It’s been an interesting day in Florida’s water news.
Congressman Patrick Murphy announced today that the Army Corps of Engineers has responded favorably to his request to expedite water storage and treatment planning of the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). Also today, Murphy, who is running for Marco Rubio’s Senate seat, dropped a bottle of toxic algae off at Governor Rick Scott’s office. The question now is…will the SWFWMD agree to expedite planning for the EAA?
“With a record amount of discharges this year from Lake Okeechobee wreaking havoc on local waterways, the need for more water storage and treatment areas could not be more clear. Additionally, while this problem will not be solved overnight, the health of our environment and economy cannot wait for critical projects to get underway,” said Murphy. “I thank the Corps for their commitment to Everglades restoration projects to reduce these devastating discharges as well as the need to advance these projects as quickly as possible to provide much-needed relief to our communities. I hope the state will work with the Corps to implement an expedited timeline as well as step up and use Amendment 1 funds for additional land acquisition efforts immediately.”
In other news, Florida’s Environmental Regulation Commission (ERC) approved a controversial new rule on water toxins. “We have not updated these parameters since 1992, it is more good than harm,” ERC Commissioner Cari Roth, a Tallahassee attorney, said just before the vote. “To me it would be far worse to delay.” Water-quality advocates disagree, worrying the rules would weaken the state’s water quality criteria for 120 toxic chemicals, significantly increasing the amount of a number of cancer-causing chemicals industry can dump in Florida’s water. Conservationists also worry that the public’s voice isn’t being sufficiently represented because two of the seven seats on the ERC – one representing local government and the other the environmental community – are vacant because Scott hasn’t appointed anyone to fill the vacancies.
“Why not strive to have the cleanest, purest water possible rather than trying to find out how much toxins and pollutants we can put in our waters (before causing harm)?” said Wakulla County Commissioner Howard Kessler. “Why not stop using our waters as sewers?”
