Gulf Restoration Network

HELP PROTECT A THREATENED GULF RIVER Blog - Healthy Waters / Dead Zone Friday, 13 February 2009 16:18

Save one of America's last, large free-flowing rivers: Protect the Pascagoula!

Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction - in an effort to expand the nation's petroleum reserve, the Department of Energy is prepared to hollow out a series of salt domes near Richton, Mississippi. In other words, they're planning on pumping oil back into the ground! To do this, they will pump 50 million gallons of water from Mississippi's Pascagoula River everyday for five years to dissolve underground salt and then dump the salty, polluted byproduct off the coast of one of Mississippi's barrier islands. This process could have serious consequences for Gulf of Mexico and Pascagoula River fisheries and the businesses and jobs that rely on a healthy ecosystem.

To pour salt on the wound, this wholesale environmental destruction will cost taxpayers $4 billion. With a new head of the Department of Energy, now is the time to stop this madness: send the DOE your personal message now.

Our nation faces a variety of real and pressing challenges, from the growing economic turmoil to the impending consequences of global climate change. Amidst all these significant challenges, it's hard to believe that the Department of Energy is ready to squander $4 billion dollars on this environmentally destructive project. It's time that the federal government focused its efforts on ending our dependence on oil rather than squandering precious dollars on solving yesterday's problems. Send a strong message to the Department of Energy today asking them to stop the salt dome madness before it's too late!

Matt Rota is Director of GRN's Water Resources Program