housands 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.
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.”
Download the Scorecard (pdf)
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:
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
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.
failure to enforce
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.
Following 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.
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.
See how your state legislators scored by downloading the entire Marcellus Scorecard. Take action and hold your legislators accountable for their votes!
