Letter to Governor Daniels Re: Wastewater Permit that Violates Conditions of Clean Water Act
Letter
Letter to Governor Daniels Re: Wastewater Permit that Violates Conditions of Clean Water Act
October 12, 2007
The Honorable Mitch Daniels
Governor
Dear Governor Daniels,
After reading this morning's Chicago Tribune article regarding the proposed wastewater permit for US Steel's Gary, Indiana, facility, we write to express our strong concern about the potential impact of this proposal and others like it on the health of Lake Michigan.
President Bush issued an executive order in May of 2004 to establish a Great Lakes Interagency Task Force to promote a regional collaboration for the Great Lakes. In the executive order, the President stated that it "is the policy of the Federal Government to support local and regional efforts to address environmental challenges and to encourage local citizen and community stewardship."
The permit currently under review by the State of Indiana appears to move in the opposite direction. You sit in a unique position, with the potential to make a positive, lasting impact on the Lake. The State of Indiana can and should work with industry in the state to encourage compliance with the Clean Water Act goals and to participate as stewards of Lake Michigan.
We all know how important Lake Michigan is for our states and for the country. The Great Lakes account for 95 percent of the United States' surface freshwater and provide drinking water for more than 30 million Americans. Between the startling increases in fish consumption advisories, record numbers of beach closures, and studies indicating that over 90 percent of shoreline in the Great Lakes region is polluted, Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes need greater environmental stewardship, not greater levels of pollution.
We believe that economic infrastructure and protecting the Great Lakes can and should go hand in hand. U.S. Steel's Gary Works is one of the region's biggest employers and contributes to the supply of domestic steel. Our hope is that as U.S. Steel serves these functions for our region, it also will recognize its obligation to more aggressively mitigate pollutants discharged into the public waterways. We urge the State of Indiana to reevaluate this permit, and work with the EPA and U.S. Steel to protect the Lake.
Sincerely,
Richard J. Durbin
U.S. Senator
Rahm Emanuel
Member of Congress
Source