This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In response to "EPA overreaches in Chesapeake, and Utahns should worry" by Becca Ferry in the Op-Ed section March 29, I would suggest that Utahns should worry... but not about the EPA. Utahns should be worried about what Attorney General Reyes and the state are hiding.
Joining a brief, along with 20 other states, including West Virginia (where 300,000 people lost their drinking water for more than a month, due to a toxic fluid spill upstream of the water treatment facility) to stop the cleanup of Chesapeake Bay makes me wonder why the state of Utah wants to keep EPA out. Is it because Utah's waters are polluted?; Utah wants to continue polluting its waters? Over half of the rivers and streams in the United States are rated as being in "poor" condition. How many of these are in Utah?
It is not the EPA that is overreaching. These states are in effect telling another state they cannot clean up their water and restore a major industry: the seafood industry, an industry that provides millions of people with seafood.
If we do not want the EPA coming to Utah, we must remember: What Utah puts in its waters does not stay in Utah. Utah's pollutants entering downstream drinking water will surely bring the EPA to Utah.
Wayne Stevens
Vernal