ALERT - NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY TO STOP MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL MINING AND OPPOSE WASTE DUMPS IN WATERS NATIONWIDE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20

The Bush administration is very close to finalizing a change to  Clean Water Act rules that would modify the Army Corps of Engineers'  definition of "fill" material to allow the Corps to permit wastes from  mountaintop removal coal mining to bury streams.  In mountaintop removal  coal mining, coal companies literally blast off the tops of mountains to  reach the seams of coal, then dump the millions of tons of waste generated into nearby streams and wetlands. In October 1999 a federal  court found that this practice violated the Clean Water Act and the  stream protection provisions of the federal surface mining law.  Now,  the Army Corps of Engineers and US EPA are trying to change the rules in  order to legalize this waste dumping.

To make matters even worse, the proposed rule change would also allow  hardrock mineral mining companies and all other kinds of industries to  dump their wastes into waters, too.  The result of this change in  regulations will be nationwide devastation of rivers, lakes, wetlands  and streams.

Between 9am and 4 pm EST, we are asking people to please call:
*  Christine Whitman, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection  Agency, 202-546-4700 and
*  James Connaughton, Chairman of the White House's Council on  Environmental Quality, 202-456-5147 -- to deliver the message: “Save our waters from fills made of wastes.”

For more information visit http://www.cwn.org/docs/whatnew/whatnew.htm

HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO:

SPREAD THE WORD!  Please send this message to your members,  volunteers, friends, and colleagues asking the to participate in the  nationwide event and send a reminder on the morning of March 20.

MAKE THESE 2 CALLS YOURSELF!  Two minutes can help save
waters you care about.

TALKING POINTS: Leave messages for Administrator Whitman and CEQ  Chairman Connaughton to tell them:
1.      Not to revise the definition of "fill material" under the Clean Water  Act in order to authorize the dumping of waste into our nation's  streams, lakes, rivers and wetlands.
2.      Do not attempt to legalize the illegal practice of mountaintop removal coal mining, which has already destroyed hundreds of miles of streams and kills all stream life.
3.      The Administration MUST reopen this policy change to public comment
and conduct an Environmental Impact Statement before deciding to
complete this rulemaking.

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Tennessee Clean Water Network
P.O. Box 1521
Knoxville, TN 37901
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