We all know that clean water is essential for healthy people, healthy communities and a vigorous economy. It’s reasonable to expect that our state officials would take the same approach, especially those given the responsibility to regulate sources of pollution allowed to enter our streams.

Unfortunately, last month Kentucky officials released the draft General Permit for coal mining wastewater discharge and it falls short of the critical protections necessary. While it proposes limits on some pollutants that individual coal operations can discharge into streams, it does not set limits on the maximum concentrations of these pollutants in the stream itself.

Join us in Frankfort on Wednesday, June 18 at 6 p.m. at the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection office complex at 300 Fair Oaks Lane, Room 301D.

The meeting is 6-9 p.m., with the first 90 minutes for comments on an eastern Kentucky version of the draft permit and the second 90 minutes for the western Kentucky version.

For more information, check out Kentuckians for the Commonwealth’s event page.