Small Businesses Sign Clean Water Letter

Small outdoor businesses from across Pennsylvania signed onto a letter in support of the Clean Water Rule, which adds protection to nearly 50,000 miles of streams in PA and helps to safeguard the drinking water for eight million Pennsylvanians.

Dear Pennsylvania congressional delegation,

As owners of outdoor businesses from across Pennsylvania, we write to you to urge you to support the EPA’s Clean Water Rule. This rule restores critical protections to more than half of Pennsylvania’s streams and helps to make all of our waterways safe for fishing, boating and swimming.

Clean water is essential to our individual livelihoods and to the health of our state’s economy.  A 2012 study by the Outdoor Industry Association found that outdoor recreation in Pennsylvania:

  •       Generates $21.5 billion in consumer spending annually;
  •       Brings in $1.6 billion in tax revenue each year
  •       And provides 219,000 Pennsylvania jobs

We know firsthand how much Pennsylvanians love to fish, boat and swim. Sadly, 20,000 miles of the state’s waterways remain too polluted for swimming and fishing.

Beginning in 1972, the Clean Water Act protected all of the nation’s waters—from small, unnamed streams to our greatest waterways. Yet over the years, polluting industries used the courts to weaken the protections for our headwater streams, lakes, tributaries and wetlands. These loopholes have threatened nearly 50,000 miles of streams in Pennsylvania alone.

This year, U.S. EPA acted to protect Pennsylvania’s headwaters through the EPA’s Clean Water Rule. This important action will help us to achieve the original goal of the Clean Water Act—ensuring that all of our waterways are fishable and swimmable. It will also help the economy by fostering outdoor recreation and allowing us to explore all of the beautiful places we love.

I appreciate your commitment to protecting Pennsylvania’s waterways, and I hope you will move quickly to ensure they are protected for years to come.

Sincerely,

 
Amberly Geoghegan
East Ridge Outfitters

Christine Sharbaugh
The Sporting Gentleman 

Jana Mars
Aqua Vida

Joel Means
Ohiopyle Trading Post

Kirk Rudzinski
East End Angler

Mary Gibson
Blue Mountain Outfitters

Patrick McFarland
Saltsburg River & Trail

Rod Bates
Koinonia Guides

Tim McClain
Lazy River Canoe Rental

William Brinkman
Brinkman’s Bait and Tackle 

Ezekial Hubbard Sr.
Northbrook Canoe