Dear LWV-WV Members,

We're writing to urge you to contact legislators and tell them to oppose two measures that would weaken regulations intended to protect our drinking water and public health.

Tell the House Judiciary Committee: No More Toxins in Our Water

Tomorrow, March 1, the House Judiciary Committee will hold a virtual public hearing on HB 2389, the Water Quality Standards Rule. Registration for the hearing has closed, but you can still make your voice heard by contacting members of the committee and telling them not to allow more chemical toxins in our water.

The WV Rivers Coalition has more information here [1], along with an easy way to send a message to all the committee members. You can also find contact information of House Judiciary Committee Members here [2].

Say No to Removing Regulation for Storage Tanks Near Drinking Water Intakes

Another bill moving in the House of Delegates would exempt oil and gas tanks in "zones of critical concern" (ZCCs) from the Aboveground Storage Tank (AST) Act. ZCCs are areas directly upstream from public drinking water intakes in which a released contaminant will reach the intake within five hours. The Freedom Industries tank leak in 2014 demonstrated what can go terribly wrong when tanks close to our drinking water intakes are overlooked. The water crisis that resulted when the drinking water for over 300,000 West Virginians was contaminated by the leak spurred unanimous passage of the AST Act. Now, industry lobbyists want deregulate oil and gas storage tanks closest to our drinking water intakes, with HB 2598.

On Tuesday, members of the House Energy Committee sent the bill the full vote, however, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw agreed to send the bill to the Health Committee for further scrutiny [3]. Now is the time to let Health committee members know HB 2598 puts our drinking water at an unnecessary risk.

See this WV Rivers Coalition action alert [4] to send a message to the committee, or click here [5] for a list of House Health Committee members and their contact information.

Thank you for taking action to protect our drinking water and our health!

LWV-WV Natural Resources Committee

Links: ------ [1] https://wvrivers.salsalabs.org/senatejudiciary/index.html [2] https://wvecouncil.org/wv-legislature/house-judiciary-committee/ [3] https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/proposed-rollback-... [4] https://wvrivers.salsalabs.org/2021NoRollbackstoASTAHealth/index.html [5] https://wvecouncil.org/wv-legislature/wv-house-health-and-human-resources/