Polluting Florida: what the 2010 election was about ... by gimleteye

Florida is floating on a sea of pollution. No joke. From one end of the state to another, wrapping the Florida peninsula, our waters-- once pristine and pure-- stormwater runoff, wastewater pouring from sugar farms enriching the Fanjul billionaires; it all belongs to YOU. It may be sunny and beautiful outside, but the water running through our canals, streams, into estuaries and bays is so polluted it cannot sustain the life that belongs there. Here's a photo of disgusting algae choked water in a canal serving a sugar plantation. It flows into a canal of the South Florida Water Management District. That pipe and hundreds if not thousands more like it, feed the destruction of Florida's Everglades. You are paying for it. Let me say it again: YOU are paying for it.

The EPA finally decided to get tough on polluters in Florida. The agency is finally going to pass rules about what kind of toxic fertilizer and other nutrients you can stick in Florida waters. Hopefully in time, our springs and rivers and bays and estuaries will recover. But not if the polluters who control the Florida legislature and the Governors Mansion, now, have anything to say about it. States Rights! The legislature and governor YOU just elected are meeting in special session today, and one of the Charlie Crist vetoes they intend to override is a measure that will boundlessly complicate pollution cleanup. The polluters are gleeful. They are getting exactly the government they paid to elect. With the help of the Tea Party and a terrible campaign by Alex Sink, the Democratic candidate for governor.

For all the hubbub in Washington, this is the least reported and biggest changes between the Obama administration and eight long, toxic years of George W. Bush: the EPA is trying to do its job. The GOP said it was about Jobs! but the election was really about rich polluters trying to stomp the life out of environmental regulations and laws. The Florida legislature is losing no time to do all their dirty work.

As soon as the EPA decided to get tough on Florida, the state's snatch-and-grab economic elite howled. They are mounting a disinformation campaign rivaling the build-up to the War in Iraq. Clean water standards, they claim, will bankrupt the state. What else would you expect polluters to say? They've been getting a free ride and Floridians are paying the cost.

Clean Water Network's Linda Young wrote an editorial recently: "Confusion and name-calling continue to find fertile ground around the issue of Florida’s polluted waters and what to do about them. Recently 46 business groups, mostly agricultural and heavy industries, sent a letter to Congress urging more delays in EPA’s proposed new water quality standards for Florida’s waters. Our two U.S. Senators are also voicing strong support for the delay." Now Gov. Elect Rick Scott is stirring the pot. Does Rick Scott know anything about Florida? Apparently not enough to have a clue how to staff his Governor's Office. No, for that, he needed the help of the Jeb Bush GOP he ran against. The Age of Disbelief has been delivered by the pious.

(Click 'read more', for the full editorial)

NEW POLLUTION RULES and NEW LOOPHOLES IN WATER PROTECTIONS
By Linda Young


As someone who has worked to strengthen Florida’s water protections for the past 20 years, I think it is fair to say that there is mass confusion over what EPA’s proposed new standards will and will not do for Florida’s waters. The business groups claim the rules will cost them too much money. Some of my friends in the environmental community have made suggestions that imply that the rules will cure our water pollution problems. I think that both of these claims are misleading and need further discussion and clarification. The citizens of Florida have a right to know the truth.

Polluted water is a big problem in Florida for many reasons. It becomes very expensive when we let our springs, rivers, lakes and coastal waters get polluted to the point that they are full of algae, dead fish and toxins. Sadly, many of Florida’s waters reached that point quite some time ago. Polluted water is also a health issue, it’s a property value issue and it has lasting adverse effects on our wildlife. There are many, many good reasons that we should all care about water quality.

Here are a few facts about EPA’s proposed new standards that will surprise many people:

• Agriculture will not be affected, except possibly large dairies and chicken houses that have pipes that discharge.
• Local governments with stormwater permits will not be affected (at least not for a very long time).
• Big polluting industries with discharge pipes could be affected, except that the rule creates new loopholes for them and expands current free-passes around the Clean Water Act.

It would be nice if these statements were not true, but they are. State and federal laws largely exempt agriculture from compliance with these clean water rules. State law has massive loopholes that make it difficult to force a local government do any more than they choose/volunteer to do about stormwater pollution.

Unfortunately, our own taxpayer-funded Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has helped to create much of the hysteria and confusion over this rule. Three former DEP heads (Secretaries) have joined the 46 business groups in opposing the new standards. Our most recent past DEP Secretary, Mike Sole is now working for one of the companies that is represented by one of the business groups. Florida’s DEP has enabled the excess pollution in our waters for decades. Now, at a time when Florida’s environmental protector should be calming the waters and guiding our communities and businesses into a new era of more responsible use of our resources, they spread division and fear.

There should not be further delay and the rules should be written so that they actually improve water quality and save the health of Florida residents and businesses. EPA’s proposed rule has potential to help Florida’s waters and our economic prosperity. As currently drafted, the rule will not accomplish this goal and certainly will not cost as much as the business-driven hysteria claims. EPA should adopt rules that will move us forward and begin to address at least the most serious water pollution problems. Then, in the future we can move on to those issues that the rules do not sufficiently address.

Linda Young is the director of the Clean Water Network of Florida (CWN of FL). More than 300 organizations and thousands of individuals in Florida work together through the CWN of FL to protect Florida’s springs, lakes, streams, bays and coastal waters from excess pollution and to help citizens have a voice in decisions affecting Florida’s water resources.