environmental health

Latest Coal Ash Bill Fails to Protect Communities - Take Action!

Coal Ash Sludgehousands of communities across the nation are at risk from toxic coal ash. Congress is only making things worse. Click here to protect our neighborhoods and communities from the threat of coal ash.

Learn more here and take action here!

The “Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act of 2013” (H.R. 2218), introduced by Representative David McKinley (R-WV), fails to protect communities from coal ash pollution.

President Obama Must Protect Our Nation’s Water from Power Plant Pollution

Washington, DC:  Clean Water Action joined dozens of groups to urge President Obama to protect our water from pollution from power plants. The groups are urging the release of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed “Steam Electric Power Generating Category Effluent Limitation Guidelines” for public comment by the court-ordered deadline of April 19th.

“Coal fired power plants are the largest water polluters in the U.S. They account for nearly three quarters of toxic water pollution,” said Robert Wendelgass, Clean Water Action President and CEO. “The amount of toxic pollution, which includes arsenic, mercury, cadmium and selenium, which are all harmful to humans and aquatic life – are incredible and must be drastically reduced.”

Published On: 
04/09/2013 - 15:18

How Did They Vote: The 2011–2012 California Legislative Scorecard

Did your State Senator vote to protect our water? Did your Assembly Member work to ensure all Californians have access to safe and affordable water? Are your legislators and the Governor standing up for you or are they standing with polluters? Find out all of that and more!

Our California Clean Water Legislative Scorecard grades your legislators on their work to protect our water, our environment and our communities during the 2011-2012 legislative session, which ended in August!  In it, we track Clean Water Action’s 2011 – 2012 legislative priorities including:

  • ensuring Californians have access to  safe and affordable drinking water, and
  • making sure the water quality of our state’s precious waterways is improved, and that state policies ensure environmental justice, reduce exposure to toxic chemicals, and prevent plastic pollution and waste.

Colorado Currents | Winter 2013

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2013 Winter/Legislative Session Edition

Oil and Gas Drilling and Fracking

Clean Water Action has worked with local groups around the state to raise awareness of water dangers and other risks posed by oil and gas drilling and fracking. Together with local “fractivists” and municipalities, Clean Water Action helped win new fracking regulations and local moratorium measures, including those in Fort Collins and Boulder County. The Fort Collins moratorium is in effect through July 2013. The Boulder County moratorium expires this February, but will likely be extended to give the county time to update and strengthen its recently adopted fracking regulations. Helping additional communities exercise their rights for local control of drilling and fracking operations is a priority for the coming year.

“Setback” rules determining the distance allowed between drill sites and structures such as homes and schools were also hotly debated. Current state law allows drilling and fracking as close 350 feet in densely populated areas and 150 feet in rural areas. A state “setbacks stakeholder” group is recommending new drill site setback standards.

Communities along the Front Range are concerned about current standards and are looking to scientific studies to guide setbacks rulemaking. Clean Water Action supports a 2,000-foot minimum drill site setback in Colorado. Read more

Fracking in California

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Clean Water Action is working to protect California from the dangers of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Across the country, communities are suffering from health impacts related to fracking including: contaminated drinking water and polluted air, degradation of local waterways, and decreased property values. In most states, fracking operations are designed to extract natural gas reserves. In California, it’s all about oil.

California has the largest oil shale play in the nation- the Monterey Shale. It spans much of the Central Valley and the Central Coast along with Los Angeles. It lies below most of the sources of drinking water for Central Valley residents and contains 15 billion barrels of oil that have historically been too difficult to extract.  Until now.

Failing to Enforce Fracking Rules

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Clean Water Action issues report on Pennsylvania’s lack of enforcement of gas drilling rules

Clean Water Action looked at how the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection did in 2011 for enforcing environmental rules on Marcellus Shale gas drilling companies.  Despite over one thousand violations, 9 out of 10 gas companies got off without paying a fine.

Download the report and learn more.

2012 Maryland Legislative Session Review

MD State House sign.jpgFollowing one of the most disappointing sessions for the environment in 2011, this year environmental advocates and legislators in Annapolis pulled out all the stops and were successful passing bills that will significantly improve and protect Maryland’s water quality and resources. We made a lot of progress in 2012, but there is much to be done.  Make sure you stay involved. 

Fracking Wastewater Settlement!

clean water action reaches a settlement with pennsylvania sewage plant that was dumping fracking wastewater

Winning Storm Water in Maryland

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victory towards getting maryland's rivers, lakes, and streams out of serious trouble.

These water bodies, including the Chesapeake Bay, face a fast-growing threat from pollution from our streets, roofs and parking lots called stormwater runoff.  It carries pollutants, bacteria, and toxic chemicals right into our water and, if left unchecked, will do serious long term damage to the health of our water.

Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Scorecard

Between November, 2011 and February, 2012, the Pennsylvania state legislature held a series of votes on HB 1950 (Act 13), a bill that proposed to overturn hundreds of local ordinances on gas drilling, while establishing the nation’s lowest impact fee and making minimal improvements to oil and gas regulations. Passage of Act 13 is the first significant legislation enacted in Pennsylvania since the Marcellus Shale gas drilling boom began over four years ago, and represents a giant step backward in environmental protection, especially through eliminating any local control over gas drilling. The Scorecard covers final passage votes as well as votes on floor amendments to the bill.

See how your state legislators scored by downloading the entire Marcellus Scorecard. Take action and hold your legislators accountable for their votes!

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