It's not just vengeful and small, it's uncalled for incendiary. With the state Republicans stirring up controversy with unjustified fishing bag limits, with the intent to sour the relationship between sportsman and the tribes, the author of the mining bill did this:
Wheeler Report: State Senator Tom Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst) called on Wisconsin’sIt must be a plot? A Tiffany conspiracy theory? When you think about it, divide and conquer has done wonders for job creation and attracting businesses. Why not pit everybody else against the Bad River Tribe for good measure. Tiffany continued his tantrum with his tit-for-tat:
Congressional Delegation to look into practices at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after new reports have surfaced that the EPA will not require the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa to comply with the Clean Water Act before issuing a new 5-year wastewater discharge permit. "Why would the EPA consider giving them a new permit given their violations of the Clean Water Act?” asked Tiffany.
Mining opponents repeatedly claimed that a proposed mine in Iron and Ashland counties would pollute Wisconsin’s waterways. EPA records have shown that e-coli levels in wastewater discharges from the Odanah treatment plant, a facility operated by these same opponents, exceeded federal limits.It's time to change the tone in this state and excise the political cancer we know as the Republican majority.
Tiffany is just pissed off because his pet iron mine is probably dead. In a little noticed decision --in Wisconsin at least-- the conservative D.C. District Federal appeals court upheld an EPA decision to pull the mining permit for a mountaintop removal coal mine in West Virginia. The permit was pulled because the mining company's plan to dump waste into mountain streams was deemed a violation of the Clean Water Act.
ReplyDeleteDumping mine waste into streams and wetlands is just what the folks at GTAC planned to do. At the very least this means that the Army Corps of Engineers will have to take waste disposal into consideration when issuing a mine permit. The court's decision provides a powerful precedent which opponents can use to stop GTAC dead in it's tracks.
It doesn't matter that Tiffany and the Flat Earth Society passed a law authorizing water pollution, because Federal law trumps state law in these matters, especially when the polluted streams drain into an international body of water such as Lake Superior.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/04/24/1916861/in-huge-win-on-mountaintop-removal-with-big-implications-court-upholds-epa-authority-to-protect-clean-water/