GAC
WITNESSES DESCRIBE EFFECTS OF LAX ENFORCEMENT
RANGERS
IN RESPIRATORS; FISHERMEN WITH OPEN SORES
WASHINGTON - Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman
Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., in the second of a series of hearings
on the Bush Administration’s environmental record, said the
testimony he heard Wednesday from witnesses working on the
environmental front lines was both “moving and important to
the national debate on environmental protection.”
“Everybody should be aware of these stories,”
Lieberman said. “They transcend Washington politics and offer a poignant
lesson about what is happening to the air, land, and water
above, around, and beneath us.”
Among the
witnesses were Rick Dove, a former commercial fisherman who
was forced to retire because of pollution in the Neuse River
in North Carolina. In
testimony opposing the Bush administration’s apparent intent
to weaken proposals to control river pollution, he told of
suffering from open, bleeding sores similar to those observed
in countless fish that died in the river over the years. The
fish kills are believed to be caused by waste from
concentrated animal feeding operations. Dove has since become
the river-keeper of that body of water.
Hope Seick, who works to
protect Yellowstone National Park, objected to the
administration’s efforts to undercut a ban on snowmobiles in
the park. “Wolves,
bison, bears, elk, bald eagles and other important species
thrive alongside remarkable geothermal wonders, majestic
mountains, pristine lakes and pure rivers,” she testified.
“Sadly... for half a decade now, fresh air has been
pumped into ranger booths at the West Entrance to prevent
headaches, nausea, burning eyes and other health problems
caused by snowmobile exhaust... This winter, for the first
time in National Park history, rangers wore respirators to
allow them to endure a work day in Yellowstone without ill
effects.”
“To me,” Lieberman said, “safeguarding our air,
water and land is a critical American value.
Consistently enforcing the law is another important
American value.
“My
own assessment is that, just a year into the Bush
Administration, we are seeing some very troubling policies in
environmental enforcement, interpretation and implementation -
policies that
have real consequences for the air we breathe, the water we
drink, and the land we stand upon...
It appears that when the administration does not agree
with a particular protection, it finds ways to delay or take
the teeth out of it. That
might be accomplished through changing guidance documents,
postponing decisions indefinitely, seeking settlement
agreements that weaken existing rules, or using a variety of
other administrative tactics.”
Continuing, Lieberman said, “the Administration
seems to consult more carefully with industry than with anyone
else. It is, of
course, appropriate to consult with industries that are
regulated by environmental laws.
But the voice of industry does not tell the whole
story. The views, voices, and values of others must be given
equal weight if our environmental laws are to be fairly
enforced.”
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