Tell the EPA to keep our waters clean

The Bush administration is poised to weaken a critical Clean Water Act rule that prohibits the disposal of mining and other wastes into the nation's waters. Tell the administration there's no dumping allowed!

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Oppose Changes to Clean Water Act

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I strongly oppose the Bush administration's plan to change the rules of the Clean Water Act to allow the dumping of mining and other waste into our nation's waters. This plan is completely contrary to the Clean Water Act's mission. The EPA, on behalf of the public, should be fighting "to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Nation's waters."

By changing the rules to allow the Army Corps of Engineers to issue permits for dumping waste in U.S. waters, you would ensure that hundreds of miles of streams in Appalachia are buried by mountaintop removal mining, a process whereby the tops of mountains are blown up and dumped in the river valleys below. And the proposal under consideration would not be limited to coal mining waste in Appalachia, but instead would allow the Corps to issue permits for all kinds of waste, including hard rock mining, construction debris, roadbuilding and other sources.

When this rule change was initially proposed, more than 17,000 citizens and dozens of members of Congress spoke out in opposition. The misguided proposal was wisely abandoned then as it should be now.

Please, Administrator Whitman, abandon this proposal.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
April 19, 2002

Background Information

What industry wants industry gets -- or at least that's the way it appears. The Bush administration is poised to weaken a critical Clean Water Act rule that prohibits the disposal of mining and other wastes into the nation's waters. The mining industry wants to continue mountaintop removal mining, an extraordinarily destructive practice in which the tops of mountains in Appalachia are blown up to gain access to narrow seams of coal. The obliterated mountaintops are then dumped into the valleys below, burying miles of streams under hundreds of tons of waste and rubble.

While the Army Corps of Engineers may issue permits to allow companies to fill streams, wetlands and other waters for development purposes, it is expressly forbidden from allowing waste material to fill waterways. But for years the Corps has been routinely ignoring this rule and illegally issuing permits to dump mining waste into Appalachian waters.

Changing the rule was initially proposed by the Clinton administration as a result of political pressure brought on by a federal court decision questioning the legality of Corps permits for mountaintop removal waste disposal. After more than 17,000 citizens and dozens of members of Congress objected, however, the Clinton administration abandoned the proposal. But now, responding to industry pressure, the Bush administration has revived the proposal and wants to delete the waste exclusion provision from the rules to allow mining companies to dump their wastes into streams. Even worse, the proposed rule change would reach far beyond mountaintop removal mining, giving the Corps authority to issue permits for dumping all kinds of wastes -- such as hardrock mining and construction debris -- into the nation's waters.

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