Today's News-Sentinel has a great editorial on three bills that are pending in the state legislature.

One of the bills, Sentate bill SB4119 and House bill HB4185, is not so good. It tries to remove protection from wetlands and "ephemeral streams" that are often the headwaters of rivers in mountainous areas, and also removes the protections from adjacent lands. Wetlands serve as a habitat for aquatic life and protect surrounding areas from flooding, and they provide a filtration system for surface waters. If these wet weather streams are polluted, they carry the pollutants to other water bodies and contaminate them as well.

The other two bills, "Stop Work Orders Bill" (HB3521 and SB3651) and "Green Design Incentives Bill" (HB3965 and SB3956), provide the "carrot and the stick" tools for cities and counties to protect their water resources.

We have an obligation to our children and grandchildren to protect our clean water resources, and I'm so glad to see the News-Sentinel take a stand on this important legislation.

Contact your legislators and let them know you oppose SB4119 and HB4185 and that you support HB3521 and SB3651 and HB3965 and SB3956.

sen.tim.burchett@legislature.state.tn.us
rep.bill.dunn@legislature.state.tn.us
sen.jamie.woodson@legislature.state.tn.us
rep.harry.tindell@legislature.state.tn.us
rep.park.strader@legislature.state.tn.us
rep.joe.armstrong@legislature.state.tn.us
rep.frank.niceley@legislature.state.tn.us
rep.stacey.campfield@legislature.state.tn.us
rep.harry.brooks@legislature.state.tn.us

(Cross-posted at TennViews.)

Today is the last day to for you to call or e-mail Governor Bredesen directly so that he can help push LEAF's state bills through subcommittee in order to halt mountain top removal (MTR) practices in Tennessee. The governor is said to already support the legislation, but our Attorney General publicly spoke negatively toward it, citing constitutionality concerns over potential conflict with federal mining laws that supersede the state's.

Fortunately, the wording in the bills has since been tweaked, as I understand it, to emphasize the critical water quality protections needed by the state which should overcome those objections and give teeth to the legislation.

However, the first of the bills (senate version) goes to subcommittee vote tomorrow and in order to survive the subcommittee, a critical push is needed from the Governor himself. It would also help to call and write the Senators in the subcommittee (via here) and urge them to attend and to vote in favor of the bill. The coal lobby is pressuring senators from even showing up, which is equivalent to flipping their votes from Yes to No. Don't let them get away with it.

Here is the latest Urgent Action Alert, copied in its entirety:

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It is critical that Governor Bredesen gets phone calls (615-741-2001 or 615-532-4562) and e-mails (phil.bredesen@state.tn.us) IMMEDIATELY from everyone who cares about Tennessee's mountains.

All you need to say is`: My name is ---, and I'm from ---- county. I'm calling to ask the Governor to publicly support the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act and help facilitate its passage. The bill numbers are Senate Bill 3822 and House Bill 3348. Thank you.

The few minutes it takes you to call could help save Tennessee's mountains forever! If you'd like to review the bill or read supporting arguments for ending mountain top removal (also called cross-ridge mining) in Tennessee, go to Link....

LEAF has attached a double copy of this alert so you can easily print it out, cut it apart, and post it or pass it on to friends. If each LEAF action team member will call the Governor, and then prompt 5 friends or family members to call, we will have a big impact. Please forward this alert to your e-mail address book. We need as many calls as possible. Today [is the last chance critical] time-frame for this action.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Please also read the details in this update posted here by Betty Bean. More info. and background is here.

Thanks for your immediate attention to this.

From the drought to the new study on pharmaceuticals in our waters, water is a hot topic in East Tennessee!

Tune into WBIR at 9:30am Sunday (3⁄16) and watch Tennessee Clean Water Network's Executive Director, Renée Hoyos, discuss regional topics of interest about water quality.

Renée and the Inside Tennessee panel will discuss:

* Pharmaceuticals in our water
* State's list of most polluted and impaired waters
Link...
* #1 threat to our waters, changing the definition of water in Tennessee to remove protections from 30,000 miles of streams.

See the TCWN fact sheet:

Link...

FRIENDS OF WEARS VALLEY P.O. Box 1625
Pigeon Forge, TN 37868
Press Release
Contact: John A. Meyers
Phone: (865) 300-8055 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
4 P.M. EDT, January 25, 2008

Friends of Wears Valley receives Grant from the Cave Conservancy Foundation

Wears Valley, TN. January 25, 2008

The Friends of Wears Valley (FOWV) is the recipient of a grant from the Cave Conservancy Foundation of Richmond, Virginia. The grant will fund an initiative led by the FOWV to increase public awareness and address water quality issues related to recent growth and development adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The major focus of the project is the protection and restoration of sensitive landscapes, community drinking water supplies, and Cove Creek, which is already on the state 303(D) impaired waters list.

The new project will facilitate a grassroots approach to hazard assessment and planning through education, monitoring, and partnerships. Activities are intended to support the emerging countywide discussion about sustainable development, environmental quality and aesthetic values. During 2008 and 2009, FOWV hopes to co-sponsor several workshops for teachers, local officials, developers, realtors and concerned citizens about groundwater, surface water and resource protection. The major objective is to establish an ongoing water quality monitoring program involving local grade school students. Both phases of the project will begin this spring with a preliminary investigation of hydrology and land use in Wears Valley.

The FOWV is a non-profit organization formed to promote the long-term protection of natural resources and cultural heritage in the area. FOWV supports the concept of better growth management as a means of sustaining a balance between tourism and nature, and seeks to forge strong partnerships in this effort.

The Friends of Wears Valley can be reached at: 865-300-8055, Link... or P.O. Box 1625
Pigeon Forge, TN 37868

Knox County Commission should reject the amended stormwater ordinance on second reading and instead adopt the version endorsed by their engineering department. Here is why: