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Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, welcomed Ed Wiley of West Virginia to Capitol Hill today after he walked 450 miles from Charleston, West Virginia to Washington to draw attention to the dangers posed by mountaintop mining in his community and others throughout Appalachia.
Last year, the New Jersey congressman introduced legislation that would prohibit the dumping of industrial waste into rivers and streams, a practice that the Bush administration allowed when it made a rule change to the Clean Water Act in May 2002. Pallone’s legislation, H.R. 2719, the Clean Water Protection Act of 2003, clarifies the definition of ‘fill material’ in the Clean Water Act to ensure that it does not include mining wastes and other pollutants. The legislation restores the prohibition on using waste as “fill” that had been included in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ regulations since 1977.
The New Jersey congressman gave the following statement at today's news conference on Capitol Hill.
"I'd like to personally welcome Ed Wiley to Washington, DC, and say what a privilege it is to be here with you at the end of your walk. What Ed has done is nothing short of heroic. Concerned about the obvious dangers that his granddaughter and her classmates are facing at Marsh Fork Elementary, he has marched 450 miles to raise money for a new school. Along the way, he has drawn plenty of attention to the fact that a massive mountaintop mining operation is posing a very serious threat to this school and to people throughout Appalachia.
"It's a shame, though, that Ed has had to even do this walk. America's insatiable appetite for fossil fuels has led massive corporations to rip off the tops of mountains in search of more and more coal. Because this happened largely beneath the attention of folks in Washington, coal companies have been allowed to site massive impoundments and other facilities right next to Marsh Fork Elementary.
"What would we say if right around here, in one of DC's suburbs, a company announced that it planned to dump two billion gallons of coal slurry into a valley four hundred yards from an elementary school? That's exactly what's happening in southern West Virginia. If the dam holding back that impoundment were to break, there would be no time for the children to escape.
Not only that, but the children there are already suffering from asthma, headaches, nausea, and other symptoms likely due to toxic contamination from coal dust.
"This is what I call environmental injustice. A giant coal company has taken advantage of a low-income rural community because it would save them money to put schoolchildren in harm's way. This is unconscionable.
"So is the story of Larry Gibson, who is also with us today. Larry has been brave enough to hold out in the face of very serious threats to his life and property. Surrounded by mountaintop removal operations, Larry has refused to sell or move from the land his family has lived on since the 1700s -- even after mining company goons have shot up his car and killed his dog.
"Larry and Ed are just two of the many faces of what so many down here in Washington may dismiss as just another environmental issue. This isn't just another environmental issue -- it's a matter of justice.
"We're here to talk about justice and fundamental human rights -- the right of all people to live free from the fear that a boulder might kill their child in the middle of the night; the right to send your children to a school not threatened by billions of gallons of coal slurry; the right to preserve the streams and valleys that have been part of their way of life; and the right to protect their own land, no matter how much coal might be underneath.
"I've introduced the Clean Water Protection Act because I believe that the federal government has a responsibility to protect these rights, not to give massive mining companies a free pass to dump their waste into a nearby stream.
"I'm glad to see that so many people have come here this week not only to join Ed as he finishes his walk to Washington but also to ask my colleagues in Congress to cosponsor the Clean Water Protection Act.
"Having folks like you here to put a human face on this tragedy in Appalachia will make a tremendous difference in moving forward with this important legislation. Because we need to show members of Congress that cosponsoring this bill and ending the harmful impacts of mountaintop mining is about protecting the environment and protecting people's lives.
"I'm proud to be the cosponsor of the Clean Water Protection Act, and I'm proud to be here with so many people willing to stand up for the rights of Appalachian residents. Let's keep working together to make the Clean Water Protection Act law!" |
