| Cleveland Congressional Delegation Join Together to End Appalachian Crisis |
| Written by Mark Smith |
| Sunday, 12 July 2009 10:07 |
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Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (OH-11) has announced she will join fellow Cleveland area Representatives Dennis Kucinich (OH-10), Tim Ryan (OH-17) and Betty Sutton (OH-13) as a consponsor of the Clean Water Protection Act (H.R 1310). The Clean Water Protection Act (CWPA), introduced by Representatives Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Dave Reichert (R-WA), would end a Bush-era modification to our Clean Water Act that permits the coal mining industry to dump their waste directly into American streams and waterways.
Doesn't the Clean Water Act Already Protect Us? On May 3, 2002, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, without involvement or approval of congress, finalized a rule that modified the long-standing definition of “fill material”. For 25 years, the Clean Water Act allowed the government to selectively issue permits to place fill material into "waters of the United States", provided that the primary purpose of the fill material was not waste disposal. The change permitted for the first time that industrial waste could be used to fill in streams, lakes, wetlands, and other waters.
J. Stephen Griles, lobbyist for the National Mining Association and second-in-command at the Department of Interior (2001-2004), was behind the push to get the change through quickly. There was growing concern by Griles' "former" clients in the coal industry that the higher profit mountaintop removal coal extraction would be stopped through legal challenges because the practice clearly violated the Clean Water Act as it was written.
Five days after the redefinition of fill to include industrial waste disposal, a federal court in West Virginia found that the rule change indeed violated the Clean Water Act and verfied that mountaintop removal is illegal. The Bush administration apealed the decision to the infamous U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals where the Administration had the lower court's ruling reversed.
J. Stephen Griles resigned after an investigation concluded that he had violated a written agreement that he would cease his lobbying efforts while in the Department of Interior. After leaving office he was convicted of obstruction of justice in the Ambramoff lobbying scandal investigation and spent 10 months in federal prison. How Do We Fix It? Griles is long gone but his toxic legacy remains. It will now take an act of congress to undo the gutting of the Clean Water Act on behalf of the coal industry. Although the Clean Water Protection Act will put the brakes on the wholesale destruction of the Appalachian mountains, no water is safe as long as Bush's redefinition of fill is allowed to stand. The rule expressly allows any hardrock mining waste, construction and demolition debris, and other types of harmful wastes to be dumped into rivers and streams across the country. Only by passing a law that specifically excludes industrial waste material will the purpose and intent of the Clean Water Act be restored.
Representative Fudge joins 155 of her collegues in the House, both Democrat and Republican, as a cosponsor. Currently Northeast Ohio Representative Steven LaTourette (OH-14) and Marcy Kaptur (OH-9) have not indicated that they will cosponsor this critical restoration of our Clean Water Act. Over 2000 miles of streams and 500 mountains have already been destroyed through mountaintop removal. There are over 200 more mountaintop removal permits on the verge of being approved. If you live in a district of a CWPA cosponsor, please let them know you appreciate their support of this important bill. If you live in either LaTourette's or Kaptur's district it is imperative that they hear from you today.
A BILL To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify that fill material cannot be comprised of waste. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the 'Clean Water Protection Act'. SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF FILL MATERIAL. Section 502 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362) is amended by adding at the end the following: '(26) FILL MATERIAL- The term 'fill material' means any pollutant which replaces portions of the waters of the United States with dry land or which changes the bottom elevation of a water body for any purpose. The term does not include any pollutant discharged into the water primarily to dispose of waste.'. Additional Resources
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