A new legislative session is underway and with it, a slew of really bad bills. Given the nightmare in Flint Michigan, with an entire city’s water supply knowing poisoned and hidden from the public by state officials, including the Governor, you would think that protection of our drinking water sources would be important. Wrong. Bills are moving through the State legislature that would eliminate the ability of a citizen to sue over groundwater contamination (sponsored by a Democrat from Seattle no less!), and a House bill that would remove all drinking water protections entirely from law! (of course sponsored only by Republicans who wonder what business would ever do such a thing? How about any of the large cattle operations in Yakima that are leaking nitrates into local wells and being sued over it?)
- This section specifically acknowledges that if a holder of a
- 14 general or individual national pollutant discharge elimination system
- 15 permit complies with the permit and the dairy nutrient management
- 16 plan conditions for appropriate land application practices, the
- 17 permit provides compliance with the federal clean water act and acts
- 18 as a shield against citizen or agency enforcement for any additions
- 19 of pollutants to waters of the state or of the United States as
- 20 authorized by the permit.
It doesn’t appear that our Democratic legislators will have anything to do with these bills.
Read the whole sordid tale here…
InvestigateWest story on water pollution bills
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Government Legislation, Puget Sound |
