energy to power our lives.

“It’s harmful to people,” Schuba said. “What we’re asking our state agency to do is to protect us from some of those risks that are present in communities that have coal ash waste dumped in them.”

Schuba said coal ash is a really hot issue right now. She also said the Environmental Protection Agency is propagating a new rule on coal ash.

“We wanted to bring these stories to Missourians to help educate them and actually have them take action on this issue in this state, because we need our state regulators to take action on the coal ash rule,” Schuba said.

“We produce about 160 million tons of this waste that has arsenic, lead, and mercury in it that, obviously, causes disease and impacts the development of children.”

Filmmaker Rhiannon Fionn presented a rough cut of her short, “Coal Ash Chronicles,” to participants along with the other three completed documentary shorts. Fionn said production has been backwards as no script is present for the upcoming feature.

“I’m a journalist,” Fionn said. “I let people tell their own stories.”

Fionn said letting people tell their own stories is what she’s been trying to do all along, civic journalism as she described it.

“If you’re going to take five minutes to do something on this issue, pick up the phone and call your representatives and state government and tell them how you want this handled,” Fionn said. “Tell them that you are concerned about your drinking water and your health.”

Fionn said Coal Ash Chronicles will see distribution in the spring and the summer of 2016.

The Coal Ash Stories tour’s next stop is Springfield on Sunday, March 15th at the Moxie Cinema. The tour concludes in Kirkwood on Thursday, March 19th. Admission is free.

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