Coal River Mountain Watch

Clean Water Protection Act

The Clean Water Protection Act, H.R. 2719, now has 63 cosponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives. Introduced by Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Christopher Shays (R-CT), the bill will protect communities and water quality by outlawing the dumping of mining waste into streams.

The legislation was introduced to address a 2002 executive rule change that altered the long-standing definition of “fill material” in the Clean Water Act. The new definition allows mining waste to be used to fill streams, an attempt to legalize the filling of Appalachian mountain valleys with countless tons of mountaintop removal coal mining waste.

“Congress meant for the Clean Water Act to protect our nation’s water resources; the Administrative rule change endangers those resources,” said Rep. Pallone, the author of the legislation. “The dangerous precedent set by the Administration’s rule change undermines the Clean Water Act. I've proposed the Clean Water Protection Act so the Bush Administration can no longer use our nation's waterways as dumping grounds for industrial waste."

Please WRITE a LETTER to your representatives and urge them to cosponsor and support the Clean Water Protection Act, which would not allow waste to be used for valley fills.

Your Representative
House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Sample points to make in your letter:

· The Clean Water Act is meant to protect, not bury, our rivers, streams, wetlands, and coastal areas.

· More than 400,000 acres of Appalachia's mountains have been leveled, and more than 1,000 miles of streams buried by mountaintop removal mining.

· I urge you to cosponsor and support the Clean Water Protection Act to help protect our waterways and end the destructive practice of mountaintop removal mining.

Coal River

Mountain Watch