Representative Ryan Costello votes against clean water-Not once or twice but three times
Luckily no mining companies are blasting in Chester County. Perhaps that is why Ryan Costello voted to shelve a new regulation protecting water quality from coal mining operations. But there are Pennsylvanians in central and west Pennsylvania who could be affected by this regulation. Should our representative not protect them? Why not stop the blasting until the Academy completes its study. Perhaps the coal companies will remove the dumped debris from the streams if the Academy finds it harms water quality? Chester County does have many pristine streams which are not navigable. Rep. Costello also voted against protection for them.
From the Inquirer report on area votes in Congress
Mountaintop-removal coal mining. Voting 235-188, the House on Tuesday passed a GOP-sponsored bill (HR 1644) that would shelve a new federal rule aimed at protecting streams and drinking water from pollution caused by mountaintop-removal coal mining. The rule addresses the practice of companies blasting mountaintops and then dumping fractured rocks and other debris into nearby streams and valleys. The bill would delay implementation of the rule until the National Academy of Sciences has completed a study of its impact. ***The study is a 3 year process***
A yes vote was to shelve the proposed “Stream Buffer Zone Rule.”
Voting yes: Ryan Costello (R., Pa.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Tom MacArthur (R., N.J.), Pat Meehan (R., Pa.), and Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.).
Birth defects, lung cancer, kidney disease. Voting 186-237, the House on Tuesday refused to delay the impact of HR 1644 (above) if the bill would cause or increase the incidence of birth defects or ailments such as lung cancer or heart or kidney disease in communities close to mountaintop mining sites.
A yes vote supported a Democratic motion to expedite the environmental rule on health grounds.
Voting yes: Boyle, Brady, Carney, Cartwright, Fattah, and Norcross.
Voting no: Costello, Dent, LoBiondo, MacArthur, Meehan, Pitts, and Smith.
View of Valley Creek in Valley Forge National Historical Park Friday, June 6. (Gene Walsh/The Times Herald)
Dispute over Clean Water Act. The House on Wednesday voted, 253-166, to kill a new Environmental Protection Agency rule that gives protection under the 1972 Clean Water Act to headwaters, wetlands, and other waters upstream of navigable waters. The act already covers navigable waters. The rule does not apply to non-navigable waters used in farming. This vote sent a GOP-sponsored resolution of disapproval (SJ Res 22) to President Obama, who said he would veto it.
A yes vote was to pass a measure that would kill an EPA rule for protecting headwaters.
Voting yes: Costello, Dent, Fitzpatrick, LoBiondo, MacArthur, Meehan, Pitts, and Smith.
Read more at https://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160117_Area_Votes_in_Congress.html#CkVJrCWFkF3RFUmb.99
