EPA cuts threaten Superfund work

The Trump administration has proposed a 31 percent budget cut to the Environmental Protection Agency that would not only decrease funding protecting U.S. lands and wildlife, it would also eliminate 15,000 jobs.

Trump ran under a platform that pledged to bring jobs to America and instead of investing in jobs that are healthy for both our lands and economy, he chooses to invest in big corporations that deal in dirty energy and cheap production.

Montana has 16 Superfund sites that are threatened by cuts to the EPA, excluding the Smurfit-Stone pulp mill in Missoula, which has yet to make the list. Should the proposed cuts take place, 3,000 jobs will be lost and 3,000 people will no longer be aiding in the clean-up of these Superfund sites, in the cleaning up of Montana. The budget plan would undoubtedly affect the health of Montanans and wildlife as the Clark Fork still harbors heavy metals and high levels of arsenic, the Berkeley Pit with its toxic water continues to kill birds that lands on it, and Lockwood residents are still jeopardized by their drinking water.

I urge our senators to protect Montana’s environment and way of life when the federal budget goes to a vote.

Lauren Ward,

Missoula