[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 119 (Thursday, September 19, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1613]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       TRIBUTE TO COLORADO CLEAN WATER ACTION AND ITS CANVASSERS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 19, 2002

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the 
important work of Colorado Clean Water Action and the outstanding 
efforts of many of the group's canvassers who work tirelessly to 
educate the public and improve the environmental quality of life for 
all Coloradans.
  Clean Water Action is a nationally recognized organization dedicated 
to enhancing the quality of our environment and especially of our 
nation's water resources. In arid states like Colorado, water is a 
precious and scare commodity. That makes the work of groups like Clean 
Water Action all the more important. Clean Water Action's efforts to 
enhance water quality not only benefit humans, they also benefit 
wildlife and promote a host of other environmental and economic values, 
such as productive agriculture, wetlands protection and recreation.
  Here in Colorado, Clean Water Action has been led by Carmi McLean, an 
effective and passionate leader for the cause of the environment. Over 
the past three decades, Carmi has been involved in most if not all of 
the high profile environmental issues facing Colorado and the nation. 
She has been active in wilderness protection, reducing pollution and 
holding polluters accountable for their releases, fighting damaging 
rollbacks of environmental protection laws and programs such as 
Superfund, and, of course, in all issues related to water quality. 
Colorado Clean Water Action has also been involved in these and similar 
issues since 1989.
  Recently, Colorado Clean Water Action has taken up the important, 
cause of reducing the toxic discharge of heavy metals and acids from 
old, abandoned hardrock mining operations. These mines, which occur in 
the hundreds of thousands across the west, have caused impacts to a 
number of watersheds which oftentimes supply drinking water to many 
western communities. These releases also can have devastating impacts 
to the aquatic life of many streams and lakes, which further impacts 
recreation and the ecological health of the lands affected by these 
sites. However, because those responsible for these abandoned, 
polluting mines cannot be found, most of these mines go on polluting. 
What's worse, because of the costs of cleanup and the risks of future 
liability exposure, many entities that would be willing to cleanup 
these mines are discouraged from taking steps to clean them up.
  To address this problem, I have introduced legislation--H.R. 4078 
``The Abandoned Hardrock Mines Reclamation Act of 2002''--to facilitate 
the cleanup of these mines by creating an abandoned mine cleanup fund 
and a special permit program that would encourage more federal, tribal, 
state, local and community efforts to clean up these languishing 
pollution sources. Carmi and her staff at Colorado Clean Water Action 
recognized the significance of this problem and the value that this 
legislation would bring to addressing it. As a result, she has made 
this issue and the need to address it a top priority for the efforts of 
Colorado Clean Water Action, including many hours of hard work by 
dedicated young people who canvass door-to-door in Colorado communities 
letting people know about this issue and what can be done to help 
address it.
  I want to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to 
Carmi and her canvassers who have been spending the summer and fall of 
2002 working on this issue. Specifically, I want to recognize the 
following people who have been working especially hard at Colorado 
Clean Water Action on the abandoned mine waste problem: David Scheck, 
Brian Dunn, Stoney Bergman, Greg Sobczynski, Katie Tegeler, John De 
Wees, Nik Haynes, Lindsay Bennett, Noel Jensen, Melinda Miller, Whitney 
Hanson, Whitney Gann, Eric Hale, Ana Cordova, Courtney Bennett, Amy 
Addison, Dewey Brown, and Fred Kirsch.
  Mr. Speaker, the future of our democracy depends on the active 
involvement of our young people in the important issues facing our 
nation. I am pleased that these young people have taken a special 
interest in this issue and hope that they remain active on 
environmental protection as well as other issues of importance to them. 
I believe that it is important for us as leaders and elected officials 
to stop and take notice of the civic involvement of our young people, 
recognize the importance of it and encourage more such participation. I 
also want to thank organizations like Clean Water Action and people 
like Carmi McLean who provide leadership and an opportunity for young 
people to participate in our democracy. I ask my colleagues to join me 
in thanking these young people and Colorado Clean Water Action for 
their great efforts.

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