Clean Our Rivers
Short-sighted legal decisions have left thousands of miles of Georgia's streams and hundreds of acres of wetlands vulnerable to pollution and development. Now, polluters’ allies in Congress are trying to block the EPA from restoring vital safeguards. To protect Georgia's rivers, we need to show massive public support for clean water.
Thousands of miles of Georgia’s streams at risk
Right now, thousands of miles of Georgia’s streams and hundreds of acres of wetlands are vulnerable to pollution and development. Polluters can dump garbage into streams, developers can pave over wetlands to build strip malls, and the cops on the environmental beat can’t do a thing about it. And it’s not just small streams and wetlands that will suffer — these waterways are the same ones that feed the Chattahoochee, the Conasauga, and all of our beloved rivers, and help to keep them clean.
Polluters poke holes in Clean Water Act
For nearly 40 years, the Clean Water Act has helped Georgia — and states across the nation — care for and clean up our waterways. Thanks in large part to this groundbreaking law, rivers are no longer so polluted that they catch fire, as Ohio’s Cuyahoga infamously did in 1969. Still, much work remains to be done. We need to do more to protect our waters — not less.
Unfortunately, over the past decade, polluters and irresponsible developers have used the courts to put Clean Water Act protections in legal limbo, arguing that the law doesn’t cover the smaller streams and wetlands that feed and clean the Conasauga, the Chattahoochee, the Savannah, and all our rivers. They want to throw out nearly 40 years of Clean Water Act protection, leaving polluting industries free to dump into our streams and pave over our wetlands without asking for permission.
The EPA can protect our rivers — but Congress threatens to stand in the way
Since 2006, we have been urging Congress to protect our rivers by simply declaring that the Clean Water Act applies to all of Georgia's — and America’s — waters. But, stymied at every turn by industry lobbyists and powerful special interests, we turned instead to the EPA for action.
This spring, we helped our partners throughout the nation submit more than 20,000 petitions to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, urging her to restore protections to all of our waters. In April, she announced a plan to do just that. But polluters’ allies in Congress won’t give up — and now they’re threatening to stop the EPA from doing its job.
At the same time, powerful corporate interests are preparing for battle: ExxonMobil threatened “legal warfare” if the EPA moves forward with its plan to restore Clean Water Act protections.
Our plan to defend Georgia's rivers.
We refuse to let polluters and their allies in Congress open our precious waterways to more dumping and development. We’re bringing together Georgians from all walks of life to protect the Chattahoochee, the Consauga, and all of our rivers. From anglers to white-water enthusiasts, clergy to scientists, local officials to ordinary families, we all have a stake in keeping our water clean.
Our citizen outreach staff has been knocking on doors across the state, educating Georgians about what’s at stake.
But if we’re going to push past ExxonMobil and other powerful polluters, we’re going to need everyone who cares about Georgia's rivers to get involved.
Tell the EPA that you want to see all of America’s waters protected.
Key Facts
- Thousands of miles of Georgia's streams and hundreds of acres of wetlands are vulnerable to pollution and development.
- Georgia is home to more than 70,000 miles of beautiful rivers, lakes and streams.
- Over the past decade, developers and other polluters used the courts to put protections for our rivers in legal limbo — and then blocked any attempt by Congress to restore them.