Broad Coalition of Groups Support Passage of Clean Water Restoration Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 9, 2008

* American Rivers * Clean Water Network * Earthjustice * Environment America * Izaak Walton League of America * League of Conservation Voters * National Wildlife Federation * Natural Resources Defense Council * Sierra Club * Southern Environmental Law Center * Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership * Trout Unlimited *

Contact: Jared Saylor, Earthjustice (202) 667-4500

Broad Coalition of Groups Support Passage of Clean Water Restoration Act
Protecting clean water should be a priority for Congress

Washington, D.C. – A broad coalition of hunting, fishing and environmental groups collectively support the passage of the Clean Water Restoration Act of 2008. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is holding a public hearing this morning on the pending bill.

The following statement is from the coalition of groups listed above:

“For more than 35 years, the Clean Water Act has successfully safeguarded America’s rivers, lakes, streams, wetlands and other waters from pollution and destruction. When we protect clean water, we’re ensuring a future for our children to enjoy the same streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands where we fished, swam, hunted and played.

“The Supreme Court and the Bush Administration have placed vital Clean Water Act protections in doubt for many important waters, making it easier to pollute and destroy these waters. Corporations and developers are spending millions to defeat this bill, because taking responsibility for safeguarding clean water cuts into company profits.

“Without the Clean Water Restoration Act, legal questions will continue to haunt the Clean Water Act’s programs that prevent developers from paving over thousands of acres of wetlands, that prevent floods and provide habitat, or that prevent mercury, dioxin, oil and other chemicals from polluting streams, lakes and other water bodies.  These resources are crucial – for instance, drinking water systems serving more than 110 million Americans derive some of their supply from sources containing the kinds of streams that have been put in jeopardy.

“We applaud Sen. Russ Feingold and the other 20 Senators co-sponsoring the Clean Water Restoration Act for their leadership on this important issue. It is time for our Senators and Representatives to make a choice – will they stand up to protect the waters where we hunt, fish, drink and recreate, or will they stand with polluters who flood our drinking water with chemicals and bury the streams, wetlands, lakes and rivers meant to support wildlife?

“We call on the 110th Congress to stop the unraveling of the Clean Water Act by enacting the Clean Water Restoration Act into law this year.”

Date: 4/9/2008