031403 Press Release: District Board Members

March 14, 2003

Press Release: DISTRICT BOARD MEMBERS CHALLENGE GOVERNOR ON EVERGLADES AND SIDE WITH POLLUTERS

Will America's Everglades get clean water as proposed by Governor Bush?

A coalition of major state and national environmental organizations called on Governor Bush and DEP Secretary David Struhs urging them to stand firm in defense of America's Everglades, maintaining their current science backed positions, and insist on a 10 part per billion phosphorus standard for the Everglades that protects the whole ecosystem. The coalition concerned with water quality in America's imperiled Everglades has condemned the action of South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) board members who on Wednesday joined with major polluters in an effort to block the cleanup of phosphorous pollution. At Wednesday's SFWMD meeting, the board agreed to a policy position that had been drafted by the sugar industry. The language they embraced would effectively increase the amount of pollution allowed to enter the Everglades by at least 50% and delay meeting water quality standards for nearly a quarter of a century. The SFWMD board action flies in the face of a scientifically sound proposal by Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David Struhs, which would establish a 10 part per billion phosphorus standard for the Everglades.

The Water Management District position would change the standard to a higher average of at least 15 parts per billion. Ironically, the 10 part per billion criterion proposed by the Governor and the Florida DEP is actually supported by the research of water management district scientists. "Everglades restoration ultimately depends on the State of Florida implementing its responsibilities to set a scientifically sound water quality standard. This responsibility lies with the Environmental Regulation Commission, not the District. The District's job is to implement and comply with the standard," said David Bogardus of World Wildlife Fund. Nonetheless, SFWMD board members, in an unusual move contradicting the Governor who appointed them, also directed their staff to attempt an end run around the Governor and the state Department of Environmental Protection by taking the issue to the Legislature which is now meeting in Tallahassee. Opening the Everglades Forever Act in the Legislature threatens to rekindle the federal litigation settled by the late Governor Chiles in the early 1990's.

The Everglades Forever Act as it stands was recently approved by U.S. District Judge Hoeveler as an appropriate means to implement the 1992 Everglades litigation settlement. Re-opening the matter in the legislature, as suggested by the District, would almost certainly trigger additional federal court proceedings. "Governor Bush and DEP Secretary Struhs are making great progress toward implementing the right water quality standard needed to protect the Everglades," stated Charles Lee, Sr. Vice President of Audubon of Florida. "What the Water Management District Board did Wednesday is a real setback to the process, and ironically aligns the agency that is supposed to be restoring the Everglades with the polluters who have been destroying it," he concluded. For more than a year, DEP and the District have been steadfast in advocating the 10 part per billion criterion to the Environmental Regulation Commission, the board charged by law with actually adopting a standard. Mary Barley, Chairman of the Everglades Foundation stated: "It is wrong for the South Florida Water Management District to disrupt the good work of Governor Bush and DEP Secretary Struhs with a proposal that would delay enforcement of a water quality standard until 2026.

This taxpayer funded agency should be working in favor of protecting water quality and tax payers, not siding with polluters who are trying to get away with the continued destruction of the Everglades". "This move is certainly not going to guarantee the success of Everglades Restoration, because without clean water we can't heal the Everglades," said Juanita Greene, Co-Chair of the Everglades Coalition. The coalition also called on legislative leaders to avoid complicating the already contentious 2003 legislative session by re-opening divisive issues that were resolved by the Legislature in 1994 when Florida wisely moved to settle the earlier litigation by enacting the Everglades Forever Act. "Not often does a Governor have a single opportunity to use the power of the executive office to state clearly that enough is enough: 30 years is too long and the science is clear...10 parts per billion-no loopholes now saves America's Everglades," said Alan Farago of Sierra Club.

AUDUBON OF FLORIDA,DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE ENVIRONMENTAL AND LAND USE LAW CENTER, THE EVERGLADES FOUNDATION,THE EVERGLADES TRUST, FRIENDS OF THE EVERGLADES,NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION, NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, SIERRA CLUB, WORLD WILDLIFE FUND

Contact:
Charles Lee, Audubon of Florida
Phone: (407) 620-5178