Dr. Benishek: "Washington Regulators Are Killing Jobs Here in Northern Michigan"

Press Release

Dr. Dan Benishek (MI-01) today continued his efforts during a Natural Resources Committee hearing to press regulators at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop standing in the way of job creating projects in Northern Michigan, as they did with the County Road 595 project in Marquette County.

"These regulators in Washington are killing job growth in Northern Michigan. It's ridiculous. The County Road 595 project in Marquette had the potential to create many good paying jobs and extend the life of the Eagle Mine. That would have been huge for the U.P., but the EPA crushed it with costly regulations and unreasonable rules. Frankly, it seems like these Washington regulators have a political agenda and its killing jobs right here in Upper Michigan," said Dr. Benishek, a general surgeon and Iron River native.

The Committee on Natural Resources hearing was focused on creating new mining jobs in the United States. The committee hearing included testimony from Mr. Jim Iwanicki, engineer manager for the Marquette County Road Commission, on how costly and overzealous regulations from the EPA prevented the permitting of the County Road 595 project in western Marquette County.

"I was glad to see Mr. Iwanicki from the road commission explain to the committee how the EPA stonewalled the 595 project. No matter how hard these guys in the county and state worked, it was never good enough for the EPA. These Washington regulators don't care about people here in Northern Michigan. We need to create jobs now and stop these regulations from continuing to hurt our area," added Dr. Benishek.

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