Three Amendments by Appalachian Senators Seek to Turn Back the Clock on Critical Clean Water Protections
Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–May 9, 2013. Three amendments to the Water Resources Development Act (S. 601) by Senators Paul (KY) and Manchin (WV) would effectively end key federal clean water protections for millions of Americans. These three amendments would essentially put a stop to the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to veto mountaintop removal mines that pose a threat to citizens and wildlife after the Army Corps of Engineers gives those mines a permit and will prevent the EPA from protecting 59% of U.S. streams.
In response Ed Hopkins, Director of Environmental Quality at the Sierra Club issued the following statement.
“These amendments are an unprecedented attack on our safety, our environment and our economy. Americans have a right to clean water. A right to the simple expectation that what comes out of our taps and the streams that run through our parks and even through our own property is safe. And yet Senators Manchin and Paul want to take away that right.
“The EPA has been fighting for years against entrenched interests who care more about their bottom line than the safety of Americans. These two Senators, now ignoring the needs of not just their own constituents but millions of other Americans as well, have once again proven that they are mouthpieces for big polluters.
“The Clean Water Act has been one of the nation’s most successful environmental laws. This bill should not be used as a vehicle for Big Polluters and their servants in the Senate to roll back decades of protections.”
Source: sierraclub.org
