October 23, 2017

Ms. Madison Blackwell

2 Seagrass Court
Mauldin, SC, 29662

EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W.
1101A
Washington, DC 20460

Dear Administrator Pruitt,

My name is Maddie Blackwell and I am writing because I witnessed a horror in our nation’s
oceans: pollution. Especially at more populated beaches such as Myrtle Beach, there is an
unlimited amount of trash everywhere, from the hotels to the water itself.

After a trip to visit the beach, a topic came to the forefront of my mind: the issue of pollution in
Earth’s oceans. A simple walk along the beach shows the importance of action needing to be
taken; there are bottles, cans and even discarded clothes all along the coast. Looking further into
the oceans, a more significant issue takes place: Animals are being caught in this trash, and after
a brief period of suffering, they die. In fact, 100,000 animals are killed by this pollution every
year; from small fish to large whales, all the animals are affected. Although many of these
oceans are beyond your control, there are actions which I believe could be taken to better the
future for the human race as well as benefit the ecosystem which surrounds and populates the
world’s largest bodies of water. As the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, the actions
necessary to provide clean water to our nation’s children and the animals within it come down to
you. Increased funding for privately owned and run movements such as Ocean Conservancy
could greatly benefit mankind, with a single group collecting over 230 million pounds of trash in
the last 30 years. Working with other countries to help get rid of the large garbage patches in the
oceans could benefit everyone and improve intercontinental relations. Donating to The Ocean
Cleanup could help solve the issue of pollution once and for all, giving it many more ways to
influence our world’s oceans. Regulating dumping sites for trash, increasing fines for littering,
and encouraging recycling could all help the international issue of pollution. Thank you very
much for your time!

Sincerely,

Madison Blackwell