Statement of U.S. PIRG Clean Water Advocate Christy Leavitt
In a victory for clean water, the U.S. House of Representatives voted today to protect America’s waterways.
The
House voted to stop U.S. EPA from implementing a 2003 policy that
effectively eliminates basic Clean Water Act protections from many
streams, wetlands and other waters around the country. We applaud
Representatives James Oberstar (D-MN), Jim Leach (R-IA) and John
Dingell (D-MI) for championing this successful bipartisan amendment to
safeguard the environment and public health.
For
three years, EPA’s No Protection policy has left many of America’s
waters open to unlimited pollution, filling and destruction. Today,
Congress listened to the public and voted to protect drinking water
sources and preserve our great waters for generations to come.
EPA’s
No Protection policy put thousands of streams and millions of acres of
wetlands across the country at risk of unchecked pollution. These
streams and wetlands are the lifeblood of America’s waterways. To clean
up treasured waters like the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay, these
source waters must remain protected by the Clean Water Act.
According
to federal agency records, thousands of waters already have lost
federal protection as a result of the EPA’s policy, including a 150
mile river basin in New Mexico and 4000 acres of wetlands in Florida.
The
passage of the Oberstar- Leach -Dingell clean water amendment will stop
the harmful No Protection policy and help safeguard all of America’s
waters.
