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Clean Water Act ‘decimated’

Posted by: Maven on December 25, 2008 at 8:30 am

From Nogales International:

In a letter to President-elect Barack Obama, two Democrat house leaders blasted the Environmental Protection Agency for not enforcing pollution laws and the Army Corps of Engineers’ alleged deliberate failure to protect the Santa Cruz River under the Clean Water Act.

In a three-page letter on Tuesday to Obama, Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and James Oberstar (D-Minn.) cited this as an example of the Bush administration causing the “decimation (of the Act) over the past two years, imperiling the health and safety of the nation’s waters.” The letter concluded, “We would like to work with you in a cooperative manner to restore the effectiveness and integrity of a program that is vital to the health and environment of the American people.”

Waxman is chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Oberstar heads the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

In July, Obama campaign spokeswoman Shannon Glisan wrote this reporter that “A variety of court rulings have left about half of the nation’s streams, rivers and over 20 million acres of wetlands less protected than the federal Clean Water Act intended.”

If elected, Glisan said, “Sen. Obama will support and sign into law legislation that effectively restores the historical scope of the Clean Water Act and thereby advances environmental protection, community values and public health objectives.”

Oberstar is a sponsor of the House-Senate Oberstar-Feingold bill that would restore the strength of the Clean Water Act.

Read more from Nogales International by clicking here.

December 25, 2008 · Filed Under Water Quality

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