It's Your Turn to Speak up for Tar Creek
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“Water connects us and when that water is damaged, we look away as it flows by. We have done that long enough. It is time to recognize we are nothing without clean water.”
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Write to EPA, FERC, and Governor Stitt. Speak up for Tar Creek.
Tell them it's time to begin working together!
Tell them it's time to begin working together!
Governor Kevin Stitt
Commissioner Richard Glick
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street, NE Washington, DC 20426 https://bit.ly/2S511M1 (using this link once will automatically send to Commissioner Glick and Administrator Regan) Administrator Michael Regan
Environmental Protection Agency
Mailing Code 1101A 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20460 https://bit.ly/2S511M1 (using this link once will automatically send to Commissioner Glick and Administrator Regan) |
Sample Letter - Use or Modify as You Wish
Dear _________________,
I am writing to request that you enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the State of Oklahoma and any other applicable state, federal, tribal and/or local entities to require inter-agency analysis and decision-making between the Grand Lake Dam relicensing and the Tar Creek Superfund Site. Contamination from the Tri-State Mining District impacts much of the Grand River watershed. Protecting human and environmental health throughout the watershed demands that agencies consider how their actions affect the distribution of contaminants across the watershed. Isolated decision-making is harmful to human health and will not solve our problems. An MOU is required to compel joint landscape-scale decision-making. Heavy metals from Tar Creek are in Grand Lake fish. We know eating too many of these fish is dangerous to human health. High levels of toxic heavy metals (specifically lead, cadmium, arsenic and manganese) in water and fish cause irreversible neurocognitive impairments on humans, especially children. How can we make our fish safe to eat, or water clean to drink or recreate in, if FERC continues to ignore Tar Creek metals when making decisions about the Grand Lake Dam? These issues cannot be considered in isolation. I am concerned about human exposure to these metals in Grand Lake. I am also concerned that flood events distribute Tar Creek metals throughout the watershed, depositing them on the land as floodwaters recede. This situation creates a real risk of children becoming lead poisoned by playing in areas that flood. Concern for these issues facing Tar Creek has led American Rivers to include it as one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2021. No single agency can solve this problem. Everyone must work together to come up with a comprehensive landscape-scale solution to address pollution throughout the watershed before more people, fish and wildlife are impacted. An MOU compelling joint decision-making is essential to this task, and I urge you to develop and implement this MOU as soon as possible. Sincerely, |