Defend Our Water: Urgent! Last Push – Calls Needed on Tank Bill

Oil and gas industry and other corporate lobbyists are hard at work trying to team up with legislators to roll back the water protections we gained last year after the Freedom Industries/MCHM drinking water crisis. Last night, they won a battle when the House Judiciary Committee defeated by one vote an amendment that would have made the tank bill more protective.  Then. also by one vote, they sent the bill to the House floor.

“This bill is a rollback of all we accomplished last year,” said Delegate Stephen Skinner, D-Jefferson.

But friendly, allied lobbyists for citizen groups are meeting today, too, and they are calling on you to help save the tank bill.  As noted, the vote was close, so another push for the House to pass amendments on the floor tomorrow could make the difference.

—Please, right away Tell Speaker Tim Armstead to not roll back water protections and reject SB 423 as-is.
E-mail him at tim.armstead@wvhouse.gov or call 304-340-3210.
If you can, hand deliver your comments to Speaker Armstead’s office, Room 228M at the State Capitol. You may see some like-minded, water-drinking friends there.

–Contact your Delegate and tell her or him to support amendments to SB 423 to improve protections for our water.

–Send an email thanking committee members who voted for amendments to SB 423 in last night’s committee meeting to protect our water:
patrick.lane@wvhouse.gov; tmanchin@manchininjurylaw.com; stephen.skinner@wvhouse.gov; john.mccuskey@wvhouse.gov; andrew.byrd@wvhouse.gov; barbaraf@wvhouse.gov; shawn.fluharty@wvhouse.gov; ken.hicks@wvhouse.gov; dana.lynch@wvhouse.gov; clif.moore@wvhouse.gov; larry.rowe@wvhouse.gov

Click here for a summary of needed changes to SB 423.

If you need a little motivation to tap back into all the anger you felt during the water crisis, and all the anger people are feeling now as the WV Legislature moves to gut the tank bill, watch these videos from Keely Kernan:

Poisoned – West Virginia Water Crisis:  https://vimeo.com/113931189

Advocates for a Safe Water System: https://vimeo.com/116251394

Nibi “Water” Walk: https://vimeo.com/97288672

Delegate Brad White voted against the amendment that would have made the bill stronger, then he voted against the bill. When he was running for office, White contended that the water crisis was mishandled, saying clean, safe water is “a basic right” as West Virginia is “not a third world country.”

Please, at least e-mail or call. Spread the word, pass this along to friends.