Washington, D.C. -- Clean Water Action today delivered more than 72,444 handwritten letters, postcards, and emails calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to drop its controversial proposal to wipe out Clean Water Act protections for streams and wetlands. Clean Water Action’s members contributed to the nearly 500,000 comments submitted by members of a broad coalition opposing this Dirty Water Rule, which will put drinking water sources across the country at risk of pollution and destruction.
Clean Water Action President and CEO, Bob Wendelgass, released the following statement:
“EPA will try ignore this, but it can’t. The public doesn’t support its dangerous scheme to fundamentally change the Clean Water Act. Despite limiting comment on the most aggressive attack on protections for clean water since the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972 to a paltry 60 days, Americans are unified in opposition to the Dirty Water Rule. Our organizers spoke with tens of thousands of people, in neighborhoods across the country. They heard shock and outrage that EPA would propose to weaken protections for our water. They wrote letters and their kids drew pictures because people expect our public officials to put our health and families first. Instead, the Dirty Water Rule puts our families and our water last.
The public spoke loud, but this is not the last word. The campaign to protect clean water never really ends and we’re focused on the next step in the fight to stop the Dirty Water Rule”
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Since our founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking and people power to the table. We will protect clean water in the face of attacks from a polluter friendly Administration.