Follow-up from our October 23, 2007 Program/Meeting! Explore, Enjoy and PROTECT.
Stop mountaintop removal mining by protecting our waterways.
Background
The Bush administration has made a rule change to the Clean Water Act of 1977, which allows coal mining companies to dump waste material into waterways. This change has legalized the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining. In this practice, forests are clear-cut, entire mountaintops are blown off and the millions of tons of debris are dumped into nearby streams to get at coal seams that lie deep beneath the surface. Over 300,000 acres of mountains in Appalachia have been permitted for flattening. Over 1,000 miles of mountain streams have been buried beneath mining rubble. At the current rate, half the mountains of southern West Virginia will be gone in the next 20 years.
Representatives Frank Paltone and Christopher Shays have introduced bipartisan legislation that will amend the Clean Water Act to prohibit the practice of burying our waterways underneath valley fills.
PLEASE WRITE A LETTER to your Washington representatives and urge them to cosponsor and support HR 2169, The Clean Water Protection Act, which would prohibit mining waste from being used for valley fill, and would protect streams across America from being used as waste disposal sites.
1. Rep. Bruce Braley, 1408 Longworth Bidg, Washington DC 20515 (Waterloo, Davenport)
2. Rep. Dave Loebsack, 1513 Longworth Btdg, Washington DC 20515 (Iowa City)
Sample points to make in your letter:
Stop mountaintop removal mining by protecting our waterways.
Background
The Bush administration has made a rule change to the Clean Water Act of 1977, which allows coal mining companies to dump waste material into waterways. This change has legalized the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining. In this practice, forests are clear-cut, entire mountaintops are blown off and the millions of tons of debris are dumped into nearby streams to get at coal seams that lie deep beneath the surface. Over 300,000 acres of mountains in Appalachia have been permitted for flattening. Over 1,000 miles of mountain streams have been buried beneath mining rubble. At the current rate, half the mountains of southern West Virginia will be gone in the next 20 years.
Representatives Frank Paltone and Christopher Shays have introduced bipartisan legislation that will amend the Clean Water Act to prohibit the practice of burying our waterways underneath valley fills.
PLEASE WRITE A LETTER to your Washington representatives and urge them to cosponsor and support HR 2169, The Clean Water Protection Act, which would prohibit mining waste from being used for valley fill, and would protect streams across America from being used as waste disposal sites.
1. Rep. Bruce Braley, 1408 Longworth Bidg, Washington DC 20515 (Waterloo, Davenport)
2. Rep. Dave Loebsack, 1513 Longworth Btdg, Washington DC 20515 (Iowa City)
Sample points to make in your letter:
- The Clean Water Act is meant to protect, not bury, our rivers, streams, wetlands, and coastal areas.
- The rule change by the Bush administration, which allows mining companies to dump waste in our waterways, is corporate exploitation for industry profit.
- I urge you to cosponsor The Clean Water Protection Act to help protect our waterways and end the destructive practice of mountaintop removal mining.
- For more info or for photos of active mountaintop removal mining, go to http://www.ohvec.org/