Coalition: Supreme Court Decision ‘A Blow to Our Drinking Water, Public Health, and Great Lakes’
Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition
Contact: Lindsey Bacigal, BacigalL@nwf.org, (734) 887-7113
Jordan Lubetkin, Lubetkin@nwf.org, (734) 904-1589
Coalition: Supreme Court Decision ‘A Blow to Our Drinking Water, Public Health, and Great Lakes’
ANN ARBOR, MICH. (May 25, 2023)—The Supreme Court’s decision to abolish clean water protections for wetlands will undermine Great Lakes restoration efforts and jeopardize drinking water sources that millions of people depend on in the eight-state region of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, according to the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition.
“We think this is a bad decision and is a blow to our drinking water, public health, and Great Lakes,” said Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “Clean water is a basic need, and with many of our towns and cities still living with unsafe drinking water, now is not the time to roll back clean water enforcement. We need more—not less—protection for clean water.
“All of our waters are connected. We cannot allow pollution from mining and manufacturing and large farms into small waterways without it affecting the rest of the water we all depend on. We all know wetlands and streams flow into small rivers, into bigger rivers, and into lakes, including our Great Lakes, and ultimately the ocean.
“We urge Congress and state governments to strengthen clean water protections to protect our drinking water, public health, and quality of life.”
The decision, Sackett v. EPA, can be read on the Supreme Court website.
Since 2004, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has been harnessing the collective power of more than 175 groups representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes. Learn more at HealthyLakes.org or follow us on Twitter @HealthyLakes.
