Gov. Jeb Bush urges end to U.S. oversight of Everglades cleanup [View All]

[seafan]

Gov. Bush urges end to U.S. oversight of Everglades cleanup

By Robert P. King

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 03, 2006


Gov. Jeb Bush is lobbying to end federal court oversight of the state's Everglades cleanup, a move that would take the $1.1 billion project out of the hands of a judge who has accused Florida of violating its promises, according to a government official and others familiar with the case.
If the Justice Department and other federal agencies agree, Bush's intervention could lead to the end of the landmark 14-year-old court order that required Florida to begin cleansing the Everglades.

The state also would have to persuade the judge. And it is seeking the cooperation of the Miccosukee Indians, the state's most aggressive opponent in an array of Everglades pollution cases.
Bush's efforts, including a Jan. 27 meeting with federal leaders next door to the White House, have alarmed environmentalists, who don't trust the state to finish the project without supervision. Congressional budget leaders also have warned the governor's brother, President Bush, that "backsliding" on the cleanup would jeopardize federal spending on a larger $10.5 billion Everglades restoration.

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he governor went to Washington last week "to talk about the fact that we're getting no credit for all of the accomplishments we've made regarding the Everglades," said Colleen Castille, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection. "We believe the law is clear as to what standards we are supposed to meet.... We have been meeting that."

Castille said she could not discuss the lawsuit specifically and would not confirm whether the governor is seeking to end the 1992 court order. But a federal official familiar with the talks said the governor has pressed that request during months of meetings with representatives from the Justice and Interior departments, the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House, including the office of senior presidential adviser Karl Rove.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbcwest/content/local_news/epaper/2006/02/03/m1a_GLADES_0203.html