It is said that the quickest way to kill a proposal is to appoint a committee to study it.On Friday, the Alabama Environmental Management Commission ripped a page from that playbook and killed any immediate chance of strengthening the state’s water standards to protect its citizens.
It unanimously voted down an environmental effort to limit the amount of cancer-causing chemicals dumped in Alabama’s rivers and streams and will appoint a committee to study the matter with recommendations at least six months away.
The vote was predictable. Alabama has a long history of choosing economics over health. And this was no different.
The commission, which oversees the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, is asking a dozen industry groups to weigh in on the issue of financial impact of raising the standards.
Last time we checked, the word, “environmental,” was the guiding principle behind the mission of both agencies. Yet economics seem to be driving this debate – just as it has in the past.
Had the commission adopted the proposal that came before it Friday, it would have lessened the chances of getting cancer from carcinogens in the water from one in 100,000 people to one in 1 million.
If environment and public health are the main concerns, then it would seem natural that environmental agencies would choose the one in a million chance of getting cancer from chemicals poured into waterways.
Twenty-eight other states have chosen the higher standard recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency, including all Alabama’s Southern neighbors but one.
They all decided protecting the public’s health should be priority one and took the appropriate action to lessen the chances of getting cancer.
Sadly in Alabama, we’re still studying it.
