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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | May 3, 2022 10:18 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Katie J. Muth |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Recognizing May 2022 as National Drinking Water Month in PA |
| In the near future, I will be introducing a Senate Resolution recognizing May 2022 as National Drinking Water Month in Pennsylvania. Nationally, May has been recognized as National Drinking Water Month to educate the public about the importance of clean and safe drinking water. Pennsylvania is one of the few states that identifies water as a constitutionally protected, publicly held asset, and access to clean water (as well as air and land) are constitutional rights of the people of the Commonwealth. A 1971 amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution made the government the explicit trustee of the environment and guaranteed that: The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people. Unfortunately, decades of corporate and industrial operations leaving behind legacy pollution, coupled with insufficient and unenforced environmental regulations, has significantly compromised the availability of clean water to Pennsylvania families. Many of us take clean drinking water for granted, but many families across our Commonwealth and across the country are living without access to clean drinking water. According to PA Department of Environmental Protections 2022 PA Integrated Water Quality Report, one-third of all Pennsylvania waterways are now considered polluted enough to harm wildlife, recreation, or drinking water. The DEP listed 27,886 miles of streams it found impaired in one or more ways, which is about 9% worse than its 2020 estimate. Additionally, a 2018 study by PennEnvironment ranked Pennsylvania as the second worst in the nation in industrial pollution in our waterways. Our waterways face threats on every front. Hydraulic fracturing operations and improper waste disposal allowing leachate into our waterways and soils, abandoned mines leaching toxic acids, polluted runoff, pesticides, industrial pollution, and aging lead pipes all contaminate streams, creeks, and rivers, and end up in our groundwater. It is imperative that the General Assembly and government regulators prioritize holding polluters accountable for any actions that further harm the constitutionally protected waterways of our Commonwealth, educating the public about the importance of clean and safe drinking water, and raising awareness about the threats to drinking water caused by industry in Pennsylvania. Please join me in recognizing the importance of clean drinking water in Pennsylvania by cosponsoring this resolution designating the month of May 2022 as National Drinking Water Month in Pennsylvania. |