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Home » News & Publications » Media Stories » WVE in the News 2007 » Bill would help make water safer

Bill would help make water safer

A Letter to the Editor in the Billings Gazette urging support for SB 423 - the Mercury Safety and Protection Act

Letter: Bill would help make water safer

Read the original letter from the Billings Gazette

I recently learned that the Democratic women of the Montana House and Senate made history this session when they formed the Democratic Women's Legislative Caucus. Supporting a cleaner environment, reproductive rights, economic equity for women and better opportunities for educating our children, the DWLC is working to create a brighter, more sustainable future for Montana.

Early next week, the Federal Relations, Energy and Telecommunications Committee (FRET) will vote on SB423, a top priority bill for the DWLC. SB423 would ensure our children's safety and health by requiring careful disposal of mercury products and keeping harmful mercury out of our schools.

Mercury is a known neurotoxin that can cause a number of serious health effects, including developmental retardation and learning disorders in children. Already in Montana, pregnant and nursing mothers are warned not to eat some fish caught in Montana's lakes and rivers because they are contaminated with mercury. SB423 offers a cost-effective, sensible solution to prevent more mercury from poisoning our environment by requiring manufacturers to stop selling consumer products that have mercury-free alternatives in our state.

Please check out www.leg.mt.gov.com to learn who the members of the FRET Committee are, then contact them and ask them to support SB423. My representative, Scott Boggio, is a member of the committee. Please contact him today and ask him to vote yes for cleaner air and water and safer fish, vote yes on SB423. All of us, and generations to come, will be healthier for it.

Lexy Adams
Red Lodge


Learn more about WVE's Mercury and Reproductive Justice Campaign, including the mercury legislation WVE is supporting, and how you can help support our work!


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