Ohioans: Tell your reps to vote NO on Senate Bill 386!

[SallyMander]

Senate Bill 386 is being *rushed* through Legislature. This bill would remove the Ohio EPA's authority to regulate mine discharges, essentially giving full authority to the mining industry.

The vote is this Tuesday and Wednesday!

Here is a link that makes it SO easy to take action. Put in your name and address and the message will go straight to your reps: http://ga1.org/campaign/SB386?rk=91XHLM71TJ2uW

(Non-Ohioans... *please* K&R so more people will see this!)


Here is an editorial from the Columbus Dispatch with more info:

Editorial: Don't muddy the waters

Environmental-protection experts should regulate water pollution from mines

Wednesday, December 3, 2008 3:25 AM

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency should be in charge of protecting the state's waterways from pollution, whether that pollution comes from a factory pipe, a large-scale farm or the byproducts of mining coal. A proposed bill to put state mining officials in charge of granting water-pollution permits for coal mines is a bad idea.

State Sen. Timothy J. Grendell, R-Chesterland, is behind the bill to switch authority from the EPA to mining bureaucrats in the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

This proposal is similar to a 2001 state law -- also a bad idea -- that transferred the state EPA's authority to regulate large-scale livestock farms to the Department of Agriculture. That transfer still isn't final, because the U.S. EPA, which has ultimate responsibility for enforcing the 1972 federal Clean Water Act, hasn't approved it.

In a recent public-comment meeting, opponents of the farm-regulation switch pointed out that the Department of Agriculture's mission is to promote farming in Ohio , not to be a watchdog.

The same potential for conflict of interest exists in putting ODNR's Division of Mineral Resources Management in charge of water-pollution permits for mines.

The timing of the bill lends weight to the suspicion that the real goal is to allow an end run by a major mine company that has been denied a permit by the EPA.

Murray Energy Corp., owner of Ohio 's largest underground coal mines, wants to bury Casey Run, a 2-mile-long stream in eastern Ohio , under a 1.85-billion-gallon coal-slurry lagoon.

Slurry is water contaminated with coal dust after it has been used to wash coal. In 2005, a broken slurry pipeline from a Murray Energy-owned mine blackened 2,300 feet of Belmont County's Captina Creek, killing thousands of fish in a habitat that supports the endangered hellbender salamander.

Casey Run is a tributary of Captina Creek. EPA scientists, in recommending denial of the permit for the massive lagoon, said it would pose "insurmountable" environmental concerns for the high-quality water resource.

Murray officials say they'll have to close two mines employing about 1,000 people if they can't build the slurry lagoon, but EPA and ODNR officials said the company could find other ways to dispose of its waste.

Another supposed justification for the bill is a claim that the Ohio EPA takes too long to review mining permits. This appears to be a moot point. The bill would give mine regulators a six-month deadline for approving or denying permits. In recent months, the EPA has eliminated its backlog of applications and has pledged to handle new ones within six months.

Murray Energy's checkered track record of multiple environmental and safety violations in Ohio and elsewhere, including the Crandall Canyon mine cave-in that killed six men in Utah in August 2007, argues against easing regulation of the company.

Regardless of one company's history, safeguarding Ohio 's waterways should remain with the agency for which environmental protection is the core mission.

On a selfish note, here is a picture me with one of the AMAZING critters that might be buried in coal sludge if this legislation goes through...



Here is a pic of the habitat...




"Please don't pollute the last remaining place I can live in Ohio!!!"

[rateyes]

1. That IS an amazing creature holding you, SallyMander...

Yowsa!

[SallyMander]

3. Aww shucks

Thanks rateyes!

[ColbertWatcher]

2. I'm in CA, but I kick and rec your thread anyway! n/t

[SallyMander]

4. Thank you ColbertWatcher!

[Ohio Joe]

5. oh... ok, done. But only because of...

That first pic

[SallyMander]

6. If only a low-cut shirt could solve all our problems...

I'd be happy to oblige!




ETA, Thanks!!!

[Ohio Joe]

7. Hey! but I think it is messed up

I just noticed, it says it is sending it to Steve Stivers but that bastard lost...

[SallyMander]

9. Hmm, I wonder if it hasn't caught up

with the latest results... hopefully the emails will be forwarded on!

[Ohio Joe]

12. Anyone that needs to send it to Mary Jo Kilroy look here

http://www.kilroyforcongress.com/2008/1/index.php?optio...

This is her contact page, cut-n-paste the note and use this to send it.

[SallyMander]

14. Thank you so much!

[rateyes]

21. But, he's still the Rep until January.

[Ohio Joe]

22. DOH! You are correct

I guess I'm just a little over anxious to get rid of the fucktard

[SallyMander]

36. LOL! Me too I guess!

[flvegan]

8. That is one lucky critter in that first photo.

Seriously though, thanks for posting this.

[SallyMander]

11. LOL... i don't think the critter appreciated the snuggle

Pretty sure it just wanted to be put back under its rock.

Thanks flvegan!

[Deep13]

10. Like Batchelder is going to give a shit about critters.

Well, I did practice in the 9th Dist. when he was a judge there.

I think we may be looking for a gubernatorial veto on this one.

[SallyMander]

13. :-(

Captina Creek is one of the prettiest spots in Ohio. I sure hope we can save it.

[Deep13]

15. Where is it anyway?

That critter looks like it just walked out of a natural history museum. Frankly, that alone is reason to save it. How did we get to a point where we have to save parts of our country from destruction?

[SallyMander]

16. Eastern OH -- almost to WV

I totally agree about how they look -- like the "ancestral amphibian" that first wandered up on land millions of years ago.

It's really sad to think that future generations could live in a world where these critters only exist in zoos, or nowhere at all.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

17. Awww! What a cute little hellbender!

[SallyMander]

18. You are now in my exclusive club

of people who think hellbenders are cute!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

20. I'd love to see one in the wild!

I once saw a locally produced show that showed on in extreme Western MD; but they're a rarity in this state.

[pleah]

19. K&R Done! n/t

[SallyMander]

29. Thank you!

[RetroLounge]

23. K&R

Nice slimy critter...



RL

[SallyMander]

30. Thanks Retro!

[lonestarnot]

24. I'm still stuck with Kyle the Bile and McSame and now the witch brewer.

No representation in this fucking state.

[SallyMander]

31. Ick, i'm sorry...

When is McSame up for reelection? Do you think you'll get rid of him?

Thanks for the kick!

[LaurenG]

25. Done -

[SallyMander]

32. Thanks OhioBlues!

[rucky]

26. Done!

Thanks for the link.

[SallyMander]

33. Thanks rucky!

Your sig line made me LOL

[NewJeffCT]

27. recommended

for Ohio DUers.

[SallyMander]

34. Thanks Jeff!

[NewJeffCT]

37. No

thank you for bringing it to people's attention.

[hendo]

28. If only I still lived in Ohio

K&R though.

[SallyMander]

35. Thanks for the K&R hendo!

I see you live in Colorado now, so that's probably a trade-up!

[SallyMander]

38. Amphibious morning kick!

[Ohio Joe]

39. Afternoon kick because....

All DU'ers should at least see the extremely hot SallyMander... oh and sign on if you live in Ohio

[SallyMander]

40. Evening kick to say

gee, thanks!