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ACTION ALERT: va senate hearing on Bill That Delays Getting Cattle Poop (and Resulting Algae) Out of Our Rivers!
January 31 @ 9:00 AM
We need your help – take action by Tuesday, January 31, at 9:00 a.m. to tell Virginia Senators to vote “NO” on SB 1129!
On Tuesday, January 31, the Virginia Senate’s Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources will consider SB 1129. This dangerous and unfounded piece of legislation would extend the deadline for five more years before cattle and their fecal matter will no longer foul the Commonwealth’s rivers through their unfettered access; the nutrients from their feces promote algae growth in the river. In other words, five more years of disgusting and potentially toxic mats of algae whose bacteria can cause illness and five more years of mud from erosion caused by the cattle in our waters – which should be clean for drinking and recreating.
The original law, passed in 2020, increased funding to Virginia’s farmers so that they could pay for and erect the fencing necessary to exclude the cattle by 2025. Now, some of the same people and organizations which supported the law are trying to change it and they can’t say why. They claim that supply chain issues resulting from the pandemic are the reason, but they have produced no facts to support that claim.
For a deeper dive into the issues, read Shenandoah Riverkeeper Mark Frondorf’s op-ed. It may also help you draft up a note to the Senators, listed below, on why they should reject the effort.
Before Tuesday, please take a moment to contact the Senators on this list – tell them the extension is unnecessary and worse, will extend the time before the excrement from cattle no longer pollutes our rivers and streams. It’s absolutely vital that they know they MUST vote against this bill!
COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
(Click on a name below to send your message.)
- Chap Petersen (Chair), District 34, Parts of Fairfax County
- Barbara Favola, District 31, Parts of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun counties
- Ghazala Hashmi, District 10, Powhatan, Chesterfield (Part), Richmond City (Part)
- Lynwood Lewis, Jr., District 6, Norfolk/Virginia Beach area
- David Marsden, District 37, parts of Fairfax County
- Montgomery “Monty” Mason, District 1, Williamsburg area
- Jennifer McClellan, District 9, Richmond area
- Joseph Morrissey, District 16, Parts of Richmond and Chesterfield/Prince George counties
EN 
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