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Cardin Release:

SENATOR CARDIN APPLAUDS SECRETARY SALAZAR’S DETERMINATION TO REVERSE BUSH ADMINISTRATION’S RULING THAT REMOVED STREAM PROTECTION FROM MOUNTAINTOP COAL MINING

Contact: Susan Sullam: 410-962-4436
Monday, April 27, 2009

Click here for a PDF Document

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), today applauded Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar’s announcement that he will reverse a Bush Administration rule allowing coal mine operators to dump mountaintop fill within 100 feet of a stream. The rule, issued by the Office of Surface Mining, was linked to a separate Bush Administration rule that allowed the waste to be dumped directly into streams. In March, Senator Cardin joined with Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) to introduce the Appalachia Restoration Act to amend the Clean Water Act to prevent the dumping of mountaintop fill into streams and rivers.

“Today’s action by the Obama Administration represents a victory for common sense, a victory for science, and a victory for the people who live near mountaintop mines,” said Senator Cardin, chairman of the Water and Wildlife Subcommittee of the Environment and Public Works Committee. “The Bush Administration’s so-called ‘buffer rule’ allowing this kind of destructive dumping was pushed through in the closing days of the Administration and was clearly intended to reverse long-standing policy that protected communities and habitat from this kind of damage. I applaud the action of Secretary Salazar, but we also must be mindful that we need to work to update the Clean Water Act so that we can finally end these practices that are harmful to our streams and rivers.”

Mountaintop mining is a method of coal mining in which the summit of a mountain is removed to expose the coal beneath, and the resulting millions of tons of waste rock, dirt and vegetation are dumped into nearby stream and river valleys. More than 1 million acres of Appalachia have already been affected. An estimated 1,200 miles of headwater streams have been buried under tons of mining wastes. More than 500 mountains have been impacted, and homes have been ruined and drinking water supplies contaminated.

In 1983, the Reagan Administration issued what has become known as the “stream buffer zone rule,” providing greater protection for communities and habitat by allowing the dumping of overburden material within 100 feet of perennial or intermittent stream only if it has been found that such activities would not be harmful to water quality or quality of other environmental resources of the stream. The Bush Administration’s action reversed the 1983 policy creating a stream zone buffer.

John Sarbanes release

$6.7 MILLION WILL GO TO PATUXENT WILDLIFE REFUGE – 4/27/2009

BALTIMORE – Yesterday, Interior Secretary Salazar released a list of the latest projects to receive construction funding as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Among them was the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge, which will receive much-needed funding to rehabilitate infrastructure and facilities located on the 12,481 acre site. Established in 1936 by President Roosevelt, Patuxent is the nation’s first and only National Wildlife Refuge that supports wildlife research. This funding will permit the Refuge and Research Center to rehabilitate aging infrastructure, demolish older buildings, and upgrade security gates. “My son and I enjoy visiting Patuxent to take advantage of its trails, wildlife, and educational resources,” said Congressman Sarbanes. “The refuge and wildlife research center are not only a Maryland treasure but a national treasure. It is imperative that we commit the appropriate resources so that families and generations to come are able to enjoy the environmental benefits and educational opportunities that Patuxent offers.”

Cardin release:

SENATOR CARDIN ATTENDS GROUNDBREAKING FOR NEW FORT MCHENRY VISITORS CENTER

Cardin Helped Secure $11 million for new Visitors Center

Contact: Susan Sullam: 410-962-4436
Monday, April 27, 2009

Click here for a PDF Document

BALTIMORE — U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-M) today joined Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Senator Paul Sarbanes, and Congressman John Sarbanes (MD-3) in breaking ground for a new state-of-the-art Visitors Center at the Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine. The new Visitors Center is expected to be completed by fall 2010, in time to commemorate the bicentennial of the War of 1812.

In 2005, then-Congressman Cardin worked with Senator Paul Sarbanes to get more than $11 million in federal transportation funding for a new Visitors Center at Fort McHenry. The old Visitors Center was constructed in 1966 and was built to accommodate a maximum of 250,000 visitors a year. Today, more than 600,000 visitors come to Fort McHenry a year.

“Today’s groundbreaking for a new Visitors Center really marks the beginning of the bicentennial celebration of the War of 1812, highlighting what is often called the Second War of Independence,” said Senator Cardin. “Fort McHenry is one of our nation’s most significant historic landmarks and it serves as a gateway to other important War of 1812 sites in our region. This new Visitors Center will help visitors have a better of the Fort’s contribution to our history.”