Pennsylvania Campaign for Clean Water

32 Campaign for Clean Water member organizations signed on to a letter defending the Clean Water Act opposing the Barrasso/Heller Amendments to H.R. 2354.

On November 16, 2011 the below letter was sent to both Senator Casey and Senator Toomey.

 

On behalf of our thousands of members across Pennsylvania, the undersigned organizations urge you to oppose the Barrasso/Heller amendment to H.R. 2354, which would permanently bar the Army Corps of Engineers from restoring longstanding Clean Water Act protections to water bodies throughout the Commonwealth and the rest of the country.  This amendment undermines the protections that Pennsylvanians expect to ensure clean water for drinking, swimming and fishing. The amendment would endanger our water resources and put the interests of polluters over those of the public.

We urge you to oppose this amendment and preserve the Corps’ ability to take administrative action, within the limits that have been established by the courts, to clarify the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction.

Since the Supreme Court decisions in SWANCC and Rapanos and ensuing EPA Guidance documents issued in 2003 and 2008, water bodies which Congress intended to protect when it passed the Clean Water Act in 1972 have been put at risk. Congress enacted the Clean Water Act “to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.”

This amendment threatens water resources, including over 20 million acres of wetlands and 59% of our nation’s stream miles. The headwater streams that are put at risk by the Barrasso/Heller amendment are incredibly important to the health of Pennsylvania’s watersheds and deserve full protection under the Clean Water Act.  8 million Pennsylvanians get their drinking water from public water systems that are put in danger by this amendment.  58% of the stream miles that provide water to public water systems in our state are intermittent, ephemeral or headwater streams.

Please do not support this amendment and encourage your colleagues to follow your lead. The Clean Water Act was written to protect all the waters of the United States, whether they go through dry spells, low flows or only spring to life from time to time.

Sincerely,

Myron Arnowitt
Chair
Campaign for Clean Water
Pittsburgh

Bob Adams
Director of Stewardship
Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association
Ambler

Barbara Arrindell
Director
Damascus Citizens for Sustainability
Milanville

Thomas Au
Conservation Chair
Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter
Harrisburg

Deana Weaver & Brad Pealer
Co-Founders
Carroll Citizens for Sensible Growth
Dillsburg

Mike T. Burk
President
Conemaugh Valley Conservancy
Hollsopple

Tracy Carluccio
Deputy Director
Delaware Riverkeeper Network
Bristol

Sarah Caspar
Frac Action Coalition
Downingtown

Susan Curry
Treasurer
Alliance for a Sustainable Future
Ambler

William Derhammer
President
Lehigh River Cold Water Alliance
Emmaus

Ms. Aimee Douglas CPA
Treasurer
Springtown Water Authority
Springtown

W. Scott Douglas
President
Cooks Creek Watershed Association
Springtown

Scott Fiegel
Ecological Associates
Oley

Gil Freedman
President
Conodoguinet Creek Watershed Association
Mechanicsburg

Michael Helfrich
Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper
Stewards of the Lower Susquehanna
York

Ellie Hyde
Chair
South Branch Tunkhannock Watershed Coalition
LaPlume

Carol Kafer
President
Loyalsock Creek Watershed Association
Montoursville

Jan Keim
Co-Chair
Little Lehigh Watershed Coalition
Emmaus

Stan Kotala
Conservation Chair
Juniata Valley Audubon
Hollidaysburg

Marion M. Kyde, PhD
President
Delaware River Greenway Partnership
Erwinna

Barry Lewis
Executive Director
GreenTreks Network
Philadelphia

Chuck Marshall
Director
Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation
Paoli

Richard Martin
Coordinator
Pennsyvlania Forest Coalition
Boiling Springs

Anne Murphy
Executive Director
Chester Ridley Crum Watersheds Association
Media

Maria Payan
Chair
Peach Bottom Concerned Citizens Group
Delta

Gerald R. Potocnak
President
Arrowhead Chapter, Trout Unlimited
Sarver

Ted Robinson
Staff Attorney
Citizen Power
Pittsburgh

Brady Russell
Eastern Pennsylvania Director
Clean Water Action
Philadelphia

Donna Smith-Remick
President
Friends of Poquessing Watershed
Philadelphia

Jim Vogt
President
Aquashicola Pohopoco Watershed Conservancy
Kresgeville

Derrick Winegardner
Chair
Friends of the Little Aughwick Creek
Fort Littleton

Peter Wray
Conservation Chair
Sierra Club, Allegheny Group
Pittsburgh