poisoned waters

[Guest guest]

can't remember if i sent this er not already..if i have...whoops, sorry, but you

need to read it again anyways!!!

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 3, 2002

 

Contact:

Earthjustice

Ken Goldman, 202.667.4500 x 233

Joan Mulhern 202.667.4500 x 223 202-329-1552 (mobile)

 

Bush Administration Approves Most Damaging Change

to Clean Water Act in Decades.

Allows Waste Dumps in Streams Nationwide

Final Rule Change Signed by EPA, Army Corps Today

 

(WASHINGTON) - The Bush administration today finalized changes to Clean

Water Act regulations that would for the first time in 25 years allow

the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to permit waste to fill and destroy the

nation's waters. In an attempt to appease the coal mining industry and

in a rush to avoid additional Congressional and public scrutiny, EPA

Administrator Christine Todd Whitman signed the rule change.

 

" It says something when an administration takes an action like this late

on a Friday -- that they hope no one sees it, " said Joan Mulhern, senior

legislative counsel for Earthjustice. " This is a 'Friday Night Massacre'

for our nation's waters and it's the biggest threat to our nation's

waters in decades, perhaps since the Clean Water Act passed 30 years

ago. Allowing masses of industrial wastes to be dumped in streams,

lakes, rivers, and wetlands is contrary to the very purpose of the Clean

Water Act and represents a major weakening of current clean water law. "

 

EPA's press release states this will " enhance environmental protections "

for waters. " Nothing could be further from the truth, " said Mulhern.

" Anyone who has ever seen what happens when a stream is buried under 900

feet of mining rubble would not conclude that this is a good thing for

water quality. More than 1000 miles of streams already have been

destroyed in Appalachia by the coal companies that have been flouting

the Clean Water Act for years while the EPA and the Corps looked the

other way. "

 

" Now that citizens have taken state and federal agencies to court to

ensure our environmental laws are enforced, coal companies have sought

-- and been granted -- legal relief from the Bush administration. Their

lavish contributions to the Bush-Cheney campaign have just been paid

back, " Mulhern added.

 

In recent days, dozens of members of Congress have sent letters to

President Bush highlighting their concerns about this. U.S. Senators

James Jeffords (I-Vt.) and Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) sent a letter on

Wednesday to President Bush asking him to stop immediately his

administration's efforts to overturn this important Clean Water Act

rule. The Environment and Public Works Committee Chair and the Wetlands

Subcommittee Chair, respectively, expressed concern that the rule change

would allow industries -- such as coal mining and hardrock mining

companies -- to fill the nation's waters with waste material.

 

" The proposed rule would jeopardize the health of the nation's streams,

wetlands, lakes, rivers and other waters, " the Senators' letter states.

" We ask that your administration not take any further action to finalize

this rulemaking, including sending it to the Office and Management and

Budget for review, until the Senate Environment and Public Works

Committee has had an opportunity to review the effects that this

rulemaking will have on the health of our nation's waterways. "

 

" It is outrageous that the EPA ignored this request from the Senate

committee that oversees the Clean Water Act and most EPA programs, " said

Mulhern.

 

On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of 57 members of the House of

Representatives, led by Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), sent a letter to

Administrator Whitman conveying their " strong opposition " to the

proposed rule. " This rule change is a clear attempt to legalize the

destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining, where coal

companies literally blow the tops off of mountains and dump the waste

into nearby valleys and streams, " stated the House letter.

 

In March, a dozen senior House Republicans led by Representative Chris

Shays (R-Conn.) also wrote to President Bush, urging him to reconsider

" this ill-advised and dangerous rulemaking " to allow waste disposal in

waters.

 

" The bipartisan opposition to this waste dumping rule has been

significant and growing as Senators and Representatives have learned

about the threat it poses to waters in their districts, " said Mulhern.

" While this rule is being motivated by the administration's desire to

legalize the illegal waste dumping practices of the coal industry, its

effects will be nationwide. Every stream, wetland, river, and lake in

the country will be placed at risk of becoming a dumping ground for

mining waste, construction debris, even garbage. "

 

Copies of the Senate and House letters are available by contacting Ken

Goldman.

 

# # #

 

Earthjustice is the nonprofit law firm for the environment

representing-without charge-hundreds of public interest clients, large

and small. Earthjustice works through the courts to safeguard public

lands, national forests, parks and wilderness areas; to reduce air and

water pollution; to prevent toxic contamination; to preserve endangered

species and wildlife habitat; and to achieve environmental justice.