Tell Pierce County to enforce environmental laws
- by: We the People of Pierce County
- recipient: Citizens of Pierce County, Washington
It is illegal to fill wetlands in Washington State!
Watch a slideshow of the damage, then sign!
This flooding was caused recently by improper development practices that break Washington State Law by clearing and filling in natural wetlands. Pierce County was unable to stop this developer from destroying this wetland, nor to order restoration or levy fines, because the Pierce County Council has never codified the environmental laws of Washington State. County officials are unable to even write a ticket, much less force a developer to pay fines or repair the environmental damage they've caused! This is just wrong!
All of the flooding you see in the picture is water that belongs in a stream or river, helping to support salmon habitat and wetland ecosystems - instead, it's stuck in this ditch, polluted and useless, all because Pierce County does not have the power to make developers follow the law!
ADVISORY PETITION INSTRUCTING OUR PIERCE COUNTY GOVERNMENT TO IMPLEMENT AND ENFORCE ALL EXISTING ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS
The Attorney General has confirmed that all enacted laws are enforceable; however, few if any of the enacted environmental laws are enforced in Pierce County. These laws still have not been added into our Comprehensive Plan, so have not been made into regulations and codified to allow enforcement.
Pierce County currently has no staff authorized to enforce these laws, including writing tickets, imposing fines, ordering restoration, or rescinding permits. This has resulted in great loss of our natural water resources, deprived our Salmon bearing creeks of much needed water supply, loss of wetlands and ground water resources, toxic algae blooms and warm water in our lakes, endangered our watersheds and aquifers, caused property damage to others by displacing wetland and flood plain waters, and allowed inappropriate development to occur in environmentally sensitive areas.
Authorized enforcement and penalties assigned to these laws could have prevented much of this damage and saved valuable taxpayer dollars used to correct this damage after the fact of development.
WE THE PEOPLE OF PIERCE COUNTY, in signing below, do now impose our right to instruct our County Government to immediately fulfill all steps required to enter all enacted environmental laws into our County Comprehensive Plan; thereby making these laws into County Regulations and Pierce County Code (PCC) to enable the enforcement all of Federal and State environmental laws.
The Pierce County Council has never codified the environmental laws of Washington State. This means that Pierce County officials cannot enforce the laws. This has resulted in the destruction of numerous forests and wetlands, the damage and destruction of natural habitat, the loss of natural resources (water, timber, animals and fish), and a reduction in the quality of life in Pierce County.
By signing this petition, you will be instructing the Pierce County Council to enter the environmental laws of Washington State into the County Comprehensive Plan so they can be enforced. This will give Pierce County the ability to stop unscrupulous developers before they cause damage like you see in the photo above, and help our county officials preserve our county's resources and natural beauty.
Thank you for your interest in preserving Pierce County's natural beauty and resources.
Sincerely,
Cindy Beckett and Andrew Bacon
on behalf of
We the People of Pierce County
By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service.
You can unsub at any time here.
Having problems signing this? Let us know.