EPA Refuses To Monitor Dumping Of Polluted Irrigation Into Everglades, Okeechobee

[hatrack]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday that Florida's controversial practice of pumping polluted water from farms and suburbs into the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee is none of the federal government's business. In a decision with national implications that appears to defy a 2006 ruling by a Miami federal court judge, the EPA announced it would not require federal permits for ''transfers'' of water from one body to another for water-supply, flood-control, irrigation and other common purposes -- no matter how dirty that water might be.

''Clean water permits should focus on water pollution, not water movement,'' said Benjamin Grumbles, an EPA assistant administrator, in a release intended to ''clarify'' a rule the agency first floated in 2005 in response to two lawsuits brought against the South Florida Water Management District by the Miccosukee Tribe and environmental groups. Both cases have been closely watched across the country, particularly in western states, where such transfers are common.

The district, in an unattributed release, said the EPA had affirmed the rights of states to protect and manage water supplies without ``burdening the taxpayers with additional layers of federal oversight.'' "The EPA's permitting program ''was created -- appropriately -- to stop polluters from dumping waste into the nation's waterways,'' the district release said. ``It was not designed to govern the movement of water for water-supply and flood-control purposes.'' Attorneys for the Miccosukee Tribe and environmental groups accused the Bush administration of opening a door that could make it easier for industries and agencies to pollute lakes and rivers.

Dexter Lehtinen, an attorney for the tribe, called the decision a ''last gasp'' from an out-going White House that has repeatedly sought to erode federal authority under the Clean Water Act -- in the face of contradictory court rulings. ''The only thing the district is right about is EPA is on their side,'' said Lehtinen. ``They have been on their side through this pollution saga. There is nothing new about EPA being on the side of polluters.''

EDIT

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/564328.html

[Buzz Clik]

1. I'm surprised that the EPA involvement is considered necessary.

There are millions upon millions of local dollars set aside for protecting the Everglades. The monitoring described would not be expensive.

That said, the EPA under Bush has hidden from its requisite monitoring activities.

[monmouth]

2. The major industry contriubuting to this mess is the sugar industry..n/t

[seasat]

3. And guess which McCampaign has close ties to top sugar McLobbyists

Wayne Berman is the National Finance C0-Chair for John McCain and lobbied for Flo-Sun.

Wayne Berman made a fortune as the chief lobbyist for the sugar moguls Jose and Alfonso Fanjul, has been an active Republican fundraiser and contributor, giving nearly $150,000 over the last four years to Republican candidates, according to federal records. He raised at least $300,000 for President Bush in 2000 and 2004.

There's his Florida fund raising chair, Brian Ballard, who lobbies for US Sugar.

There is also Roger Stone who helped defeat the tax on sugar to pay for the Everglades cleanup. He's been attacking Obama and formerly Clinton from the edge of the campaign.

Since then, he's worked for political celebrities from Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump to Al Sharpton. In Florida, he helped defeat the penny tax on Big Sugar proposed in 1996 for Everglades restoration, and he ran the 2004 U.S. Senate campaign of Larry Klayman, best known for hounding former President Bill Clinton in court.

I also think Charles Black, McCain's political adviser, did some lobbying for the sugar industry in the past

Of course McCain claims he voted against the Everglades restoration bill because of the ear marks in it. Riiiiight.