Sen. Maria Cantwell supports Bristol Bay salmon

March 25, 2015

Senator Maria Cantwell
311 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Sen. Cantwell,

On behalf of PCC Natural Markets and our customers, I am writing to thank you for your continuing leadership and support for protecting Bristol Bay, Alaska and its vital salmon fishery from large-scale mining. We appreciate in particular that you supported the Environmental Protection Agency’s use of Section 404c of the Clean Water Act.

Protecting Bristol Bay’s prolific salmon fishery is critical to thousands of commercial fishermen — many who live in Washington and depend on Bristol Bay for their livelihood — and to countless Washington consumers and businesses that depend on healthy wild salmon fisheries. Our 10 stores in Seattle and adjacent cities sell more than $2 million in seafood annually, much of it from Alaska.

Unfortunately, Sen. Vitter and Sen. Manchin recently introduced S. B. 234 in an attempt to undermine EPA’s ability to protect Bristol Bay. The bill would amend the Clean Water Act to the benefit of foreign mining companies but to the detriment of Americans.
Using scientifically sound data, EPA has exposed the irreparable damage that the proposed Pebble Mine would cause to Bristol Bay. Given the importance of the EPA’s role in defending the health of our nation’s environment and food quality, we urge you to continue supporting EPA’s efforts, especially in light of efforts to undermine EPA’s existing 404c authority.

We commend you for all you’ve done to help protect one of America’s greatest national treasures and most sustainable food sources.

Sincerely,

Cate Hardy
CEO, PCC Natural Markets