Congress fails again to block clean water protections

Media Contacts
John Rumpler

Clean Water Director and Senior Attorney, Environment America

Environment America

WASHINGTON, DC – Congress again failed to block clean water protections for millions of Americans today, as Senate leaders fell far short of the votes needed to override the president’s veto of a measure by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) dubbed the “Dirty Water Bill.”
 
The joint congressional resolution, which passed the House last week but was vetoed just two days ago, would have overturned the Obama administration’s Clean Water Rule, which restores protections for small streams that help provide drinking water for 1 in 3 Americans.
 
The rule, nearly ten years in the making and adopted last summer, is backed by the public by wide margins, but reviled by polluters and their congressional and state government allies. It’s now survived multiple polluter-driven attacks in Congress.
 
John Rumpler, senior attorney for Environment America, issued this statement:

“Due to overwhelming public support, the Clean Water Rule has withstood every attack mustered by polluters in Congress. Now it’s time for congressional leaders to stop carrying the polluters’ dirty water, and move to address other pressing threats to our drinking water. In the wake of Toledo, Des Moines, and the unfolding crisis in Flint, that means cleaning up factory farms and fixing broken water systems.”