Ohio’s Biggest Polluters Spending Thousands to Pollute Politics

Environment Ohio released its "Polluting Politics"report shortly after the introduction of a House bill to block the EPA’s clean water rule to restore Clean Water Act protections to thousands of waterways in Ohio and across the country. Environment Ohio’s report links discharges of toxic chemicals as reported in the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory for 2012 with federally reported campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures. 

Environment Ohio

The owner of AK Steel Corporation spent $739,752 on lobbying in a single year, according to a new report by Environment Ohio. The enormous spending came after AK Steel Corporation dumped 4,301,250 pounds of toxic chemicals into Ohio’s waterways in 2012.  

Environment Ohio released its “Polluting Politics” report shortly after the introduction of a House bill to block the EPA’s clean water rule to restore Clean Water Act protections to thousands of waterways in Ohio and across the country.

“As it turns out, the same companies that are polluting our rivers with toxic chemicals are also polluting our politics with their spending,” observed Ally Fields, federal clean water advocate for Environment Ohio.

Environment Ohio’s report links discharges of toxic chemicals as reported in the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory for 2012 with federally reported campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures.

Major findings of the report include:

  • AK Steel Corporation dumped 4,301,250 pounds of toxic pollution into Ohio’s waterways. Its owner, AK Steel Holding Co, spent $739,752 on lobbying in the same year.

Right now, polluters are lobbying their allies on Capitol Hill to derail EPA’s plan to restore Clean Water Act protections to 51,000 miles of streams in Ohio. Loopholes in the law currently leave the waterways that feed the drinking water for 5,285,318 Ohioans at risk.

“When powerful special interests spend millions to influence our elections and lobby decision makers, they drown out the voices of everyday Americans.” said Fields. “To make sure we’re able to protect our environment and our health, we need reforms to stop the flow of big money into politics.”

“It’s clear that Ohio’s polluters have deep pockets, but thousands of Ohioans have raised their voices in support of doing more to protect Lake Erie, ” Fields said. “It’s time for Congress to listen to citizens, not the polluters, and let the EPA finish the job to protect our waterways.”

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