Gas Industry Secrets And A Nurse's Story--High Country News Erin Frankowski

With the debate on hydraulic fracking heating up (HuffPost Mark Ruffalo's Crusade Against Fracking article) this previous published story from High Country News, Writers On The Range Eric Frankowski deserves a second time around:

This July, an emergency room nurse named Cathy Behr wanted to tell Colorado's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission the story of how she nearly died after being exposed to a mystery chemical from a gas-patch accident.

Regulators said she wasn't scheduled to testify and they didn't want to hear it. But anyone concerned about natural gas development should listen.

Behr, who works in southern Colorado, at Durango's Mercy Regional Medical Center, fell ill last April after being exposed for 10 minutes to a gas-field worker who had come into the ER, his clothes damp and reeking. He'd come into contact with one of the "secret formulas" drillers use to hydraulically fracture oil- and gas-bearing formations.

Within minutes of inhaling the nauseating fumes coming off the worker, Behr lost her sense of smell. (She later told her story to the Durango Herald, a daily paper that has done excellent reporting on the incident: durangoherald.com.) The ER was locked down and the room ventilated by firefighters. But when Behr went home after her 12-hour shift, she still couldn't smell anything. Then the headache she'd developed got worse. A week later, her liver, heart and lungs began to shut down. She spent 30 hours in intensive care.

Read more here

The Huff Post story is well above 550 comments at last check, but this story from the High Country News' Erin Frankowski is compelling and thought provoking about the dangers of even passive exposure from fracking. 

Nothing about this process is safe, in fact it's all fracked up anyway you look at it.

What else should we expect from Halliburton?

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"The Warriors of Qiugang" A New Documentary From Yale 360 Environment

Imagine living in a community where no environmental regulations are enforced, irresponsible corporations are left to police themselves, and the local politicians have complete control over what companies come in and how they will operate. You and your neighbors will have no say in the matter at all. Your voice does not matter, you're just poor people, and besides, you don't contribute much to the local economy.

"But we're human beings not buildings."

Money will flow into the pockets of these morally bankrupt officials from the businessmen, and your community will be at the mercy of this deal with the devil, with no voice, no money to fight back against the evil perpetrated on you, and no one willing to listen. If you speak out against the companies you will be labeled as an agitator, an impediment to the local economy, a voice to be silenced.

So what if you get sick, your children suffer and your land is ruined?

It's a fair trade off because the local government is making money and if they make money then the community prospers. But you and your neighbors are still poor. Your quality of life has not improved, in fact, it has grown much worse since this local "economy booster" has become your neighbor.

Your fields are bare, your trees bear no fruit and your river runs black and foul.

Is this the "promised prosperity" you expected?

One of your villagers makes marks on the wall every time someone dies in your community--the line of marks is getting longer with each passing year. Armed men come in the night and beat you and your neighbors for "causing trouble" and a new rule is instituted that all complaints against the companies must go through the local government head. The same official that has grown rich from the toxic corporate neighbors, and who has family in the same village that are suffering while his quality of life soars.

What do you do? What can you do?

American filmmaker Ruby Yang, with cinematographer Guan Xin and longtime collaborator Thomas Lennon, spent three years chronicling the struggle of China's Qiugang village and their increasingly emboldened population to curb the pollution that was poisoning them in their homes, schools, and fields.

It's a story of courage that we think you should see.

Watch the video here

Quotes from the film:

"In our village we are saddened. We are sorry to be born in this place, but we had no choice. This was all forced upon us. 

It's dangerous.

The danger comes from the businessmen who have the money, and the government itself, who have the power.

Either side can get us killed.

How can we fight them when they can just bribe their way out?"

The story of the villagers of Qiugang does not sound so different from stories here in America, and if our recently elected politicians continue this newly invigorated war against the EPA, then which of our own communities will be the next documentary?

We can think of a few that already are, so maybe there is a lesson in the Qiugang Warriors plight that can teach us here in America that one voice can make a difference.

But the voices of many make change.

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Beautiful Rivers--National Geographic Photo Essay

National Geographic's glorious photography revealing the beauty and splendor of one of our most threatened natural resources--our rivers.

Photograph by Scottyboipdx Weber, My Shot

The sun sets over Lower Lewis River Falls in Washington State’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The falls mark a wild and scenic stretch of the river, but other sections of the Lewis, which drains the state’s mighty Cascade Range, boast large dam and reservoir systems.

Hydroelectric plants produce power, but they’ve changed the river’s natural character—to the special detriment of migratory fish like salmon. Utilities have agreed to begin trucking fish around the dams along the Lewis River, moving them from below these looming barriers to prime habitat upstream, above the dams.

Somewhere along the way, we've decided to relinquish our most precious natural asset and given over control of our rivers to the coal fired power plants and big business to use as they see fit. And what they've done has made the rivers unfit. It's made something we need to survive precarious--our water supplies.

Is it too late to turn back?

Maybe, some might even say probably.

National Geographic's Freshwater Fellow Sandra Postel gives us something to honestly consider:

A leading cause of altered river flows is the operation of dams and reservoirs to generate hydroelectric power, control floods, and supply water for drinking and irrigation. Dams clearly provide important benefits. 

But it's time to ask a question we haven't yet systematically asked: can dams provide the benefits we need while also giving river creatures the crucial flows they need to survive?

In many cases the answer is yes. 

But we need to start asking the question--river by river, dam by dam. A good deal of life depends on it. 

We couldn't agree more.

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Frack MixPlex Gives Vincent Alabama Confidential and Others A Much Appreciated "Attaboy!"

And we thank them for it, along with their hard work on advancing issues that we all should care about. Kudos to our fellow like-minded bloggers and the mighty keyboards they sit behind. We would add the work of Dr. Robert Bullard as high on our own list, because without him there would be no modern day environmental justice movement.

Mixplex Environmental Justice Blogroll Note

On Martin Luther King Day (MLK Day Jan. 17, 2011), America deserves to be reminded that hard on the trail of King's Civil Rights legacy in Alabama is the way Alabama's poor have been victimized by negligent environmental law.

The daily posts of Max Shelby and his group, blogging in Alabama about the environment, politics, big business and corruption are some of the boldest independent voices writing in the U.S. on environment justice today.

If you're not following writers like Shelby's Vincent Alabama Confidential, Sharon Wilson's Bluedaze, Shelly Thomas on Futurism Now, Ken Ward Jr.'s Coal Tattoo, the late Karen Korell's Splashdown, Bill Wolfe's Wolfenotes, Amy Mall's blog on NRDC Switchboard, Rick Plitz on Climate Science Watch, and the many other personal and professional authors, videomakers, humorists, and journalists located by scrolling through these double pages: Background, Companies, Experts, Government, Legal, Opinions and Press, you are missing out on the most entertaining, free, participatory, First Amendment, punch the bully in the nose shows in this nation.

This writing takes courage and sacrifice and I want to recognize them all here on MLK Day through Shelby's 2010 post as the proudest way that we demonstrate to the World that we will manage our industries without the sacrifice of liberty by ensuring that our laws are fair and just to all.
(2011-01-14, nz.)

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State Department Refuses to Release Information on Tar Sands Oil Pipeline | Friends of the Earth

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Kelly Trout, 202-222-0722, ktrout@foe.org

Alex Moore, 202-222-0733, amoore@foe.org

State Department Refuses to Release Information on Tar Sands Oil Pipeline

Freedom of Information Act request targeted correspondence between Secretary Clinton and her former high-ranking campaign staffer turned pipeline lobbyist

Former Clinton staffer also appears to have been lobbying without disclosing activities

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. State Department notified environmental groups last week that it has denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for correspondence between the agency and a former presidential campaign staffer of Hillary Clinton’s who in his new role as oil industry lobbyist is seeking Secretary of State Clinton’s approval for the controversial Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline.

The FOIA request was submitted by Friends of the Earth, Corporate Ethics International, and the Center for International Environmental Law and targeted Paul Elliott, lead Washington, D.C. lobbyist for TransCanada, the company aiming to build the pipeline.

In a related development, Environment and Energy Daily reported today that Elliott registered with the U.S. Congress as a lobbyist for TransCanada on December 16, 2010, three days after the groups publicly announced they had filed the FOIA request. Elliott’s registration form cites the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill as one of his lobbying issues, which indicates that he has been lobbying without disclosing his activities for more than a year.

Marcie Keever, legal director for Friends of the Earth, characterized the State Department’s refusal to release the records as an “evasive maneuver.”

The State Department based its denial of the FOIA on two grounds, claiming the groups had not “reasonably described the records you seek in a way that someone familiar with Department records and programs could locate them” and citing the groups’ request for a waiver on the fees associated with the processing of the FOIA.

Keever concluded, “We do not believe that the State Department has legitimate legal grounds to deny our FOIA request, and assert that the agency is ignoring its own written guidance regarding FOIA requests and the release of public information. This is the type of delay tactic we would have expected from the Bush administration, not the Obama administration, which has touted its efforts to usher in a new era of transparency in government, including elevated standards in dealing with lobbyists.”

Friends of the Earth is committed to continuing its efforts to obtain the records from the State Department despite the initial denial.

The Keystone XL pipeline would be constructed by Canadian oil and gas giant TransCanada. If approved by the Obama administration, it would bring high-carbon, dirty tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas to Gulf Coast refineries near Houston at a rate of 900,000 barrels per day.

*Here's the "official answer" from the US Department of State dated December 14, 2010:
"The Department is not, and will not be influenced by prior relationships that current governmental officials have had."

Sure they won't. wink wink

Secretary Clinton should explain this in a hell of a lot better terms than this terse, one sentence answer from the DOS. How about an explanation from her and in her own words? Preferably without spin and excuses.

But we're betting she won't because this is almost indefensible given her stance on climate change and green energy. You cannot serve two masters although we see our politicians up to their necks in the idea with alarming regularity.

In an equally disturbing story from the Michigan Messenger, January 14, 2011 the House Democrats have gone off the cliff and bought into the lie of jobs before people, communities and the myth of clean coal. In what sounds more like the big business republican mantra, they are proposing a new coal plant as one of their three initiatives to create jobs.

Let's all wander outside right now and observe the flying donkeys and pigs shall we?

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Robert Bullard Commentary on the Death of Environmental Justice Icon Hazel Johnson

Hazel Johnson on far right. Photo credit PCR

Environmental Justice Movement Loses Southside Chicago Icon Hazel Johnson

At 1:42am on Wednesday, January 12, 2011, the nation lost Hazel Johnson, an icon of the Environmental Justice Movement in the United States. Nearly two decades ago in October 1991, Ms. Johnson was tagged the "Mother of the Environmental Justice Movement" at the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit. This unofficial title was reaffirmed at the 2002 EJ Summit II held in Washington, DC.

Read more here

RIP Miss Hazel and thank you for everything you've done for so many people.

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Bad News For Some Residents From Gulf Oil Spill Comes Out in Public Hearing in New Orleans

From Bridge the Gulf

Hearing Citizens Impassioned Pleas, Oil Spill Commissioner Pledges to Address Health Issues

New Orleans January 12, 2011

Cherri Foytlin has been given some bad news about her health.

The mother of six co-founded the grassroots group Gulf Change in response to the BP disaster.  She recently learned her blood has alarming levels of ethylbenzyne, a chemical found in crude oil.  Cherri made an impassioned plea directly to commissioner Frances Beinecke (who is also the President of the Natural Resources Defense Council), to be an ongoing advocate for the health of Gulf Coast communities, even though the commission has finished its job.

Cherri Foytlin:  Today I’m talking to you about my life.

My ethylbenzyne levels are 2.5 times the 95th percentile, and there’s a very good chance now that I won’t get to see my grandbabies…

What I’m asking you to do now, if possible, is to amend [your report].  Because we have got to get some health care.

I have seen small children with lesions all over their bodies.  We are very, very ill. 

And dead is dead.  So it really doesn’t matter if the media comes back… or the President hears us, or… if the oil workers and the fishermen and the crabbers get to feed their babies and maybe have a good Christmas next year… Dead is dead…

I know your job is probably already done, but I’d like to hire you if you don’t mind.  And God knows I can’t pay you.  But I need your heart.  And I need your voice.  And I need you to come to that table.  And I need you to insist that Feinberg and anybody else that needs to be in on that conversation comes too.  And I’m asking you that today.  And I would like you to say yes to me today.  While you look me in the eye, please say yes you’ll come to my table.

Frances Beinecke:  Yes.  And... I pledge that we will take [these health issues] back to the White House.

Cherri: Thank you.

Sounds like everything is just wonderful after the BP Oil Spill and those clean beaches and safe Gulf seafood are fine and dandy according to our governors and yes men. So ya'll come on down here, bring lots of money to spend and get yourselves some ethylbenzene too.

Ridiculous.

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Some States Still Value Their Farmland Despite Financial Hard Times--NPR Reports

With the recent reports coming out on the *predicted coming food shortages we think this is a very prudent idea whose time has come to be seriously considered and placed higher on the priority list than hard rock mining is in real benefits to many. Not just the uber rich mining corporations and road builders.

* (This one FOX got right, no pun intended, but they are very late out of the gate.)

With limestone mining in particular, we lose hundred of thousands of acres of prime farmland every year and the promises of reclamation never seem to effectively materialize. You cannot replace prime farmland with a suitable substitute for agriculture once it has been rendered devoid of what made it so fertile to begin with--the underlying minerals.
From a recent NPR report:

Despite tough financial times following the worst recession in decades, some states continue to spend millions of dollars to preserve American farmland and stem its rapid loss to development and suburban sprawl.

Advocates say the preservation efforts are needed to ensure food is available locally if the national distribution system is ever disrupted. They also say it helps maintain a way of life important to many Americans.

Twenty-five states have farmland preservation programs, and nearly half of them are in the densely populated Northeast, where the loss of fields to housing developments and shopping malls has been rapid and pressing. After losing 21 percent of its farmland in less than two decades, Connecticut increased spending on preservation efforts.

In the northeast, they're on the right path and may be ahead of the curve if the food shortages become widespread. At least we hope they will, and are not squeezed out by Big Ag with the recent passage of SB 510 that basically handed over control of the food supplies to Monsanto and ConAg among others.

In our opinion, there could not have been worse timing for that bill with the dire reports of globalists warning of "food riots" and skyrocketing wholesale food prices.

From the Telegraph UK:

The cause of such alarm? On Wednesday, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reported that global food prices had hit a record high and were likely to go on rising, entering what Abdolreza Abbassian, its senior grains economist, called “danger territory”.

Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank, warns that the rising prices are “a threat to global growth and social stability”, and Nicolas Sarkozy has identified them as a priority for the G20, which he chairs this year.

That is bad enough for Britain, adding to the inflationary pressures from the soaring cost of oil and other commodities, not to mention the VAT increase. But for the world’s poor, who have to spend 80 per cent of their income on food, it could be catastrophic.

Are we coming to a crossroads of sorts where we need to re-examine what's more important right now? Mining or farmland? We believe it's worthy of discussion since most of the materials extracted from the US wind up in foreign markets, and what we give up to support those markets might be the very thing we really need in the near future to sustain us here at home.

*Another side issue of how perilous it is to be a black farmer in Georgia.

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US EPA Region 4 Orders Facilites Across the Southeast to Stop Discharges and Comply With CWA

 US EPA Region 4 Press Release

Facilities Across the Southeast Ordered to Stop Discharging and Comply with Clean Water Act

ATLANTA – Jan. 13, 2011-- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued Administrative Orders (AOs) against seven entities in North Carolina , Tennessee , Kentucky and South Carolina during the last quarter of 2010 for violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA).

“Controlling water pollution sources is key to protecting waterways across the Southeast and the health of all people who depend on them,” said Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming, EPA Region 4 Regional Administrator.

Three entities were cited for alleged stormwater-related violations of the CWA. Polluted stormwater runoff is a leading cause of impairment to the nearly 40 percent of surveyed U.S. water bodies which do not meet water quality standards. Over land or via storm sewer systems, polluted runoff is discharged, often untreated, directly into local water bodies. The entities cited and their associated violations include:

· YDV, Inc., for violations at the Compass Pointe Phases 2, 3 and 11 sites in Leland , N.C. ;

· Marion Retail Investments, LLC, for violations at its Grandview Station construction site in Marion , N.C. ;

· Shelby County Schools, for violations at the Shelby County Administration Building in Arlington , Tenn.

EPA issued AOs requiring the violators to conduct a variety of remediation activities, including revising and implementing their Construction Pollution Prevention Plans and Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plans; installing and maintaining Best Management Practices; conducting adequate self-inspections; ceasing sediment discharges; and addressing areas where sediment had been discharged.

The City of Oak Ridge, Tenn., was cited for unauthorized discharges of sewage from the wastewater collection and transmission system. Sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) like these pose a significant threat to public health and the environment, and remain a leading cause of water quality impairment. SSOs contain raw sewage and have high concentrations of bacteria from fecal contamination, as well as disease-causing pathogens and viruses. Besides being illegal under the CWA, the SSOs also constitute a failure to comply with the requirements of the utility’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. EPA issued an AO requiring the utility to address wet weather capacity-related issues in the sewer system. In addition, the order requires the development of management, operation and maintenance programs.

*Licking River Resources, Inc. and Clintwood Elkhorn Mining Company were each cited for unauthorized discharges of wastewater associated with their surface mining and/or coal processing and preparation plants in West Liberty and Phyllis , Ky. , respectively. The Mullins Branch Preparation Plant in West Liberty discharges wastewater into Mullins Branch, while the Miller’s Creek Mine Plant in Phyllis discharges wastewater into Miller’s Creek. Under the CWA, such discharges require a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, and EPA has ordered each facility to cease all unpermitted discharges into waters of the United States .

EPA issued an AO for violations of the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations requirements of the CWA at a dairy operation known as Lee Mayer #1 in Newberry , S.C. The order requires the owner, Mayer Farms, Inc., to cease the discharge of pollutants from the facility and come into compliance with the land-application requirements in accordance with its Waste Management Plan and permit. The AO also requires Mayer Farms to provide quarterly sampling reports for its waste, and for its crops and harvest plants to determine nutrient levels.

Congress enacted the Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1972 to protect the nation’s rivers, lakes and stream, as well as some of the more fragile and vital wetland habitats. The entities cited violated the CWA by failing to meet the requirements of their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, and subsequently causing point source discharges. Pollutants of concern include nutrients, sediment, oil and grease, chemicals and metals. When left uncontrolled, water pollution can deplete needed oxygen and/or otherwise result in the destruction of aquatic habitats, as well as the fish and wildlife that depend on them. Water pollution can also contaminate food, drinking water supplies and recreational waterways, and thereby pose a threat to public health.

Contact Information: Davina Marraccini, (404) 562-8293, marraccini.davina@epa.gov

* Acquired  by US Coal in 2007
CE Mining Co. is a division of TECO Energy

The EPA has been busy today, but we would like to know why Alabama has been left off of this list.

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EPA Halts Arch Coal's Spruce No.1 Mine From Disposing of Mining Waste in W.Va.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 13, 2011

EPA Halts Disposal of Mining Waste to Appalachian Waters at Proposed Spruce Mine

Agency cites irreversible damage to clean water, environment in the region

WASHINGTON – After extensive scientific study, a major public hearing in West Virginia and review of more than 50,000 public comments, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that it will use its authority under the Clean Water Act to halt the proposed disposal of mining waste in streams at the Mingo-Logan Coal Company’s Spruce No. 1 coal mine. EPA is acting under the law and using the best science to protect water quality, wildlife and Appalachian communities, who rely on clean waters for drinking, fishing and swimming. EPA has used this Clean Water Act authority in just 12 circumstances since 1972 and reserves this authority for only unacceptable cases. This permit was first proposed in the 1990s and has been held up in the courts ever since.

“The proposed Spruce No. 1 Mine would use destructive and unsustainable mining practices that jeopardize the health of Appalachian communities and clean water on which they depend,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Peter S. Silva. “Coal and coal mining are part of our nation’s energy future and EPA has worked with companies to design mining operations that adequately protect our nation’s waters. We have a responsibility under the law to protect water quality and safeguard the people who rely on clean water.”

EPA’s final determination on the Spruce Mine comes after discussions with the company spanning more than a year failed to produce an agreement that would lead to a significant decrease in impacts to the environment and Appalachian communities. The action prevents the mine from disposing of the waste into streams unless the company identifies an alternative mining design that would avoid irreversible damage to water quality and meets the requirements of the law. Despite EPA’s willingness to consider alternatives, Mingo Logan did not offer any new proposed mining configurations in response to EPA’s Recommended Determination.

EPA believes that companies can design their operations to make them more sustainable and compliant with the law. Last year, EPA worked closely with a mining company in West Virginia to eliminate nearly 50 percent of their water impacts and reduce contamination while at the same time increasing their coal production. These are the kinds of success stories that can be achieved through collaboration and willingness to reduce the impact on mining pollution on our waters. Those changes helped permanently protect local waters, maximize coal recovery and reduce costs for the operators.

EPA’s decision to stop mining waste discharges to high quality streams at the Spruce No. 1 mine was based on several major environmental and water quality concerns. The proposed mine project would have:

· Disposed of 110 million cubic yards of coal mine waste into streams.

· Buried more than six miles of high-quality streams in Logan County, West Virginia with millions of tons of mining waste from the dynamiting of more than 2,200 acres of mountains and forestlands.

· Buried more than 35,000 feet of high-quality streams under mining waste, which will eliminate all fish, small invertebrates, salamanders, and other wildlife that live in them.

· Polluted downstream waters as a result of burying these streams, which will lead to unhealthy levels of salinity and toxic levels of selenium that turn fresh water into salty water. The resulting waste that then fills valleys and streams can significantly compromise water quality, often causing permanent damage to ecosystems and streams.

· Caused downstream watershed degradation that will kill wildlife, impact birdlife, reduce habitat value, and increase susceptibility to toxic algal blooms.

· Inadequately mitigated for the mine’s environmental impacts by not replacing streams being buried, and attempting to use stormwater ditches as compensation for natural stream losses.

Additionally, during the permitting process there was a failure to consider cumulative watershed degradation resulting from past, present, and future mining in the area.

Finally, EPA’s decision prohibits five proposed valley fills in two streams, Pigeonroost Branch, and Oldhouse Branch, and their tributaries. Mining activities at the Spruce site are underway in Seng Camp Creek as a result of a prior agreement reached in the active litigation with the Mingo Logan Coal Company. EPA’s Final Determination does not affect current mining in Seng Camp Creek.

Background on Clean Water Act Section 404(c)

Clean Water Act Section 404(c) authorizes EPA to restrict or prohibit placing dredged or fill material in streams, lakes, rivers, wetlands and other waters if the agency determines that the activities would result in “unacceptable adverse effects” to the environment, water quality, or water supplies. This authority applies to proposed projects as well as projects previously permitted under the Clean Water Act although EPA is not considering such action for other previously permitted projects.

With today’s action, EPA has exercised its Section 404(c) authority only 13 times in its history of the CWA. EPA recognizes the importance of ensuring that its Section 404(c) actions are taken only where environmental impacts are truly unacceptable and will use this authority only where warranted by science and the law.

For a copy of the final determination:
http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/guidance/cwa/dredgdis/404c_index.cfm

Accompanying stories:
NY Times article
Huffington Post Jeff Biggers asks if there is a "New Era of Civility in the Coal Fields?"
WV Gazette Coal Tattoo coverage

The Waters Advocacy Coalition ( a serious oxymoron) has hit back at the EPA and issued its own letter, which we are not going to link to and give them any face time. You can Google the group for yourself if you so desire. Let's have a look at this "Waters Advocacy Group":

The Waters Advocacy Coalition includes; American Farm Bureau Federation, American Road and Transportation Builders Association, Ball Clay Producers Association, Edison Electric Institute, The Fertilizer Institute, Foundation for Environmental and Economic Progress, Industrial Minerals Association – North America, International Council of Shopping Centers, International Diatomite Producers Association, National Association of Home Builders, National Association of Manufacturers, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, National Industrial Sand Association, National Mining Association, National Multi-Housing Council, National Realtors Association, National Stone Sand and Gravel Association, Public Lands Council, Southern Crop Production Association, Western Business Roundtable and United Egg Producers.

If anyone sees anything that resembles water advocacy in any of these entities please let us know. This is a front group for big coal and big business, another reason we are not going to further hits to their site.

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