Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Across the country, federal water regulations set to be undermined in favor of voluntary, pay-to-pollute schemes for ag operations, powerplants

Washington, D.C. On Wednesday, November 18, Food & Water Watch will release its analysis of over 1,000 documents obtained from Pennsylvania and Ohio state agencies regarding water quality trading schemes (also known as water pollution trading.) The analysis reveals a broken system of inherently unaccountable and highly questionable practices that will only mean agricultural operations like factory farms will continue to pollute our waterways ”while power plants and other pollution sources that purchase credits will get to discharge more.

Regional water pollution trading programs are taking off in the watersheds of the Chesapeake Bay and the Ohio River Basin, currently covering nine states: Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Trading programs are also active in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Oregon and Wisconsin, and are under consideration in several other states.

Who: Food & Water Watch Socially Responsible Agricultural Project

What: Press teleconference for report, Water Quality Trading: Polluting Public Waterways for Private Gain

Call-in Details:
1 (888) 862-6557 (U.S. Toll Free)
1 (630) 691-2748 (U.S. Toll)
Confirmation #: 41230729

When: Wednesday, November 18 at 12:00 p.m. ET

Speakers: Wenonah Hauter, executive director; Food & Water Watch; Scott Edwards and Michele Merkel, CoDirectors, Food & Water Justice Project; Lynn Henning, regional associate for the Socially Responsible Agricultural Project and recipient of the 2010 Goldman Environmental Prize; and Maria Payan, regional consultant for the Socially Responsible Agricultural Project.

Please RSVP to: Darcey Rakestraw, 202-683-2467; drakestraw@fwwatch.org

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Food & Water Watch champions healthy food and clean water for all. We stand up to corporations that put profits before people, and advocate for a democracy that improves people’s lives and protects our environment. For more information, visit www.foodandwaterwatch.org.

Socially Responsible Agricultural Project provides free, professional assistance to communities working to protect themselves from factory farms and their impact on local communities and populations, and to those who are trying to reclaim agriculture by producing and marketing sustainable agricultural goods. More information can be found at www.sraproject.org.