Cancer Creek #Blowback for WVMA members

Who in the world WANTS Cancer Creek?!!

That’s an easy question to answer. The West Virginia Manufacturing Association (WVMA) has been pushing for this for years.

We got a reprieve this session after our ought legislators were so lax in looking at the legislation they were passing that they accidentally undid the Cancer Creek legislation with yet another piece of legislation dirtying our water.

Now the WVMA wants the EPA to ignore the controversy and decree that they can dump those toxins, anyway, despite Supreme Court rulings.

It’s time to contact WVMA member companies and tell them we see what they’re funding, and we demand they drop membership of that organization pushing to hurt so many West Virginians!

Have a look at the WVMA companies pushing for #CancerCreek pollution in our streams. There are some we can’t exactly boycott. But there are some member companies we can pressure… lots of banks, insurance, and pharmaceutical companies (including, naturally, Mylan). Because if we get sick, they’ll make out like bandits, right?

There are also some surprises in the member list.

Et tu, Mister Bee?

Be polite when call or contact the companies below. Chances are regular employees have no idea what the WVMA is pushing for. They might not know that the company they work for is a member of WVMA. And, heck, they might not even know what the WVMA is. And employees who live here in WV are probably just as keen to keep our streams clean as the rest of us are, and most have no control over what their employers choose to do. But they can pass on your message.

Heck, you might be an employee of one of those companies yourself, horrified to find out what your bosses are trying to to do you, your neighbors, and even your children.

Finally, keep in mind that even owners—especially owners of small, local businesses—may have no idea that an organization they’re a part of is pushing for polluted water. So start by informing them rather than yelling.

This push to dirty our streams is most likely originating with member groups like the Koch brothers (they’re a member company, even though they’re not located in WV) and oil and gas companies like EQT  that aren’t even headquartered here. It’s possible that small companies will pull out quickly (right, Mister Bee?) and WVMA will soon be left with the big, out-of-state interests who are the ones REALLY behind the push to sacrifice us.

Here are links to contact forms and contact pages of WVMA member businesses

When you call or write, ask that they publicly demand the WVMA stop trying to weaken our water protections, or that they WITHDRAW from WVMA if it refuses to back down. Tell them you won’t be spending your money with them until they do. And let them know what kind of a PR nightmare they may be facing if they stick with an org trying to poison West Virginia.

Part of me suspects that a lot of the smaller WV companies are just there to help make WVMA look like it’s NOT a cover for out-of-state interests.

Do take a look at the full list of WVMA member companies and let me know in the comments below: What’s your opinion… do they represent the interests of WVians—or of powerful corporations?

Finally, as a reminder:

How Much More Poison Cancer Creek Could Allow

  1. For Morgantown, #CancerCreek would mean almost 10 times as many carcinogens and other toxins released into the Monongahela River.
  2. At Charleston, that change allows a 12-fold increase in toxins dumped into the Kanawha River.
  3. In Parkersburg, it would permit 21 times more poisons to be unloaded into the Little Kanawha.
  4. For little Cairo here in Ritchie County,  38 times the number of chemicals and toxins could be discharged into the Hughes. Almost 40 times as much!!!

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