Tennessee Clean Water Network
625 Market St.
Knoxville, TN 37902
Mailing Address:
PO BOX 1521
Knoxville, TN 37902
Office: 865.522.7007
Fax: 865.525.4988
Knoxville, TN
June 21, 2013
In an article in today’s Nashville Tennessean, Mr. Sherwin Smith deputy director of TDEC’s Division of Water Resources, said ““We take water quality very seriously. Very, very seriously. But you need to make sure that when you make water quality complaints you have a basis, because federally, if there’s no water quality issues, that can be considered under Homeland Security an act of terrorism.”
The undersigned organizations believe, while Mr. Smith clarifies his statement once pressed and is likely accurate in his facts, we believe it was an unnecessarily drastic and inappropriate comparison for a TDEC employee to use when describing our rights as citizens to participate in the public process. It appears to be a scare tactic employed by the state to quash this particular group's efforts to protect their drinking water. We adamantly oppose the state attempting to scare groups into silence, especially equating their actions with terrorism.
“The residents of Tennessee have a right under the Tennessee Water Quality Control Act to lodge complaints with the Commissioner of TDEC and TDEC is required to respond to them within 90 days.” Said Renée Victoria Hoyos, Executive Director of TCWN. “Invoking images of Homeland Security and terrorism related to complaining about a public water supply suppress the people’s voice.”
Organizations:
Renée Victoria Hoyos, Executive Director, TN Clean Water Network
Keven Routon, Chapter Chair, Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club
Stewart Clifton, Tennessee Conservation Voters
Amelia Parker, Executive Director, Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment
Media Contact:
Renée Hoyos
Cell: 865-607-6618, Office: 865-522-7007 x100
Email: [email protected]
