Everyaction,

Washington's lawmakers are considering an important bill to protect the state's rivers and streams from destructive suction dredge mining — so now's the time to speak up and demand clean water for people and wildlife.

Suction dredging, which mines for gold using machines that vacuum up gravel and sand from river bottoms, pollutes rivers by digging up sediment and reintroducing mercury from historic mining. It also damages streambeds that are essential to spawning salmon and steelhead.

Tell your elected officials to support this legislation that would at last rein in suction dredge mining.

The law would require suction dredge miners to comply with the Clean Water Act and obtain a water-quality permit before heading into any stream or river. Right now there's little oversight, undermining hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars spent on fish habitat restoration.

Neighboring states have already cracked down on this destructive mining practice. Tell your elected officials to do the same and protect Washington's rivers by supporting this legislation.