100801-
Madagascar rain forests, Florida's Everglades listed as endangered
CNN - by Karen Smith
August 1, 2010
Degradation of the Everglades leads to its addition to the list
This is the second time the Everglades has been added to the list
Madagascar forests make list after illegal logging and hunting
(CNN) -- Florida's Everglades National Park and rain forests in Madagascar have been added to a list of world heritage sites in danger.
The World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced the decision at its 34th annual meeting in Brasilia, Brazil.
Degradation of the Everglades has caused its addition to the list this year, with UNESCO reporting that water inflows have reduced up to 60 percent and high pollution levels are currently killing marine life.
The Everglades is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, with more than 1.5 million acres of estuaries, prairies, and shady stretches of pine. This is the second time the Everglades has been included on the list, the first time was between 1993 and 1997 because of damages caused by Hurricane Andrew.
The rain forests of Atsinanana in Madagascar make the list this year after illegal logging and hunting of endangered lemurs on the site. Due to the illegal exporting of logged timber, many

100731-1
FPL’s West County Energy Center will be the nation’s largest power plant of its kind, and consumers pay for it
Palm Beach Post - by Susan Salisbury, Staff Writer
July 31,2010
LOXAHATCHEE — Florida Power & Light Co.'s $2.2 billion West County Energy Center is on its way to becoming the nation's largest power plant of its kind - and consumers can expect to see a slightly higher bill to help pay for it.
Built on 220 acres purchased from Palm Beach Aggregates for $42 million, the plant began operating in 2009. The combined-cycle natural gas power plant is providing enough electricity for a half-million homes and businesses. When Unit 3, now under construction, comes online next year, it will serve an additional 250,000 customers.
"This is the most efficient of any fossil fuel-burning facility," said Carmine Priore, an FPL vice president.
Customers are already paying for Units 1 and 2, which cost a total of $1.3 billion.
Because it is more efficient than other methods, West County is expected to deliver savings to customers of between $650 million and $750 million over its lifetime.
Now, rate payers will be footing the bill for the $900 million Unit 3. In June, FPL CEO and President Armando Olivera said the utility expects to seek either a full-blown rate increase or an increase just for the cost of Unit 3.
West County is familiar to many as the site of protests by the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition and others, who said the plant would contribute to global warming and harm the Everglades.
The largest protest was Feb. 16, 2008, when more than 120 activists snarled traffic throughout the western communities. An estimated 100 Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies responded and arrested 27 people after the five-hour protest.
The West County Energy Center shares an entrance off State Road 80 with Palm Beach Aggregates, which mines rock and sand, and is near the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, at the tip of the northern Everglades.
The highly industrialized automated plant is a mix of utilitarian black-and-gray steel structures sitting on white shell rock.
Inside, energy is produced by combustion of natural gas in a turbine, similar to a jet engine. Energy also is produced by making use of the jet engine exhaust to make steam. Both sources then drive turbines and electric generators to produce electricity.
Every aspect of the operation - temperature, gas pressure and water flow - is monitored from a control room on site as well as from the company's Juno Beach headquarters, Priore said.
A South Florida Water Management District reservoir is on the eastern border.
The location is one of the reasons some opposed the plant.
"It's a 36-inch diameter gas pipeline with no shut off valve sitting next to Palm Beach Aggregates," Alex Larson, a coalition member and Loxahatchee resident, said. Although there is a shut-off valve at the plant, it concerns her there isn't one for 34 miles of pipe leading to the plant. "They will be blasting within 200 feet of that pipeline. And it's within 1,000 feet of Arthur R. Marshall Wildlife Refuge."
FPL insists the plant is safe.
The PSC approved the plant in 2006. In 2007, the coalition sued the state alleging, among other issues, that when the Department of Environmental Protection approved a permit for the plant, it did not consider Florida's residents. The lawsuit also alleged violations of the Clean Water Act, as well as state and other federal laws.
Last year, a federal court dismissed all claims.
Because the process harnesses energy from natural gas and the heat it generates, the combined-cycle plant is 30 percent more efficient than conventional natural gas generation, Priore said.
The water the plant uses is another issue environmentalists raised. Now 13 million gallons a day is drawn from the Floridan Aquifer to cool equipment. In 26 "cells" or towers, water falls like rain as it is blown with fans. Waste water is disposed of using deep-well injection.
"We use it on site three to six times before we inject it," Priore said. "The water usage is so large because the heat that is running through the steam turbine is very, very hot, typically 1100 degrees Fahrenheit."
Despite objections to water use and injection, location, emissions and other issues, more than a dozen governmental agencies signed off on the plant which was ultimately approved by the governor and cabinet.
Jim Owen, spokesman for Edison Electric Institute, a utility industry group, said combined cycle natural gas plants have become much more popular in the last 10 to 15 years because of their efficiency.
"Natural gas is certainly a very attractive electricity generating fuel. It is domestically available. It has roughly half the carbon content of coal," Owen said.
"Natural gas combined cycle is an evolved kind of technology," Owen said. "It is brilliant engineering."

100731-2
Judge Bans Mosaic Mine Expansion, Layoffs To Be Evaluated
The Ledger.com - by Kevin Bouffard & MATTHEW PLEASANT
July 31, 2010
The decision requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to review less damaging alternatives to expansion.
Judge Henry Lee Adams Jr. of the U.S. District Court in Jacksonville issued the ruling after considering written and oral arguments at a July 22 hearing in his court.
Rich Mack, executive vice president for Mosaic, said in a written statement issued Friday that he is still analyzing the decision but is disappointed.
"The permits for the Hardee County Extension underwent seven years of regulatory, judicial and public scrutiny and are the most stringent of any phosphate mine permits in the history of Florida," the statement says.
The company plans to file an appeal, he said.
Still unclear is how the ruling will impact the jobs of 221 workers at the nearly depleted South Fort Meade mine who were sent layoff notices July 12 pending Adams' decision. Russell Schweiss, a company spokesman, said that's too early to tell.
"We are still evaluating the implications of the ruling and what that might mean in regards to the operations," he said.
The current mine does not have enough phosphate rock to continue mining operations at its current level, Schweiss said.
The Sierra Club Inc. filed the lawsuit June 30 joined by People for Protecting Peace River Inc. of Wauchula and ManaSota-88 in Nokomis. It sued the Corps of Engineers based in Jacksonville, and Adams subsequently allowed Mosaic to join the litigation.
The lawsuit challenges a June 14 permit the Corps of Engineers gave Mosaic to strip-mine 10,750 acres in Hardee County just past the Polk County line and at the southern edge of the existing mine. The permit runs for 18 years.
The mine would disturb 534 acres of wetlands and 56,661 feet of streams that run into the Peace River, according to the Corps' website.
Thomas Reese, a St. Petersburg lawyer representing the environmentalist groups, considered the ruling a victory for the groups.
"This is telling Mosaic and the Corps to go back and sharpen their pencils, come back with the facts," Reese said.
Reese has argued that the judge could halt mining only the wetlands, allowing Mosaic to mine other "upland" areas while the environmental study is in progress.
But Mosaic has rejected that option because wetland areas pockmark the site, making it impractical for mining equipment, called "draglines," to work around them.
The Mosaic Co., headquartered in Plymouth, Minn., a Minneapolis suburb, employs 2,166 workers at its Polk County facilities, including three phosphate rock mines (Four Corners and Hookers Prairie in addition to South Fort Meade) and two fertilizer plants near Bartow.
Matthew Pleasant can be reached at matthew.pleasant@theledger.com or 863-802-7590

100731-3
UNESCO declares U.S. Everglades endangered site BRASILIA
Reuters
Jul 31, 2010
BRASILIA (Reuters) - A U.N. panel has declared the Florida's Everglades to be an endangered World Heritage site due to the wetlands' continued degradation, officials said on Friday.
The wetlands' water inflows have fallen by up to 60 percent and pollution has produced excess plant growth and a decline in marine species, the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization said at a meeting in Brasilia.
Agricultural and urban development have been the main reasons for the decrease in water quality and flow.
It is the second time the Everglades National Park, a wetlands refuge for birds and reptiles and largest mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere, has been added to the List of World Heritage in Danger. The agency made the decision after a request from the United States.
The Everglades, known for its sawgrass prairies and alligators, were first declared an endangered site in 1993 following damage caused by Hurricane Andrew. The area was removed only in 2007.
"We commend the USA's request to re-inscribe the site on the danger list, and its plans for major infrastructure overhaul to restore the Everglade's fragile wetland ecosystem," Mariam Kenza Ali, IUCN World Heritage Conservation Officer, said in a statement.
Experts from Unesco and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are to visit the site and help develop a conservation plan.
The Everglades will likely be spared the feared impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, U.S. government scientists said on Friday. No new oil has leaked from the well in 15 days and oil that is in the water will not travel as far as south Florida, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
(Reporting by Raymond Colitt, editing by Jackie Frank)

100730-
Bridging trail key to restoring Everglades
SunSentinel.com - by John Adornato III
July 30, 2010
Everglades National Park, the largest tract of wilderness east of the Rocky Mountains, is home to more subtropical land and water than anywhere else in the United States. The Everglades is a place where the panther can roam and the wading bird can nest, and it is in need of restoration.
After 20 years of planning and debate, the federal government is building a project to elevate one mile of the Tamiami Trail to help restore historic freshwater flows back to Everglades National Park. That is the first step towards fully restoring the Everglades, but much more must be done to bring fresh water back to South Florida.
Extending from Tampa to Miami, Tamiami Trail crosses the width of the Florida peninsula through the center of the Everglades, and has acted as an unnatural barrier for water flow over the last 80 years. This barrier has left areas north of the road inundated with water, tree islands flooded and wildlife stranded, while southern areas of Everglades National Park and Florida Bay are lying parched, thirsting for fresh water.
The recent release of the National Park Service's plan endorses 5.5 miles of additional bridging along Tamiami Trial and builds upon the one-mile bridge project. Moving this project forward is key to reversing the current ecological decline, and ensuring that we protect this nationally significant treasure for our children and grandchildren.
The draft plan comes at an opportune time as Congress has instructed the Department of Interior to examine other alternatives for more bridging as they work on the one-mile project that began in December 2009. In addition, Florida is in negotiations to acquire land in the Everglades Agriculture Areas from U.S. Sugar. Acquiring this land would help store and treat water and vastly improve water quality and the volume of water flowing south to Everglades National Park, benefiting estuaries in the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers. Both projects will reestablish the historic water flows back to Florida Bay.
In addition to the one-mile project, more bridging will provide indisputable environmental benefits to the Everglades and Florida Bay, as well as provide great economic benefits for the region. Not only does the plan serve as a landmark restoration project for the nation, but it will also put people back to work in South Florida. The construction for both projects will employ thousands of South Florida residents throughout the region, and also bring sport fishermen back to Florida Bay.
We applaud the Park Service for their visionary plan to bridge more of Tamiami Trail. After years of delay, lawsuits and inadequate funding, we now have an opportunity to refocus our commitment to restoring the Everglades.
John Adornato III is the Sun Coast regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association

100728-1
Scientists’ Dispersant Concerns Remain
CNN
July 28, 2010
Over 1.8 million gallons of dispersant chemicals have been added to the Gulf of Mexico to break up oil flowing from the Deepwater Horizon's ruptured well. And in the 100 days since the rig's explosion, little more has become known about the effects of those chemicals.
In May, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Coast Guard directed BP to use a less toxic dispersant than the one it was putting into the Gulf, Corexit 9500. When the company did not comply, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced that the EPA would run its own toxicity tests, the first round of which focused on Corexit 9500 and seven other common, readily available dispersants from the agency's approved list.
The tests showed Corexit to be slightly less toxic than the manufacturer's data had indicated, so no new orders were issued.
"We need more data before we decide whether to change dispersants," said Paul T. Anastas, the EPA's assistant administrator for research and development. "Our ultimate goal in all of this is to reach a point where dispersants are no longer necessary."
Scientists say questions remain about the effects of dispersants, in particular the more subtle consequences.
"The only effect that's being looked [in acute toxicity tests] at is death, lethality. That is a place that testing often starts because you want to know what concentration of the chemical will kill fish or other organisms," said Richard Denison, senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund. "But what's much more relevant in predicting the full effects of the use of dispersants and dispersed oil are the more subtle effects -- that are sublethal, that may affect growth and reproduction."
Those sublethal effects may cause a population to diminish without necessarily killing organisms. Larvae and eggs are most at risk because they are more sensitive and less mobile.
As for human health, scientists say much more needs to be learned about dispersants -- their behavior with oil, chemical ingredients, chronic and delayed effects -- to understand the risks.
There are two types of potential exposures for humans, according to scientists: direct (by inhalation, ingestion or absorption through the skin) and indirect (by eating seafood). According to toxicologist Dr. LuAnn White of Tulane University, the risk to most humans is very low because the oil-dispersant mixture dilutes quickly and does not build up in the food chain.
Some scientists disagree over dispersants' ability to break down the oil faster than it would naturally decompose.
"The conventional wisdom is that by breaking up oil into small droplets, it may be more easily biodegraded. That is not firmly established. In fact, there are conflicting data," said Denison. "Some studies suggest that the rate of degradation of PAHs [polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a breakdown product of oil] is actually impeded by dispersants." Another unknown is whether the chemical constituents of oil are more or less likely to persist in the food chain.
"The problem has been that we have simply not required the answers to those questions. The fact that they are being asked now, and we don't have answers, is of particular concern given the magnitude and scale of use of dispersant."
According to Denison, more information is needed in order "to be able to intelligently answer questions of whether we should still be using the dispersants."
"I am not of the view that [dispersant] should or should not be used. I don't think we have enough data to answer those questions very well, and I'm hoping that this tragedy will spur us to answer those questions so we'll have enough information next time."

100728-2
Scientists seek agricultural water reduction
TBO.com - by GEORGE H. NEWMAN - gnewman@tampatrib.com
July 28, 2010
PLANT CITY - Sinkholes that developed in part because of heavy groundwater pumping by farmers protecting their crops in January have helped spawn a research project by University of Florida scientists.
Jack E. Rechcigl, director of the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm, said his team will be looking at several alternatives for farmers to protect their crops from freeze damage. A safe alternative is needed in light of the damaging effects that sinkholes caused to public and private property this year, Rechcigl said.
For the past 40 years, farmers have relied on using millions of gallons of water from deep wells to coat strawberry fields with a layer of ice when the temperatures drop below freezing. As long as the deep well water is continuously applied, the blossoms and immature berries will be protected. In January, 12 straight nights of freezing temperature forced farmers to spray more than 1 billion gallons of water on their crops.
One of the alternatives the research center task force is looking at as a frost protection measure is hoop tunnels, nonpermanent structures covered with plastic that could be erected in the fields to protect the strawberries during a freeze event.
Assistant professor Bielinski Santos, a horticultural scientist at the research center, said it is possible that the estimated 8,000 acres of strawberry fields in eastern Hillsborough County could be protected from freeze damage.
"Hoop tunnels have proven to be very effective," Santos said. "That is the way strawberries are grown all around the world."
Other options are considered, he said.
"We are also looking at foam, roll covers, low-volume sprinklers and intermittent irrigation. We want to provide the grower proven methods from which they can pick and choose. One of the components in my program is to provide the grower with the most economic method."
Foam would be applied to the field by tractors or mechanical sprayers. Roll covers are large insulated blankets that would be applied above the crop.
Santos said the research center is receiving support from the Southwest Florida Water Management District on testing low-volume sprinklers as a freeze protection measure.
"More testing is needed in the field," Santos said. "We are looking for a cost effective method that will provide protection without breaking the bank."
Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 731-8161.

100727-1
Land deal puts Everglades restoration on track
St.Peterburg Times - Editorial
July 27, 2010
A decade into the Everglades restoration project, one thing is clear: For this to work, it takes land — and the more, the better. That's why the federal government's announcement this month that it would spend $89 million to preserve 26,000 acres in the northern Everglades was so important. Putting cleaner water into that basin is the first step toward restoring Florida's River of Grass.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would acquire easements on five ranches along Fisheating Creek, a rural watershed in southern Highlands County, north of Lake Okeechobee. The area is the headwaters of the Everglades; protecting it from development and restoring it is essential for clean water to filter south into the Everglades basin. The owners of the ranches will keep title to the land and be allowed to graze cattle, though they will need permits. The USDA also will work with the Nature Conservancy, the landowners and the South Florida Water Management District to restore and monitor the property and promote more sustainable land use and wildlife practices.
The transaction is historic in its sheer size. More important, the government is preserving an entire corridor stretching from Central to South Florida. These ranch lands are vital open spaces for natural habitat and a range of rare and threatened animals, from the Florida panther and black bear to the bald eagle. By preserving the natural hydrology and diversity of the landscape, the federal government puts the pieces in place for restoration to continue for the long term.
Cleaning the headwaters that flow south into the Everglades is essential for improving the water quality in South Florida. The land deal will put cleaner water into the entire Okeechobee basin. It will build on state and federal spending toward the cleanup effort. It provides a template for ending harmful agricultural practices and improving those in operation elsewhere. And it puts more land into the preservation bank. This is the comprehensive approach the Everglades needs if there is ever to be hope for its restoration.

100727-2
National “Water is Your Business” Campaign Launched
NaturalResourceReport.com
July 27, 2010
U.S. Chamber and National Association of Water Companies Launch ‘Water Is Your Business’ Series
– Partnership Highlights Best Practices to Improve Economic Competitiveness for Businesses - by US Chamber of Commerce
MIAMI, FL—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Water Companies (NAWC) today launched the “Water is Your Business” series to educate public leaders, businesses, and citizens on the importance of water infrastructure to public and environmental health, and the economic vitality of their communities. The kickoff event brought together more than 50 business leaders to examine drinking and wastewater infrastructure needs in the context of regional water management issues.

South Florida water experts discussed the need for adequate water supplies for economic development and population growth, innovative alternatives to groundwater withdrawal, and the beneficial reuse of wastewater. Elected officials and business leaders presented specific examples of how innovative and sustainable water infrastructure practices can improve the economic competitiveness for businesses and the quality of life in local communities.
“Sustainable, safe and reliable water service is the lifeblood of every community,” noted NAWC Executive Director Michael Deane. “The education of business leaders is the right first step on the road to sparking a national dialogue. As business owners, this group already recognizes how sufficient investment, innovative management practices and transparent governance can affect the quality of performance. Our program will further show the great value sustainable water systems can have on their businesses and lives, so they can start to work with their local officials and colleagues to make sure their water utilities are run well and prepared for the future.”
Poised to be held in additional cities across the country, the “Water is Your Business” series raises awareness of the significant economic and ecological impacts of water provision, use and disposal on communities everywhere. Each local dialogue will focus on providing business and community leaders with tools and resources needed to be constructive and influential participants in the discussion on water infrastructure needs. The series is co-hosted by local area chambers of commerce.
“The Chamber recognizes that water infrastructure is a critical part of the physical platform of the U.S. economy,” said Janet Kavinoky, U.S. Chamber Director of Transportation and Infrastructure. “Unfortunately, it is out of sight, out of mind, until a pipe breaks or supplies run low. We want to raise awareness of the needs and potential solutions, in particular, the role of the private sector in delivering sustainable water systems.”
The National Association of Water Companies (NAWC) represents all aspects of the private water service industry. The range of our members’ business includes ownership of regulated drinking water and wastewater utilities, and the many forms of public-private partnerships and management contract arrangements. Seventy-three million Americans – nearly one in four – receive service from a private water service provider.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations. Through the Let’s Rebuild America initiative, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce advocates for the need to maintain, modernize, and expand our nation’s infrastructure.

100726-
Clyde Butcher rallies opposition to off-road vehicle park at Big Cypress
News-Press.com - by MARY WOZNIAK • mwozniak@news-press.com
July 26, 2010
1:10 A.M. — World-famous photographer and environmental activist Clyde Butcher is rallying residents to attend a Collier County commission meeting at 9 a.m. Wednesday to protest a proposed off-road vehicle park in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
The park is proposed by Miami-Dade County on 1,600 acres in the eastern end of the preserve. Since some of the land is in Collier County, Collier also has to approve it.
The park would include a visitors center, RV parking, campgrounds, two fishing piers, an archery range and hiking trails.
Butcher sees it as a thinly disguised effort by the counties to get a foot in the door for further development.
"If you get this, then they get mining, then they say - oh, we could have some industrial park there. Oh, there's an airport right here," he said. "And all of a sudden the whole thing is back where it was in the 1960s. People just don't give up, they just don't give up. It's amazing. It's greed."
The park site is within a 25,000-acre area known as the "jetport," also owned by Miami-Dade, which began building a massive international airport there in the 1960s. The project was thwarted by environmentalists and some government officials.
But the attempt prompted the late Everglades activist Marjorie Stoneman Douglas to form Friends of the Everglades, and launched the Save the Everglades movement.
It also prompted Congress to create the Big Cypress National Preserve in 1974. Environmentalists say it is habitat for the Florida panther and other animals, home to several listed species of flora and fauna, and important for Everglades hydrology.
The Collier commission unanimously approved the park in January against advice of its staff.
Agencies opposed include the Southwest Florida Water Management District, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and the Sierra Club.
"It's disappointing, the lack of support for it," said commissioner Jim Coletta. "I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to why the Big Cypress was originally formed and the impact the jetport was going to make."
Kevin Asher, a parks planner for Miami-Dade, said people think the park will be developed without regard for the environment and endangered species, "And that is not true," Asher said.
If Collier approves it again Wednesday, the plan will go to the state Department of Community Affairs, which previously weighed in with a solid "no."
If the department again recommends against it, Miami-Dade could appeal the ruling and the issue could wind up in a judicial hearing, Asher said.
Off-road vehicle use in the preserve has been controversial for years. The use is allowed because it was grandfathered in by Congress when the preserve was created, along with hunting, grazing and other uses.
Brian Hurford, 28, of Cape Coral, said his three-year-old ATV often sits unused because he has to travel as far as Okeechobee. "The tracks are too far away and too expensive," he said.
Hurford said he would use the proposed Big Cypress park. "It's good to find more places to ride," he said.

100725-
New Everglades restoration deal helps Lake Okeechobee
SunSentinel.com - Editorial
July 25, 2010
THE ISSUE: USDA unveils major deal to help the Everglades.
It's another ambitious land purchase that promises to aid the massive restoration of the Florida Everglades. This one, though, seems simpler and more doable.
Unlike the state's ongoing efforts to purchase 73,000 acres of U.S. Sugar property south of Lake Okeechobee, the purchase proposed by the federal government appears to pass muster as a more straight-forward deal. It should be pursued to improve both Florida's natural habitat and the water quality flowing into Lake Okeechobee.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week announced the $89 million purchase of the development rights to 26,000 acres in Highlands County, north of the lake. The deal was heralded as "groundbreaking," a familiar refrain used two years ago when Gov. Charlie Crist announced the purchase of 180,000 acres south of the lake to establish reservoirs and to treat marshes.
Another similarity: The USDA's bid also puts taxpayer dollars in the pocket of another well-connected seller. However, the fact that one of the Central Florida ranches in this latest proposal is owned by a corporation run by state Sen. J.D. Alexander, the influential chair of that body's Ways and Means Committee, shouldn't deter the deal. Three branches of Alexander's family own the Blue Head Ranch, and to the senator's credit, he has avoided taking an active role in the sale of the property.

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for VIDEO

Dr.G.M. Naja from the Everglades Foundation explains problems associated with rock mining operations

100723-
Land mining will destroy our habitat
SunSentinel.com - by Drew Martin
July 23, 2010
Florida's environment is crucial to its economy. Our coasts alone provide a $65 billion benefit to the state's economy, yet we are constantly at conflict with those who insist on sacrificing our environment to benefit short-term economic needs that have long-term negative consequences.
Offshore oil drilling, rock mining and overdevelopment are three main culprits. Clearly, Floridians realize that offshore oil drilling is not worth the risks. Rock mining is another example of a poorly regulated industry that has the potential for long-term ecological damage. Rock mining blasts into sensitive limestone surface layers, opening up the aquifer to contamination. At the same time, it brings to the surface briny substrata that can contaminate surface water and plants. This contamination cannot be contained on site as the Department of Environmental Protection seems to pretend.
The Palm Beach County Commission needs to go further than a temporary moratorium. This is clearly a land-use decision, not a zoning issue. Once our aquifers are contaminated, it can take years to recover. It could lead to contaminated drinking water for Palm Beach County, as limestone is permeable. At the same time, the County Commission should not permit landowners to buy out permanent conservation easements. In the case of the Whiteside property, the original owner promised to preserve a portion of the land for wildlife and native plants, and this requirement was passed on with the property deed. This agreement is part of the county's 25 percent set aside. These areas of native plants provide important habitat to small species of birds and other animals. Even if poorly maintained, they are better than concrete and buildings. These areas of set-asides also help to keep our temperatures more moderate by creating small micro-climates. To lose these is to destroy the look and feel of Florida. Property values suffer when we cut down all our trees and remove native vegetation.
The property owner of Whiteside is willing to pay a small fee, but it will never compensate for the deaths of the animals living in this acre of set-aside area, and it will set the precedent that nothing in the county can be preserved.
We need to think smart in our approach to development. If our commissioners are not willing to abide by intelligent land-use rules, then we need to pass Amendment 4 so that the voters can stand up for the environment. The Florida environment is what makes Florida the successful tourist destination and wonderful place to live. We cannot afford to sacrifice our environment.
Drew Martin is the conservation chair of the Loxahatchee Group, Sierra Club, in Lake Worth.

100722-1
Climate change threatens Florida fruit crop
CBC.ca - News
July 22, 2010
A study by the University of Central Florida warns that climate change could alter the state's growing seasons and permanently destroy its citrus fruit industry.
The research was published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal PloS ONE.
"The weather in Florida has been getting wacky," said lead author Betsy Von Holle, an assistant professor of biology at the university.
The research team studied 50 years of data that looked at changes in climate and the flowering times of 70 plant species in Florida.
They found a rise in the state's overall temperature and wider temperature swings between winter and summer, with more frequent freezing in the winter.
"And that's definitely having an impact beyond simple temperature changes. If the trend continues, it may affect everything from when we start seeing flowers and birds migrating to what foods we can grow," she said.
Van Holle warns that subtropical crops such as oranges, which depend on mild winters and springs, could get squeezed out of Florida.

100722-2
Palm Beach County temporarily bans new rock mines on Everglades land
Sun Sentinel - by Andy Reid
July 22, 2010
Palm Beach County on Thursday temporarily closed the door on new rock mines on western farmland that was once part of the Everglades.
The County Commission approved a one-year moratorium on new rock mines to allow time to consider tougher environmental regulations for the digging and blasting that produces materials for road building and other construction.
The commission on Thursday also agreed not to accept any new mining proposals during the interim period between Thursday's initial vote and the final commission vote on Aug. 26 that is needed to formalize the one-year ban.
That extra step stops new mining proposals from trickling in before the one-year ban officially begins.
While the temporary ban was welcomed by environmental groups, it comes after the County Commission has already allowed rock mining to spread to 20,000 acres in the Everglades Agricultural Area since 2006.
"Better late than never," County Commissioner Jess Santamaria said about the ban and the plan to research tougher regulations for mining. "I want better information so we can make more intelligent decisions."
Environmental groups oppose rock mining, arguing that the deep digging threatens to pollute drinking water supplies. They also contend that mining eats up land — drained to make way for farming — that could be needed for Everglades restoration.
Environmental attorney Richard Grosso, of the Everglades Law Center, has filed legal challenges to try to stop some of the rock mines already approved by the county. Grosso said the one-year ban allows the county to "come up with meaningful standards."
The ban approved Thursday doesn't affect mines already in operation or approved for development.
Rock mining companies dispute the environmental concerns saying that in addition to county approvals they also must get state environmental permits and are then subject to years of monitoring.
They say their rock is needed for road building and other construction, such as the reservoirs planned to store water needed to replenish the Everglades.
Gary Brandenburg, attorney for the Palm Beach Aggregates mining company, on Thursday called for the county to include mining company representatives on the advisory committee expected to help craft the new rules.
Sugar giant Florida Crystals owns much of the farmland in western Palm Beach County and already has a deal approved by the county that allows Palm Beach County to expand its rock mining operations to 2,400 acres of Florida Crystals land.
Determining how much more rock mining to allow and when to allow rock mining to move forward could become a "thorny and difficult" issue for the new mining regulations envisioned by the county, Florida Crystals attorney Cliff Hertz said.
Environmental groups argue that there are already plenty of rock mines approved, especially amid a lull in local construction.
About 1,700 acres have been excavated in Palm Beach County since 2006, leaving an inventory of about 18,000 acres of land approved for mining over the next 70 years.
"Once you blast in there and gouge out that area, it is forever," long-time environmental activist Rosa Durando said.
Andy Reid can be reached at abreid@SunSentinel.com or 561-228-5504.

100721-1

100721-1
County needs comprehensive plan for rock mining
Palm Beach Post - by Letters To The Editor
July 21, 2010
Today, the Palm Beach County Commission will choose one of two options for changing how new mines are approved in the Everglades Agricultural Area. The commission should reject the weaker option favored by the mining industry and its staff, and adopt the broader set of changes that would require a comprehensive plan amendment for all new mines.
This would give the county a formal, comprehensive review by outside agencies and offer the most control over whether, where and how to approve new mines. The changes would require proof that new mines are needed for public road-building projects, and are consistent with Everglades restoration.
Things have changed dramatically since the original plan allowed mining in the EAA. The proliferation of mines is limiting options to restore the Everglades and protect drinking water supplies, and the current plan doesn't adequately balance these competing interests. The case-by-case zoning process does not provide for the comprehensive analysis of justification and need and cumulative impacts necessary to protect the public.
Mines punch huge, deep holes in the ground, exposing groundwater and potentially allowing unhealthy water deep below to flow to the surface, where it harms wading birds and other species. They can worsen water shortages during the dry season and worsen flooding in the wet season. Their impacts cannot be predicted with certainty.
Recently, the county approved 20,000 acres of mines that will operate for decades. We don't need more. A 2009 Florida Department of Transportation report found that demand will be very reduced for the foreseeable future. This is a good time to make these changes.
The industry resists more public scrutiny of mining proposals. But the commission must protect the public, too. Property rights only prohibit changes that would "inordinately burden" landowners. In the EAA, where farming is the predominant and very productive use, there is no right to also mine the land. Allowing new mines only through the plan amendment process would restore balance between the interests at stake.
What happens in the EAA will determine the success of Everglades restoration - a multibillion-dollar program supported by the business, farming, environmental and urban communities due to its water supply, flood control and environmental benefits. Palm Beach County will see these benefits if it realizes that land-use decisions are determining the fate of the EAA. Geography has placed a huge responsibility in the commissioners' hands, and they must exercise it in the public's interest.
RICHARD GROSSO, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Editor's note: Richard Grosso is general counsel for Everglades Law Center Inc. He represents environmental organizations in lawsuits concerning the approval of mines in the Everglades Agricultural Area.

100721-2
Fisheating Creek wetland details revealed
TBO.com - Highlands Today – by JOE SEELIG
July 21, 2010
LAKE PLACID - Four powerful old ranching families and corporations have joined forces with the federal government to restore and preserve about 26,000 acres of wild ranch land along Fisheating Creek, south of State Road 70, as part of a Wetland Restoration Project (WRP).
The local participants include the Westby Corporation, the Doyle Carlton family, the H.L. Clark family and Blue Head Ranch (Atlanticblue).
Through the use of easements, the U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to restore the wetlands in the Northern Everglades Watershed along the border of Fisheating Creek, said Carlos Torres, district conservationist with the Natural Resource Conservation Service, under the USDA.
The price tag for the restoration program is $89 million.
Many of these acres along the creek were drained for agricultural use, said Torres.
"The USDA will pay for everything as far as costs for the restoration and will buy the development rights within the easement," he said.
Wayne Godwin is the general manager of Westby Corporation, one of the participants that purchased ranch land formerly owned by Dr. Carey Carlton and his wife, he said.
He did not want to say how many acres of Westby land were involved in the reserve program.
Godwin is also president of the Fisheating Creek Landowners Association, which was formed in the early 1960s to maintain a set of locks, which essentially control water levels.
He described the landowners as coming from old Florida families with a deep love for the land and who wanted to see it preserved for future generations.
Godwin said back in the 1950s the Army Corps of Engineers dredged a portion of the creek. A drainage plan was designed to remove about one inch of rainfall in a 24-hour period, he said.
Several tiers of marshlands used to overflow, one into another and into another, until it formed the creek to the south. Over time the land changed.
"When I was a boy - even when the canal was put in - there was water on that land all year-round," he said.
That's no longer the case.
The Natural Resource Conservation Service plans to introduce water control structures and ditch stops within the conservation area and control exotic grasses and plants, said Torres.
While the landowners will retain ownership of the land, they will have to conform to a compatible grazing plan and will never be able to develop it, he said.
"It will take a long time to restore that land - years," said Torres.
When the water table goes up and the lands are re-flooded, grasses that were introduced by ranchers will die and native grasses should come back up, he said.
There are more than 19 rare, threatened and endangered species in the watershed that will benefit, he said.
The lands will also be searched for artifacts or other evidence of native Indian activities.
"Once the project is closed, cultural resources will be explored by professional archeologists," he said.
Susie Bishop is a spokeswoman for Atlanticblue, which owns about 65,000 contiguous acres in Highlands County, plus additional acreage in DeSoto County.
"There's about 10,500 acres in the northeast portion of Blue Head Ranch that will be part of the WRP into perpetuity, which is a passion of the company to preserve natural resources," she said.
The preserved land will have no impact on Blue Head's development plans. The land the company intends to develop is far away from Fisheating Creek, according to Bishop.
Bishop said the deal has been a couple of years in the making and added the contracts are still being finalized.
State Road 70 goes through the middle of the center of the ranch, Bishop said Tuesday. Blue Head Ranch is comprised of pasture and agricultural production, including diversified sod, turf, citrus, blueberries and strawberries.
"The Northern Everglades watershed is one of the last frontiers for large-scale land conservation in Florida, and USDA is proud to work with private landowners and state and local partners to protect this unique habitat," said Kathleen Merrigan, agriculture deputy secretary in a USDA news release.
The Nature Conservancy and the South Florida Water Management District partnered with NRCS on this project, said Torres.
The two partners will assist NRCS with easement acquisitions and wetland restoration planning and monitoring.
The wetlands benefit the state by providing fish and wildlife habitat, improving the water quality by filtering sediments and chemicals, reducing flooding, recharging the groundwater and protecting biological diversity.
Highlands Today reporter Joe Seelig can be reached at 863-386-5834 or jseelig@highlandstoday.com

100721-3
JEA settles Clean Water Act lawsuit
JAX Daily Record - by Joe Wilhelm Jr. Staff Writer
July 21, 2010
JEA decided to settle a 3-year-old lawsuit that will cost the organization more than $700,000 but allow it to move forward with protection and clean up of the St. Johns River.
The St. Johns Riverkeeper and The Public Trust Environmental Law Institute of Florida filed suit in federal court against the JEA in August 2007, alleging that the JEA had repeatedly violated the “Clean Water Act” through numerous sanitary sewer overflows from its Buckman and Arlington East wastewater treatment facilities.
The JEA has stated that the sanitary sewer overflows cited in the lawsuit have been corrected, are not ongoing and have been subject to prior enforcement by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
To date, the JEA has spent more than $350,000 in legal fees and experts in its defense. The parties were ordered to mediation by U.S. District Court Judge Marcia Morales Howard at a May 10 hearing, and the parties met June 18 to discuss a settlement agreement.
“It’s an important initial step to system upgrades in the future,” said Jimmy Orth, executive director of the St. Johns Riverkeeper. “The legal tool is our last resort to effect change, but sometimes it is necessary to get those changes made.”
JEA Managing Director and CEO Jim Dickenson was also glad to move ahead.
“We’re pleased to be able to settle the suit and begin the discussion on how to best move forward,” said Dickenson. “We were glad to sit down with everybody. It was a meeting of the minds working together to develop best practices moving forward.”
St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon agreed.
“I think we are moving in the right direction,” said Armingeon. “This all grew out of a compliance report that we, along with The Public Trust Environmental Law Institute of Florida, developed. It showed that this was an instance where people were violating the law and not held accountable. We are moving forward.”
The agreement includes:
• The JEA will pay $270,000 in attorneys fees to plaintiffs.
• The JEA has agreed to pay up to $100,000 over a two-year period to hire two experts, an independent engineer who will review JEA’s program for reducing and addressing sanitary sewer overflows and an engineer or consultant who will work with the Riverkeeper and the Institute during quarterly meetings with the JEA and review and report overflows occurring during the term of the agreement and implementation of the program.The Riverkeeper will be responsible for dispersing the funds to the experts, and reporting the allocation to the JEA.
• JEA will also submit reports to the Riverkeeper and Institute on any new sanitary sewer overflows.
• The JEA will provide a list of five engineers and the Riverkeeper and Institute will provide a list of five engineers for consideration, and the two sides will mutually select the experts.
• The JEA has 90 days to provide its program for the reduction of sanitary sewer overflows.
• Following the submission of a program and the selection of experts, the Riverkeeper and Institute will dismiss the suit with prejudice.
• The term of the agreement may be extended for an additional year, with the JEA funding an additional $25,000.
“The agreement represents a mutual undertaking with JEA that will help protect the waterways of Northeast Florida,” said Athena Mann, vice president of environmental services for JEA.
JEA is the second largest sewer utility in the state of Florida, with more than 3,000 miles of collection pipes. The system has the capacity to treat 124 million gallons of raw sewage a day, with the average daily flow of 80 million gallons. JEA’s sewer system serves Duval and parts of three surrounding counties.

100720-1
Global warming raises water shortage risks in one-third of U.S. counties
USA Today
July 20, 2010
More than 1,100 counties -- one-third of those in the continental United States -- will face higher risks of water shortages by midcentury as the result of global warming and more than 400 of these counties will face extremely high risks, reports a study today.
Fourteen states face an extreme risk to water sustainability or will likely see limitations on water availability as demand exceeds supply by 2050, according to an analysis by consulting firm Tetra Tech for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental group.
High-risk areas include parts of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
The rising risk results from decreases in precipitation, based on 16 leading climate models, and increases in water demand, based on current growth trends. The report says water
demand is projected to increase by as much as 12.3% between 2000 and 2050.
"This analysis shows climate change will take a serious toll on water supplies throughout the country in the coming decades," said Dan Lashof, director of NRDC's Climate Center, adding that the only real solution is "meaningful legislation" by Congress to reduce global warming. The report says:
In particular, counties at extreme risk for water shortages are most prevalent in the Great Plains and Southwest U.S. However, none of the 48 states analyzed are unaffected. Counties throughout the Midwest and South—particularly Florida—are found to face moderate to extremely high risk of water shortages. A relatively low number of counties in the Northeast and the Northwest are at risk.

Map enlargement - also click here for the original web-site

100720-2
Report on health of the St. Johns: Phosphorus and nitrogen “should be reduced”
The Florida Independent - by Virginia Chamlee
July 20, 2010
Just a day after a panel of scientists, experts and politicians met in a public forum to address the health of the St. Johns River, the annual State of the River Report for the Lower St. Johns River Basin was released.
The report, which is a collaborative effort between acadmic researchers at the University of North Florida, Jacksonville University and Valdosta State University, details information on the river’s water quality, aquatic life and fisheries. The lower basin of the river is found in Northeast Florida, and includes portions of nine counties, including Duval, Putnam, Flagler and St. Johns. According to the report, the LSJRB “covers a 1.8 million-acre drainage area, extends 101 miles in length, and has a surface area of water approximately equal to 115 square miles.”
The 194-page report, which was  funded by the Environmental Protection Board of the City of Jacksonville and the River Branch Foundation, delves into the specifics of how river pollution is monitored.
Total Maximum Daily Load provisions (or TMDLs) of the Clean Water Act were made enforcable after a 1999 lawsuit against the EPA. TMDLs determine how much pollution can be discharged by a particular source without further endangering the river’s health. According to the report, “The 2009 final verified list of LSJR impairments requiring TMDLs consists of a total of 123 impairments in 97 water bodies or segments of water bodies. … These impaired statuses are due primarily to unsatisfactory levels of mercury, dissolved oxygen, fecal coliform, and nutrients.”
After TMDLs have been adopted, Basin Management Action Plans must then be implemented, which typically take 18-24 months. The report states that several TMDLs have been adopted for the lower St. Johns. A chart included in the report further details implementation of the Action Plans, and shows Tampa Bay Tributaries, Springs Coast, the upstream of Wekiva and Munson Slough as the first waterways where standards are to be enforced.
Though the report mostly consists of scientific jargon and is overwhelming at best, it does seem to corroborate what many have said regarding the culprits of recent algal bloosm and fish kills:
The water quality of each tributary is strongly impacted by both the land use surrounding the tributary and the nature and extent of human impact. Thus, the tributaries of the LSJR vary in water quality impacts from agricultural to industrial and from urban to suburban to rural. Often, different parts of the same tributary will have changes in water quality that reflect changes in land use, industry and population along it.”
One of the St. Johns’ most notable algal blooms, dubbed “The Green Monster”  is found in Rice Creek, in the same general area that utilities giant Georgia-Pacific discharges its wastewater.
The report describes Rice Creek as an area of “relatively elevated levels of nitrogen” but that currently, no TMDLs have been established there. The report also notes that the creek has other problems: “Recently, Rice Creek has been identified as being impaired for dioxin and the COJ is working with Georgia Pacific to address this issue.”
The report further details levels of Polyaromatic hydrocarbon toxicity in the area: “In … the western tributaries, anthracene was the largest single contributor to PAH toxicity, while other PAHs exerted similar, low-level effects. … Within [this area,] the highest levels for anthracene were found in Rice Creek in 2000-2003, with an average concentration nearly ten times the anthracene PEL (89 ppm).”
According to an EPA Fact Sheet, anthracene is a chemical used in the production of dyes, plastics and pesticides and can be exposed to humans through contact with skin or inhalation: Once in your body, the PAHs can spread and target fat tissues. Target organs include the kidney, liver and fat.”
The report reveals what many have already known about the culprits behind algal blooms and fish kills. Nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, along with dissolved oxygen levels, form a lethal cocktail for the river’s aquatic life:
Humans add to the naturally occurring phosphorus in aquatic systems. In Florida, phosphorus is mined quite extensively, and is used in fertilizers, commercial cleaners and detergents, animal feeds, and in water treatment, among other purposes. Runoff can result in the addition of phosphorus into local waterways. … Excessive total nitrogen in a system can have severe impacts on the community structure. Nitrogen can markedly alter the community distribution of phytoplankton. Cyanobacteria, for example, are capable of nitrogen fixation (converting inert nitrogen to reactive nitrogen), which allows them to grow rapidly, thus out-competing other species when inorganic nitrogen levels are low (Smith 1983). Repetitive nitrogen and phosphorus overloading can be detrimental to aquatic systems.
The report does say that efforts made in the mid-’90s to upgrade wastewater treatment plants were successful for a time, but might not be any longer:  ”Mean total phosphorus concentrations in the LSJR appear to have been fairly stable from 1993 to 2007, possibly reflecting in part the point source reduction efforts; however, in the past two years levels have increased.”
The report clearly states what must be done in its Future Outlook section: “Phosphorus and nitrogen inputs from multiple sources should be reduced.”
Now it’s up to the EPA to implement its numeric nutrient standards for point-sources like Georiga-Pacific and JEA. That, coupled with the implementation of TMDL standards, could make for serious gains in the health of the river and those that call it home.

100720-3
US to spend $89 million on Everglades protection
The Associated Press - by MIKE SCHNEIDER
July 20, 2010
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The federal government will spend $89 million to preserve almost 26,000 acres of wild ranch land in a northern swath of the Florida Everglades in one of the biggest expenditures of its kind, officials said Monday.
Under the plan, the federal government will acquire the right to protect wetlands in the Fisheating Creek watershed located in Florida's rural Highlands County, although the four ranching families who own the properties will keep title to the land. The outlay represents a quarter of what the federal government will spend this year as part of its Wetlands Reserve Program. It also is one of the largest contiguous easement purchases in the history of the program.
The program was set up 20 years ago to encourage private landowners to retire agricultural land so that wetlands can be restored or protected, and it typically makes purchases of around 250 acres a year per state. However, that average is around 1,700 acres a year in Florida, said Kathleen Merrigan, deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"This is huge," Merrigan said. "It is extremely significant in what we do. ... It's a big piece of our national effort."
The four ranching families and companies that own the properties have powerful political and economic ties.
They are Westby Corp., which is controlled by the Finn Caspersen family of Venice, Fla.; the Doyle Carlton family, which has produced a Florida governor and state senator; the Blue Head Ranch, which is controlled by the family of state senator J.D. Alexander, whose grandfather was Ben Hill Griffin Jr., one of Florida's most famous land barons; and the H.L. Clark family.
The landowners will still be able to graze cattle on the land, although they now will need certain permits from the government.
The Fisheating Creek watershed was a top priority for protection and restoration because it drains into Lake Okeechobee, which then continues to flow into the southern part of the Everglades. The new acquisition will form a conservation corridor stretching from central Florida down to Everglades National Park in South Florida and improve water quality in Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades, Merrigan said.
"You can't repair the lower Everglades without repairing the northern Everglades," said U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla.
There also are 19 different species that will benefit from the acquisition, including the Florida panther and the bald eagle, Merrigan said.
The entire Everglades once covered more than 6,250 square miles, but that figure has shrunk by half. The land has been replaced with homes, farms and a 2,000-mile grid of drainage canals.
In South Florida, water managers have developed a plan supported by Gov. Charlie Crist to pay $536 million for 73,000 acres of U.S. Sugar Corp. land in an effort to restore that part of the Everglades. Critics call it a waste of taxpayer money that will only slow other key restoration efforts. A challenge to the plan is pending before the Florida Supreme Court.

100719-
Agency unveils $89 million deal to help Everglades restoration
Orlando Sentinel - by Kevin Spear
July 19, 2010
Agriculture Department seeks development rights.
Among the property owners taking part in a groundbreaking, $89 million sale of development rights to further restoration of the Everglades is the huge and, in political circles, well-known Blue Head Ranch.
The 68,000-acre ranch, along Fisheating Creek in rural Highlands County, is owned by a corporation run by state Sen. J.D. Alexander, R- Lake Wales, chairman of the Legislature's powerful Ways and Means Committee.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture formally unveiled its ambitious bid to buy easements on part of Blue Head Ranch and four adjoining ranches. The deal takes in a combined 26,000 acres, making it one of the largest such acquisitions by the federal agency. It also struck some as a new and better way to pursue restoration in the upper reaches of the Everglades ecosystem between Orlando and Lake Okeechobee.
"The reality is we can get some of the value out of the property today but also keep the property in perpetuity for other generations of the families and keep it in agriculture," said Ken Smith, a former Blue Head Ranch manager who helped with the negotiations.
USDA officials said that, while a lot of landowners expressed interest in selling development rights, the program's budget was able to accommodate only the five properties.
Smith said Blue Head Ranch is owned by three branches of a family that includes Alexander, who has avoided taking any active part in the sale to avoid criticism that he used his Senate position to influence the deal.
The families "have been talking about this for two or three years, and we finally got everybody together," Smith said. Alexander did not return calls Monday for comment.
Property rights for the 26,000 acres, which span a remote area of Highlands County 100 miles south of Orlando and 90 miles northwest of Fort Lauderdale, are being purchased through the USDA's Wetlands Reserve Program.
The scope of the deal and many of its details remained sketchy Monday because not all of the contracts have been signed, so some participants and financial terms were still protected by federal privacy rules, a USDA spokesman said.
Smith said the participating ranch owners also agreed among themselves not to disclose each ranch's share of the deal's acreage and money until all contracts are signed.
Fisheating Creek is Okeechobee's second-largest tributary, after the Kissimmee River, and the only free-flowing river emptying into the huge lake.
Federal officials described the deal as the result of a growing emphasis on protecting vast landscapes of wetlands, rivers and lakes, rather than isolated patches of watery environments. The greater Everglades ecosystem, which extends from Orlando to the tip of the Florida peninsula, was deemed by federal agricultural authorities to be important enough for what turned out to be one of the largest acquisitions yet made by the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Wetland Reserve Program.
The deal does not buy the 26,000 acres outright; instead, it places key restrictions on the land forever.
"What the landowners are keeping are agricultural rights over most of the property, and their ability to graze cattle is actually permitted," said Keith Fountain, director of land acquisition for the Nature Conservancy in Florida. "What the [Natural Resources Conservation Service's Wetland Reserve Program] is doing is stripping the development rights off the property and getting the right to hydrological restoration."
Federal appraisals determined that $89 million constitutes about 73 percent of the property's total worth had it been sold outright, according to a USDA official.
The purchase of property rights along the upper reaches of Fisheating Creek coincides with the federal government's ongoing restoration of the Kissimmee River at a cost so far of nearly $1 billion.
Also pending is a purchase by the South Florida Water Management District of 73,000 acres of U.S. Sugar's land south of Lake Okeechobee for $536 million. The deal has run into legal, financial and political trouble.
Announced on June 24, 2008, and hailed as a masterstroke for both the Everglades and the political prospects of Gov. Charlie Crist, the deal still hasn't closed, and the shrunken version still on the table faces an array of opponents.
The original deal called for spending $1.75 billion to acquire 180,000 acres around the lake to establish reservoirs and treatment marshes that would cleanse water as it flows slowly south. Under the plan, the South Florida Water Management District would borrow the money and pay it off with property tax revenue. The district has said it would not have to raise taxes.
As the economy soured and a more surgical approach appeared more attractive, the state and U.S. Sugar scaled back to a $536 million deal to buy 73,000 acres, with a 10-year option to buy the rest. But that still faces opposition. The Miccosukee Tribe and U.S. Sugar rival Florida Crystals sued to stop the deal, saying it would cost taxpayers too much and interfere with other Everglades restoration projects. The case is pending before the Florida Supreme Court.
Even though negotiations for the Fisheating Creek deal took nearly a year, its announcement caught several environmentalists by surprise. Among them was Ellen Peterson, whose Palmdale-based Save Our Creeks group has been a long-time champion of Fisheating Creek.
"We had no idea, not a glimmer," said Peterson, who is anxious to examine the agreement and learn just how much it protects Fisheating Creek.
Kevin Powers, a member of the South Florida Water Management District board, said that, surprising or not, the Fisheating Creek land acquisition is good news.
"We'll certainly take it any time we can get it, and we're glad to have it," he said.
Staff Writer David Fleshler contributed to this report.
Kevin Spear can be reached at kspear@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5062.

100717-1
Blocking Florida's coastal protections
Tampa Tribune
July 17, 2010
Florida House Speaker Larry Cretul calls Gov. Charlie Crist's push for a voter referendum to ban near-shore oil drilling "smoke and mirrors" and suggests that he won't even have House members vote on the measure during the special session that begins Tuesday.
But if there is anybody using smoke and mirrors, it's Cretul and the other legislative leaders who call Crist's proposal a waste of time.
They say it's unnecessary to ban drilling in state waters, three to 10 miles off Florida shores, because current law doesn't allow drilling. But this is the same crew that is so entangled with the oil industry that last year they abruptly proposed and passed a House bill that would allow beach-front drilling without public discussions.
Lawmakers huddled with oil industry lobbyists to prepare the surprise bill and didn't bother consulting with those whose jobs depend on tourism, fishing and clean, coastal waters.
Rep. Dean Cannon, scheduled to become the next speaker, led the drilling charge, parroting the industry's claims that drilling posed absolutely no threat.
Fortunately, Senate President Jeff Atwater refused to go along with the scheme. But Cannon and his supporters were intent on opening Florida's shores to oil rigs during next year's session - until the Deepwater Horizon tragedy destroyed their plans.
But you can bet once the greatest spill in American history has faded from the news and gas prices begin increasing, the industry and its eager boosters in the Legislature will launch another assault on the coast.
Their strategy already can be seen in the oft-repeated claim that the real threat is from deep-water drilling, and any accident in shallow water could be repaired more quickly.
That's true but misses the larger point. Any spill within 10 miles of the coast would result in immediate and devastating damage to our world-renowned beaches.
There would be little time for evaporation, dilution, sun exposure or other natural actions that diminish the oil's toxic potency.
Moreover, a Legislature-mandated independent study by the Collins Center for Public Policy found the total estimated oil reserves in Florida would satisfy U.S. demand for less than a week and would "have no discernible impact" on gas prices or U.S. reliance on foreign oil.
There is simply no justification for drilling so close to shore. State leaders should give voters a chance to protect the beaches that are vital to Florida's economic welfare.
Crist understands this. It's Cretul and the other until-recently pro-drilling lawmakers who are trying to hide the truth.

100717-2
Scientists look for alternatives to water for crop freeze protection
Tampa Tribume, TBO.com - by GEORGE H. NEWMAN | The Tampa Tribune
July 17, 2010
Sinkholes that developed in part because of heavy groundwater pumping by farmers protecting their crops in January have helped spawn a research project by University of Florida scientists.
Jack E. Rechcigl, director of the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm, said his team will be looking at several alternatives for farmers to protect their crops from freeze damage. A safe alternative is needed in light of the damaging effects that sinkholes caused to public and private property this year, Rechcigl said.
For the about the last 40 years farmers have relied on using millions of gallons of water from deep wells to coat strawberry fields with a layer of ice when the temperatures drop below freezing. As long as the deep well water is continuously applied the blossoms and immature berries will be protected. In January, 12 straight nights of freezing temperature forced farmers to spray more than 1 billion gallons of water on their crops.
One of the alternatives the research center task force is looking at as a frost protection measure is hoop tunnels, a non-permanent structure covered with plastic that could be erected in the fields to protect the strawberries during a freeze event.
Assistant professor Bielinski Santos, a horticultural scientist at the research center, said it is possible that the estimated 8,000 acres of strawberry fields in eastern Hillsborough County could be protected from freeze damage.
"Hoop tunnels have proven to be very effective," Santos said. "That is the way strawberries are grown all around the world."
Other options are considered, he said.
"We are also looking at foam, roll covers, low volume sprinklers and intermittent irrigation. We want to provide the grower proven methods from which they can pick and choose. One of the components in my program is to provide the grower with the most economic method."
Foam would be applied to the field by tractors or mechanical sprayers. Roll covers are large insolated blankets that would be applied above the crop.
Santos said the research center is receiving support from the Southwest Florida Water Management District on testing low volume sprinklers as a freeze protection measure.
"More testing is needed in the field," Santos said. "We are looking for a cost effective methods that will provide protection without breaking the bank."

100716-1
Improved farming techniques help agricultural areas meet phosphorus reduction goals
US State News
July 16, 2010
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., July 15 -- The South Florida Water Management District issued the following news release:
For the 15th consecutive year, water flowing from farmlands in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) achieved phosphorus reductions that were better than the 25 percent reduction required by law. With the continued implementation of improved farming techniques known as Best Management Practices (BMPs), results for the 2010 monitoring period show a 41 percent phosphorus reduction in the 470,000-acre EAA farming region south of Lake Okeechobee.
The C-139 Basin also met its goal of reducing phosphorus discharges to below historic levels. Located west of the EAA, the 170,000-acre C-139 farming region consists primarily of pasture land, row crops, citrus and sugarcane. Results show 41.9 metric tons flowed through the basin during the 2010 monitoring period, well below the target load of 53.6 metric tons.
"These encouraging results are a measurable reflection of the commitment made by our region's agricultural community to protecting and improving South Florida's ecosystems," said SFWMD Governing Board Chairman Eric Buermann. "While the District applauds this accomplishment, much more work lies ahead to ensure we consistently surpass our water quality requirements for the Everglades."
Results from the 2010 annual monitoring period (May 1, 2009, to April 30, 2010) show phosphorus reductions were largely achieved through BMPs. In the EAA, the most commonly used BMPs are refined fertilizer application, precise stormwater pumping practices and erosion controls to reduce the amount of phosphorus discharge to the Everglades and connected water bodies. In the C-139 Basin, the District has worked with farmers in recent years to implement a stronger BMP program that addresses unique challenges to achieving phosphorus reductions in the basin.
Phosphorus can harm the Everglades ecosystem when stormwater runoff carries excess amounts into the protected wetlands. To meet the requirements of Florida's Everglades Forever Act and a 1992 consent decree between the state and federal governments, the amount of phosphorus leaving the EAA must be 25 percent less than the amount before phosphorus-reduction efforts started. Data show that a 41 percent phosphorus reduction was achieved for the 2010 monitoring period. The average reduction from the implementation of BMPs over the program's 15-year history is 53 percent, more than twice the amount required by law.
When measured in actual mass, 119 metric tons of phosphorus were prevented from entering the regional canal system, which sends water into the Everglades, during the 2010 monitoring period. Over the past 15 years, the BMP program has prevented 2,237 metric tons of phosphorus from leaving the EAA.
In the C-139 Basin, a BMP program has been in place for the past eight years with the goal of reducing phosphorus discharges below historic levels. The District uses a model to determine the target phosphorus load for the agricultural region each year based on rainfall totals. For the 2010 monitoring period, the target load was 53.6 metric tons. Data show the actual mass of phosphorus discharged from the basin during that time was 41.9 metric tons, or nearly 22 percent less than the target.
Together with best farming practices, water leaving the EAA receives additional treatment in one of several Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) before entering the Everglades. These SFWMD-constructed wetlands are filled with native vegetation and use "green" technology to further reduce phosphorus levels.
Since 1994, the network of six STAs south of Lake Okeechobee - with a combined area of more than 52,000 acres - have retained more than 1,400 metric tons of phosphorus that would have otherwise entered the Everglades. Through the end of April 2010, more than 3,500 metric tons of phosphorus have been prevented from entering the Everglades through treatment wetlands and the BMP program. Overall, Florida has invested more than $1.8 billion to improve Everglades water quality since 1994.
The District is currently expanding several water quality improvement projects to further enhance its water cleaning efforts:
* Construction is under way to nearly double the size of STA-2 in western Palm Beach County to 15,140 acres. Known as Compartment B, the 6,817-acre expansion will help the STA achieve optimal performance.
* A 4,656-acre expansion of treatment wetlands in southeast Hendry County is also progressing to further improve water quality flowing into the Everglades. Construction of Compartment C, a $47.5 million investment, will connect two existing Stormwater Treatment Areas (STA-5 and STA-6) in the EAA and more than double water treatment capability at the site.
* Renovation of STA-5 in Hendry County is enhancing plant growth and water movement through the treatment marsh. Recently, District crews moved nearly 170,000 cubic yards, or 8,500 truckloads, of soil in STA-5 over 32 days, filling deeper areas so that more vegetation can take root and improve the wetland's ability to remove phosphorus from Everglades-bound waters.
For more information on the SFWMD's water quality improvement initiatives, please see Just the Facts: Progress in Everglades Water Quality Improvements (http://www.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/xrepository/sfwmd_repository_pdf/jtf_water_quality_progress.pdf). A multimedia look at how STAs work and what water quality improvements they have delivered can be found on the District's Improving Water Quality website. For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

100716-2
Rooney steps down from water district before big land deal decision
SunSentinel.com - by Andy Reid
July 16, 2010
State House candidate Patrick Rooney Jr. has resigned his seat on the South Florida Water Management District board – avoiding a potentially controversial decision on a proposed $536 million Everglades restoration land deal.
Rooney since 2007 represented Palm Beach County on the district’s nine-member volunteer board, appointed by the governor.
For two years, the South Florida Water Management District has been pursuing Gov. Charlie Crist’s proposed deal to buy land from U.S. Sugar that would be used to restore water flows from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades.
What started as a $1.75 billion deal for 180,000 acres has been watered down due to the struggling economy to a still costly $536 million deal for 73,000 acres.
The district’s latest contract with U.S. Sugar expires in September – the same month the district board has to approve its budget while still awaiting a ruling from the Florida Supreme Court about whether the agency can borrow money to pay for the U.S. Sugar deal.
That leaves the district board facing a tough financial decision about whether it can afford to move forward with the land deal – hailed by environmental groups – at a time when property tax revenues continue to decline.
Now, Rooney won’t have to weigh in on that decision.
“As you know, I’ve entered the race for State House District 83,” Rooney, a Republican from West Palm Beach, wrote in his June 18 resignation letter to Crist. “I feel it is now necessary to focus my full concentration on the race.”
The makeup of the board has been a big factor in keeping Crist’s proposed land deal on the table. A vote to keep the deal alive passed by just one vote in December 2008, while board members in March unanimously passed an extension to the revised contract.
Rooney flip-flopped on his support for the deal: voting against a more expensive version in December 2008, but then voting in support of the 73,000-acre version in 2009 and 2010.
This week, Tea Party activists took aim at the pending U.S. Sugar land deal, with more than 80 group members protesting at the district board meeting against a deal they dubbed a bailout for U.S. Sugar.
Crist appointed Rooney to the district board in 2007. Rooney, president of the Palm Beach Kennel Club and two restaurant’s that carry his family name, is running for the state house seat being vacated by state Rep. Carl Domino. The district includes northern and eastern Palm Beach County.
Rooney in his resignation letter to Crist called his time on the district board “a life changing opportunity.”

100715-1
Glade runner
Associated Press
July 15, 2010
Swamp safari offers up backstage look into Florida’s Everglades
CLEWISTON, Fla. - The Florida Everglades are home to snakes and gators, and now they’re the setting for a cable show called “Swamp Men.”
The show takes viewers behind the scenes of an eco-tour company, Billie Swamp Safari, as the staff rescues and relocates wildlife on the Big Cypress Seminole reservation.
But visitors can explore the almost-untouched swamp firsthand on both land and water, with Billie Swamp Safari’s airboat tour and swamp buggy ride. Tourists can also watch a critter show and sample traditional Seminole fry bread and even gator nuggets at the Swampwater Cafe.
“Swamp Men” began airing on the National Geographic Wild channel in May. New episodes will begin airing in the fall.
But the swamp tours date back to 1992, bringing in student field trips from local schools and tourists from all over. Tour participants on a recent summer day came from not just South Florida, but as far away as Virginia, Hungary and Pakistan.
Tour guide Hans Lago has something to say about almost every living thing in the swamp as he navigates his airboat through the water. Lago stops the ride to point out the kind of cypress trees from which the Seminoles traditionally carved canoes. He says the elusive ghost orchid really isn’t all that hard to find - if you know where to look. And when large gators start swimming up to the boat, he explains the reptiles never stop growing until they die.
Joe Casey came to the park from New Jersey with his wife, son and daughter. He said it’s different from the parts of Florida he’s seen before - Walt Disney World and the beach.
“You gotta see the alligators,” he said. “You see them on TV, but you don’t see them on the beach, you see them here.”
There are plenty of alligators to be seen during one of the park’s 20-minute airboat rides.
Lago said he can never predict what he’ll see each time he takes a group out.
Around the first bend might be a school of fish, lazing turtles or a rare Florida panther skulking. Or there might be a water buffalo chewing on mangrove cud - although water buffalo, along with some of the other animals you might encounter such as bison and ostriches, are not native. They were taken in from exotic-animal farms, where some, like the ostriches, might have been killed as surplus.
On parts of the tour, the water is as slick and smooth as mirrored glass, not the brackish muck you’d expect to find in the Everglades. On others, it’s exactly as imagined: dark, dank and full of gators.
The buggy tours are a different type of excursion. Here the tourists are caged in and the animals roam free. Each buggy is as tall as a house, with a waist-high frame of latticed iron surrounding the elevated seats.
At one point, guide Matthew McLean got out of the buggy to demonstrate how the sabal palm, Florida’s state tree, could be used to make shelter, a fishing harpoon and even dinner - hearts of palm, anyone?
And that’s not the only edible here. There’s also the shoestring fern, which can be boiled to make a stomach-calming tea, and marshmallow plants, which yield a sweet treat after growing in - you guessed it - the marshes (though today’s confections are usually made with substitute ingredients).
McLean also pointed out a murky, albeit innocuous-looking pool of water. Surrounded by pop ash trees, it’s actually a patch of a quicksand-like substance. Past excavations of the small pond have yielded centuries-old Spanish armor.
McLean said the Seminoles also used the treacherous bits of swamp to trap U.S. soldiers while fighting to retain control of their land. The outnumbered tribe fought the U.S. Army three times between 1817 and 1842. In the end, about 3,800 Seminoles were forcibly removed to Oklahoma but the 500 who remained never signed a peace treaty with the federal government. To this day, their descendents call themselves the “Unconquered People.”
Ed Woods, park director at Billie Swamp Safari, said he hopes both the “Swamp Men” show and park tours help educate people about Florida wildlife. But he doesn’t want kids to think that they should be handling snakes or alligators the way the staff does in its show. He doesn’t like the term “alligator wrestling,” and he points out that the handlers here wears special safety gear.
“We’re not here to show, we’re here to educate,” Woods said, adding: “There ain’t no reason to stick your head into an alligator’s mouth.”
If You Go...
BILLIE SWAMP SAFARI: Everglades eco-tour, Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation, Clewiston, Fla.; swampsafari.com/ or 863-983-6101. Airboat rides run daily every half-hour from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; $15 a person. Swamp buggy tours run every hour from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; adults, $25; children ages 4-12, $15. Alligator and snake shows run daily, 2:15 p.m.; adults, $8; children, $4 (free for 3 and younger).

100715-2
South Florida water managers avoid tax increase as they push for Everglades land deal
Sun Sentinel - by Andy Reid
July 15, 2010
Pledging no new taxes, South Florida water managers on Thursday agreed to keep the water district property tax rate unchanged for the coming budget year as they pursue a $536 million Everglades land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp.
A budget squeeze blamed on Florida's lingering economic downturn has jeopardized the proposed 73,000-acre purchase pushed by Gov. Charlie Crist as a way to fill in the "missing link" in Everglades restoration.
The South Florida Water Management District — which leads Everglades restoration — has long maintained it wouldn't increase the property tax rate to purchase the land. On Thursday, the board agreed to keep the tax rate where it's been since 1998, for the budget year that begins in October.
The rate is about 62 cents per $1,000 of taxable value for most of its 16-county region.
For a $230,000 home with a $50,000 homestead exemption, district taxes for residents of Broward and Palm Beach counties would be about $112 a year. Final approval of the tax rate comes in September.
District Board Chairman Eric Buermann has blamed "corporate opponents" of U.S. Sugar — referring to Florida Crystals — for claiming that the land deal will require tax increases.
"Nobody has ever seriously contemplated or discussed raising taxes," Buermann said Wednesday. "We all understand about paying taxes and spending taxpayers' money."
The continued drop in property values, due to the struggling economy, is projected to leave the district with about $61 million less in property tax revenues for the new budget year.
This comes as the district tries to pull off the still-pending deal with U.S. Sugar, while paying for its ongoing flood control and water supply duties.
The plan is to use U.S. Sugar land for reservoirs and treatment areas that could restore water flows between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades. In addition to acquiring 73,000 acres, the deal includes a 10-year option to buy another 107,000 acres from U.S. Sugar.
The proposed deal allows U.S. Sugar to lease back much of the land, for $150 an acre annually, for as long as 20 years while the water management district phases in restoration construction.
During the two years since the deal was announced, the district's tax revenues and state funding dropped by nearly $300 million.
Environmental groups and other supporters call the blockbuster deal a historic opportunity to acquire former Everglades land drained through the decades to make way for agriculture. They envision capturing more of the stormwater now drained out to sea to avoid flooding and using it to replenish the Everglades and drinking water supplies.
"Our state water supply and the Everglades are priceless," said Cara Capp of Clean Water Action, who Thursday called on the district board to approve the U.S. Sugar land deal. "Protecting this vital resource should be our foremost priority."
Opponents of the deal, led by U.S. Sugar rival Florida Crystals and Miccosukee Tribe, contend that it costs too much and could drain funding from other overdue Everglades restoration projects.
Tea Party activists have dubbed the deal a bailout for U.S. Sugar, and on Wednesday more than 80 group members protested the deal at the South Florida Water Management District headquarters west of West Palm Beach.
"Even if they don't raise the [tax] rate, they are going to have to [borrow money]," said Marianne Moran, who helped organize Wednesday's Tea Party protest. "We don't need the land."
The U.S. Sugar land deal, two years in the making, already has been scaled back from the original $1.75 billion, 180,000-acre buyout first proposed by the governor. It could be headed for another downsizing or restructuring to allow it to move ahead.
A still-pending legal challenge now before the Florida Supreme Court could limit the district's plan to borrow money to pay for the deal.
If the Supreme Court or the drop in tax revenues limits the district's ability to borrow the money for the deal, the district could try to cover more of the cost with cash or reduce the amount of land it bus.
Cutting the deal down to 25,000 acres is one possibility.
The district's proposed $1 billion budget plan includes $321 million that could be used for buying U.S. Sugar property or for capital projects to address water-quality concerns.
Along with a continued decline in revenues, the district could be facing new costs to improve water quality.
Two federal judges this spring issued critical rulings about Florida's efforts address Everglades restoration and to meet water-quality requirements, intended to lessen pollution.
Even if the district gets the Supreme Court OK to borrow the money, it still can scrap the deal if the board decides it creates too much financial strain.
"The deal is going to be a challenge," Buermann said. "We don't know where we are going to go from here
Andy Reid can be reached at abreid@SunSentinel.com or 561-228-5504

100715-3
Water managers hold tax rate level, swallowing $61 million shortfall
Palm Beach Post - by Jennifer Sorentrue, Staff Writer
July15, 2010
South Florida water managers agreed Thursday to keep property tax rates flat next year -- a move that will require them to cut jobs and find efficiencies to cure a $60.9 million decrease in revenue.
The South Florida Water Management District governing board unanimously agreed to hold the district's four separate property tax rates at this year's level. Palm Beach County residents pay three of those four taxes.
The move came a day after about 100 Tea Party activists rallied outside the district's headquarters to protest the planned $500 million purchase of land owned by U.S. Sugar. The purchase is part of a plan, which Gov. Charlie Crist unveiled in 2009, to increase the flow of surface water through Florida's Everglades.
The activists said the district could give residents living in the 16 counties inside its jurisdiction a tax break if it doesn't move forward with the purchase. Many pled their case to the governing board at a workshop meeting Wednesday afternoon.
To help close the budget shortfall, the district has eliminated 132 contract workers, a savings of about $9.1 million. The district will save an additional $10 million by improving energy efficiencies in its buildings and using hybrid vehicles, spokesman Randy Smith said. Additional cuts will be made throughout the district to make up the rest of the gap, he said.
Under the $1.04 billion budget proposal, which would be finalized in September, the district's main property tax would remain at 25 cents for every $1,000 of taxable value. A second property tax used to control and manage water in the area around Lake Okeechobee would be set at this year's level of 28 cents. And a third tax, used to pay for Everglades restoration, will be held at 9 cents.
At those rates, the owner of a $150,000 home in Palm Beach County, with a $50,000 homestead exemption would pay $62.40 to the district next year.
Cara Capp, with Clean Water Action and one of only two people to speak about the spending plan Thursday, said the U.S. Sugar purchase was a critical to supplying South Florida with clean drinking water.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity," she said. "Our economy relies on the availability of clean water There is no single better investment this government can make than in restoration."
The district will hold two public hearings on the spending plan, on September 8 and 21.
Jennifer_Sorentrue@pbpost.com

100714-
Conservatives Protest Everglades Restoration Plan
wpbf.com
July 14, 2010
They Call Land Buy A 'Bailout' Of U.S. Sugar
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A group of conservative protesters plans to attend the South Florida Water Management District's board meeting in opposition to a proposal to buy U.S. Sugar land.
SFWMD officials said they don’t propose raising property taxes to pay for the half-billion-dollar land deal.
But the group planning to protest calls the land sale "Charlie's Bailout." The group said Gov. Charlie Crist agreed to pay for the land at 2006 prices and the real value has dropped significantly since then. The group claims U.S. Sugar is a big donor to Crist's political endeavours.
The district said it plans to borrow money to pay for the land deal, with South Florida property tax owners eventually paying of the debt, but with no tax hike. “The District consistently takes a fiscally conservative approach to budgeting, which enables the agency to meet its core functions — even during periods of economic downturns,” district Budget Director Mike Smykowski said in statement released Monday.

100713-1
Chinese company to acquire sugar factories in Jamaica
Go-jamaica.com
July13, 2010
Chinese based company, Complant International Sugar Industry Company Limited (CISICL) is to acquire the remaining three government owned sugar factories at the end of the current sugar crop.
Minister of Agriculture, Dr Christopher Tufton, told the House of Representatives this afternoon that Cabinet yesterday approved the recommendation of the Sugar Company of Jamaica, for CISICL to take over the Frome, Moneymusk and Bernard Lodge factories.
CISICL was among four entities which submitted proposals for the remaining state owned sugar factories.
The others were Energen Development Limited out of the US, Jamaican based Everglades Farms Limited and Integrated Agriculture and Energy in the US.
The latest divestment follows the acquisition of the St Thomas and Trelawny sugar estates by Golden Grove Sugar Company and Everglades Farms last July.
CISCIL will acquire the three factories and lands for US$9 million or JA$774 million and is expected to lease about 18,000 hectares of cane lands for US$35 per hectare per annum, over a period of fifty years and renewable for another 25 years.
According to Dr Tufton, the country is expected to gain revenues of $828.6 million in the first year of the agreement and thereafter $54.6 million per annum in lease payments.
Dr Tufton says CISICL will also be investing US$180 million or JA$15.5 billion to construct a refinery.
He says the company also has plans to produce ethanol from cassava in Jamaica.
Source: Gleaner/Power 106 News

10013-2
‘Everglades restoration is war’ Army Corps commander tells conference in Naples
Naples Daily News - by ERIC STAATS
July 13, 2010
NAPLES — The at-times fractious push to restore the Everglades comes to Naples this week.
More than 500 scientists, planners and policy gurus are registered to attend the 2010 Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration conference that runs through Friday at the Naples Grande Beach Resort.
In remarks kicking off the conference Tuesday, the man in charge of the massively complicated replumbing project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said his graduation from the U.S. Army War College was an appropriate precursor to his assignment in South Florida.
“Everglades restoration is war,” said Col. Alfred Pantano Jr., the Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District commander.
He added: It’s not always easy to know who the enemies are.
Pantano ran down a list of policy issues and funding constraints that face Everglades restoration a decade after a state-federal partnership issued the plan to restore the River of Grass.
He urged good working relationships among Everglades restorers to keep the plan on track.
“That’s what gets this done or where this fails,” Pantano said.
He acknowledged frustration with the schedule for completing the Everglades restoration plan and suggested that much has changed since it was put together in 1999.
“We’ve got to go back and a do a reality check,” he said. “There’s no fast track to get this done.”
He cited questions about how to credit the 50-50 cost share agreement between the state and federal governments, litigation over water quality and the need to ensure that the restoration protects endangered species.
The state and federal governments also are sorting out issues of legal liability that would arise if restoration of old farm fields fails to contain contamination by agricultural chemicals, Pantano said.
In remarks following Pantano’s, his Florida counterpart said the Corps and the South Florida Water Management District are “working well.”
“My hope is for even more progress in the future,” District governing board Chairman Eric Buermann said.
He lauded what he sees as a commitment from the Obama administration for Everglades restoration and said fights over restoration details only serves to jeopardize increased federal funding.
“We can have the best Everglades restoration plan, it can be divinely given to us, but without the money, it won’t matter one whit,” Buermann said.
This week’s conference schedule is full of dozens of sessions on everything from hydrology to climate change.
But the most important conversations take place in the hallways outside the meeting rooms, conference organizer Ronnie Best said.
He said more Everglades planning gets done when attendees are able to talk to each other without having to wear their official hats.
“You’ll see a gang of people excited about what they do,” Best said.
Connect with Eric Staats at www.naplesnews.com/staff/eric_staats/.

100713-3
Water workshop seeks answers to future management issues
DailyCommercial.com – by LARRY ELL, Staff Writer
July 13, 2010
Central Florida's water issues will receive the intense focus of some of the state and nation's leading experts this week in a workshop on Thursday and Friday at the University of Central Florida Executive Development Center in downtown Orlando.
According to conference facilitator Shelley Lauten of myregion.org, the primary goal of the think tank is to formulate a regional water strategy designed to incorporate all the concerns facing Lake, Orange, Volusia, Brevard, Osceola, Seminole and Polk counties.
"A secondary goal is that we would like to create this strategy so that we can avoid using public dollars for governments to sue one another over this very critical issue," Lauten said.
In late 2009, a series of stakeholder meetings were held in the seven individual counties to get local input. That information was used to identify the problems facing the region.
"Now we're in the next phase of the process, which is focusing on the quality, quantity and availability of water and what are some of the best practice solutions that we could advance at a regional level that would solve the problems that we've identified," Lauten said.
The problems will be discussed by a panel of elected officials, business leaders, agricultural experts and members of the regional water authorities.
Lauten said that even though adequate sources of water in the form of ground water, surface water and wastewater reuse are available to meet anticipated future needs, each of the sources have their own limitations on the ability to provide an environmentally sound and economically sustainable water supply.
"The problem we face is how we should plan together as a region to conserve, reuse and equitably apportion our water resources sufficiently to protect the environment and meet future population, industry and agricultural demands," Lauten said.
Lake County will be represented by County Commissioner Elaine Renick and Compliance and Conservation Officer Gregg Welstead.
While they will be part of a process tasked with accomplishing a lot in just a couple of days, their work will be just the beginning a much longer process.
"This is a small step in a continuum of effort," Lauten said. "We then have to begin to develop a position paper that we then have to go out and advance to all the municipalities and governments and business communities throughout seven counties. This is a long-term effort; it's all about building consensus on what we can do."

100712-
Tamiami Trail to slow as bridge project begins
Miami Herald – by Kelly House
July 12, 2010
Lane closings will begin Monday on a two-mile stretch of the Tamiami Trail and could last several months as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers begins building a mile-long bridge.
The construction will begin two miles west of Krome Avenue, and continue two miles westward from there.
The road will remain passable throughout the construction, but drivers should expect delays as opposing lanes of traffic take turns moving through the construction area. Because there are so few roads in the area, the Corps is not recommending an alternate route.
The bridge will allow more free flow of water in the Everglades and contribute to the ecosystem's health, Corps spokeswoman Nanciann Regalado said.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/12/1726143/tamiami-trail-to-slow-as-bridge.html#ixzz0tZHExtX4

100711-
Cleaner water mitigates climate change effects on Florida Keys coral reefs
7thSpace.com
July 11,2010
Improving the quality of local water increases the resistance of coral reefs to global climate change, according to a study published in June in Marine Ecology Progress Series. Florida Institute of Technology coral reef ecologist Robert van Woesik and his student Dan Wagner led the study, which provides concrete evidence for a link between environmental health and the prospects for reefs in a rapidly changing world.
Van Woesik and his team showed that when waters in the Florida Keys warmed over the last few summers, corals living in cleaner water with fewer nutrients did well. On the other hand, corals in dirtier water became sick and bleached.
"Regulating wastewater discharge from the land will help coral reefs resist climate change," said van Woesik. "In the face of climate change and ocean warming, this study gives managers hope that maintaining high water quality can spare corals."

100709-
STA updates
SunSentinel.com - South Florida Outdoors Notebook
July 9, 2010
The South Florida Water Management District Governing Board recently approved a contract to build a set of bridges to add more water-cleaning capacity to Stormwater Treatment Area 2 in southwestern Palm Beach County. Two concrete bridges, at a cost of $1.9 million, will be installed at two pump stations in STA 2. The work is expected to be completed early next year. Last year the district approved investing $34.2 million to increase the size of STA 2 to 15,140 acres. Also, the district renovated STA 5 in Hendry County by filling in deeper areas of the wetland to improve water flow and plant growth and is building a 4,656-acre wetland known as compartment C to connect STA 5 with STA 6.

100708-
Feds promise coastal restoration
Associated Press - by Nikki Buskey,  Staff Writer
July 8, 2010
NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana needs as much as $1 billion a year to begin pushing forward major coastal-restoration projects, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu says.
On Wednesday, she urged Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus to fight for the money.
Mabus visited New Orleans Wednesday with Assistant Secretary of the Interior Tom Strickland for a standing-room-only emergency meeting of the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. The meeting focused on what the federal government can do to restore Louisiana’s rapidly degrading coastal parishes.
Mabus is tasked by President Barack Obama with addressing environmental, economic and health needs of residents along the Gulf Coast amid the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Mabus told the crowd that it is too early to say how much money the state could receive for post-oil-spill restoration efforts,but he promised to make the Gulf “whole” again.
“The president has given me a very specific task,” Mabus said. “When this well is capped, and the cleanup is done, then what? What do we do to make this coast whole?”
Mabus did not have details of what his plan for the Louisiana coast would entail or how it would be implemented but promised to listen to residents.
But Strickland said the federal government does not plan to just restore the coast to what it looked like before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and began leaking millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf.
“Our imperative is greater than that,” he said. “We know there was a crisis in the Gulf prior to what happened April 20.”
Landrieu and others told Mabus that expediting the sharing 37.5 percent of federal offshore oil revenues with the state for coastal-restoration efforts is the best bet to secure cash flow. That cost-sharing agreement, approved by Congress in 2006, is scheduled to begin in 2017. but state officials advocated to speeding it so oil-spill-recovery efforts can begin sooner rather than later.
The federal government has reaped more than $165 billion in “royalties, severances and bonuses” from offshore oil drilling, Landrieu said.
“The entire country benefits from the energy generated by offshore drilling,” Mabus said. “The Gulf shouldn’t take the hit alone.”
Officials also stressed that Louisiana has for years had a coastal master plan that details many construction-ready projects.
“The feeling that I get from people is that the coast has been planned to death,” Mabus said. “My mission here isn’t to take your plan and replicate it. We want to find ways to structure it and fund it.”
The state has an estimated $9 billion in coastal-restoration projects authorized by Congress.
“We talked to Secretary Mabus about the years and years of studies, and he noted that much of the legwork on coastal-restoration project research has already been done,” Gov. Bobby Jindal said. “Many of these projects currently remain delayed well beyond the deadlines required in federal law.
“We believe that Secretary Mabus can help us accelerate these projects through the federal process so we can turn dirt quickly to save our coast.”
The coast has lost more than 2,300 square miles of land since 1930. Continued unchecked, land loss will swallow most of the coast by 2100, putting communities like Terrebonne and Lafourche and billions of dollars in national energy infrastructure permanently underwater, said Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Director Garret Graves.
But while the top federal officials brought promises to listen to coastal residents’ needs, local officials pointed out it will take more than promises to restore the coast.
While she said she feels hopeful about the current administration’s engagement in the coastal restoration issue, Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph put her disappointment bluntly.
“I didn’t see any money on the table,” Randolph said.
Many on the coast are hopeful that the Obama administration will finally jump-start the federal government’s engagement with coastal restoration. While the state has put up $800 million to begin working on its coastal master plan for restoration and hurricane protection, it will take billions of dollars to even begin to correct the problem and save coastal communities on the verge of drowning. And that will take a federal commitment.
So far, Obama has launched a federal committee tasked with creating a roadmap for coastal restoration in Louisiana. He’s also dedicated $18 million and pushed a cluster of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers restoration projects to the front of the line for construction, a rare opportunity.
That includes projects to restore Terrebonne’s barrier islands and route fresh water from the Atchafalaya River through parish waterways into rapidly degrading marshes.
But South Lafourche Levee Director Windell Curole pointed out that $18 million is peanuts compared to what other major national watersheds are getting. The Florida Everglades, for example, has received more than $8 billion from the federal government.
“No offense to the Everglades, it’s a very important system, but south Louisiana makes the Everglades look like a petting zoo,” Curole said.
Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet said parish officials have held meetings with Mabus about his plans for the coast and Mabus indicated there’s money in the pipeline from both BP and the federal government for restoration work.
Claudet said he’d already submitted Terrebonne’s plan for coastal restoration to Mabus.
“There’s a great opportunity here that we plan on taking advantage of,” Claudet said.
Nikki Buskey can be reached at 857-2205 or nicole.buskey@houmatoday.com.

100707-1
Tamiami Trail could get more bridges to help restore bay
KeysNet.com - by KEVIN WADLOW,  kwadlow@keynoter.com
July 07, 2010
A proposal to raise more than five additional miles of the Tamiami Trail with three bridges at a cost of $330 million would be money well spent, South Florida conservationists say.
There is no more important expenditure than saving the Everglades, Florida Bay and the water supply for all South Florida," said Jonathan Ullman, Sierra Club representative in Miami.
About 100 people filled a meeting room at a June 24 public-comment session in Cutler Bay on a National Park Service recommendation to build three more bridges on U.S. 41, commonly known as the Tamiami Trail for being the first road to link Tampa and Miami.
"It seems like everybody has come to the realization that something needs to be done," Ullman said. "The attendance ... proved that there is unequivocal support for additional bridging on the Tamiami Trail," said Everglades Foundation Chief Executive Officer Kirk Fordham.
The primary purpose of the additional bridges would be to increase the southern flow of fresh water through the Everglades to Florida Bay to increase sport fisheries and re-establish seagrass beds.
A one-mile bridge now under construction along U.S. 41, just west of Miami, is a significant step but likely inadequate to provide the needed water flow, according to Everglades supporters.
"This project is vitally important for restoring water flow to the Everglades and providing benefits for Everglades National Park and the sportfishing and commercial industries that depend on a healthy Florida Bay," Fordham said.
"Everglades National Park and Florida Bay have been dying of thirst for decades for the lack of fresh water," Kahlil Kettering, an Everglades specialist for the National Parks Conservation Association, said before the hearing.
The three bridges would total 5.5 miles.
After a lengthy environmental-impact study, the National Park Service concluded the most costly alternative is the most efficient and most likely to work.
A handful of speakers at the June 24 hearing expressed concern that new bridges could harm private-property rights along the road. "The overwhelming majority supported the bridges," Ullman said. "This hearing was far less contentious than a similar one a few years ago."
The Park Service also noted that bridging would help reduce wildlife deaths on U.S. 41.
The concept of improving water flow to Florida Bay by adding more bridges to the Tamiami Trail has been endorsed locally by the Monroe County Commission, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council and the Florida Keys Fishing Guides Association, among others.
The bridging plan has not received final approval or funding, so construction is not imminent.
Written comments on the plan will be accepted until July 27. They can be mailed to Everglades National Park, Tamiami Trail Next Steps Project, 40001 State Road 9336, Homestead, FL 33034-6733. Online comments can be registered at the National Park Service planning Web site, www.parkplanning.nps.gov. Search for the Everglades National Park directory, then click "Tamiami Trail Modifications: Next Steps Project/EIS.

100707-2
Water flow-way project to close Old Cutler Road
Palmetto Bay News - by GARY ALAN RUSE
July 7,2010
Residents of Palmetto Bay and commuters who use Old Cutler Road in the daily drive between home and work will find their usual route interrupted by a county project beginning around July 26. The good news is that it should only be for a few weeks and it should help improve the environment.
"It's a county water management flowway project that deals with the water that goes into the C-100 canal," said Palmetto Bay Public Works director Corrice Patterson. "It involves county property as well as the bay itself. Old Cutler Road will be closed for a period of 14 consecutive days, maximum."
The size of the pipe going in will be 60 inches in diameter. It's going 15 feet deep and workers will have to cut out a 12-foot section of road to install the pipe.
"With the amount of equipment they'll have in the right of way to do that work, it will be extensive, so it's not only the area of the cut itself that requires rerouting traffic," Patterson said. "The detour will run from 152nd Street [Coral Reef Drive] to 168th Street [Richmond Drive]. The actual work will be from 156th Street to 162nd Street. Local traffic will be able to get from 152nd to 156th, but that's the furthest they'll be able to go. Likewise, those driving north along Old Cutler will be able to go past the detour and road closure signs at 168th Street as far as 162nd, but no further."
The reason the work will take 14 days is because the contractor also will be creating a "spreader structure" in the right of way on the east side of the road that allows the water that comes underneath the road to discharge into the bay.
According to the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), the Deering Estate Flow-way is part of the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands Project, a component of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).
When complete, this Phase 1 element will redistribute excess freshwater runoff, directing it away from existing canal discharges and spreading it out as sheetflow into Biscayne Bay.
The goal is to revitalize coastal wetlands and create a more natural overland flow of water more like the way it was historically.
Gabe Margasak, of the SFWMD, is enthusiastic about the effects of the project.
"This is really going to benefit plants, birds, wildlife, and the greater ecosystem," Margasak said. "It's also going to enhance recreational opportunities for residents and people coming to Florida, which is so dependant on its water areas. The goal is to restore the wetlands to a better, more natural state."
Residents and others affected by the road closing are advised to watch for more information as the details are confirmed and updated.
"The actual detour route has not received final approval from Miami-Dade County, but as soon as we get that we will have the route put on our village website and have flyers available at Village Hall," Patterson said. "We're trying to partner with Miami-Dade County because it will impact village residents. The contractor just re-submitted the MOT (Maintenance of Traffic) to the county. Between July 26 and Aug. 14 is the time frame for scheduling the work."
The official village e-Currents newsletter also will be sent out to subscribing residents to keep them aware of the project's progress.
"If anyone has any questions, they can call Village Hall [305-259-1234] and we will be glad to provide whatever contact information we have for Miami-Dade County or the contractor," Patterson said. "We can always be the liaison for the residents, if they have issues or concerns about the process."
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/07/1719884/water-flow-way-project-to-close.html#ixzz0t6A1un8D

100706-
Tea Parties to Protest U.S. Sugar 'Bailout' at South Florida Water District
Sunshine News - Kenric Ward's blog
July 6, 2010
The South Florida Tea Party and more than a dozen other Tea groups are calling on the South Florida Water Management District to reject the Everglades-U.S. Sugar "bailout."
"The deal leaves a bad taste in the mouth of taxpayers and environmentalists," said Everett Wilkinson, the Palm Beach Gardens-based chairman of the South Florida Tea Party.
The Tea groups say they will protest the billion-dollar land deal brokered by Gov. Charlie Crist when the SFWMD board meets July 14. Wilkinson is calling on like-minded opponents to join in at noon at the SFWMD headquarters, 3301 Gun Club Road, West Palm Beach.

100705-
Cold snap in Florida halts advancing python snakes
BBC, Earth News - by Matt Walker
July 5, 2010
A cold snap last winter may have helped arrest the spread of Burmese pythons through the US state of Florida.
In recent years, the huge snakes have secured a foothold in the southeastern US, after having escaped or been released into the wild by pet owners.
But hundreds of the snakes did not survive unusually low temperatures last January, a monitoring study reveals.
Though the pythons remain a threat to biodiversity in Florida, it now appears less likely they will spread further.
Burmese pythons are one of a number of invasive species that pose a significant threat to the native wildlife of Florida and its Everglades National Park.
Invasive jewelled cichlids, Asian swamp eels and Cuban treefrogs have all colonised the unique Everglades ecosystem, often outcompeting native species.
But the arrival of Burmese pythons has caused a particular stir, in part because these snakes can often reach over 3m long, and also because they have spread far beyond artificial habitats, such a back gardens and canals, that many invasive reptiles remain confined to.
The snakes also appear to prey on locally endangered species such as Key Largo woodrats and marsh rabbits.
Winter fate
Professor Frank Mazzotti of the University of Florida is one of many conservationists leading the effort to thwart the impact species such as the Burmese python are having in Florida.
Together with colleagues from the University of Florida, US National Parks Service and US Geological Survey, Prof Mazzotti analysed how Burmese pythons responded to a prolonged period of unusually cold weather that gripped Florida between 2 and 11 January this year.
Prior to the cold snap, the researchers implanted radio transmitters and temperature loggers into ten pythons they had captured and then released again.
The radio telemetry allowed the researchers to track the pythons' movements and fate over the winter, while the temperature loggers allowed them to record how the snakes' body temperatures fluctuated.
The results are published in the journal Biological Invasions.
Body temperatures of eight telemetered pythons fluctuated wildly between 10 to 30 degrees Celsius in the period leading up to 9 January.
They then significantly declined in the two following even colder days, often not reaching 5 degrees Celsius, indicating the snakes were unable to thermoregulate in the cold temperatures.
Later, the bodies of these dead pythons were found along with that of a ninth telemetred animal.
Overall, the researchers also found 99 other pythons, of which 59 were alive and 40 dead.
That suggests many more pythons perished unnoticed.
"A lot of pythons died," Professor Mazzotti told the BBC.
A separate group of researchers also reported in May that during the same period of cold weather, seven of nine captive Burmese pythons held in outdoor pens at a National Wildlife Research Center facility in north-central Florida died, or would have died without intervention.
No retreat
However, it is still unclear exactly why.
All ten telemetred pythons behaved oddly before being found, as each was recovered on the surface.
Normally snakes are found in warmer refuges such as in burrows or other subterranean retreats.
One reason may be that Burmese pythons are naturally a tropical species, and as such are not adapted to cope with cold temperatures.
Other large tropical reptiles, such American crocodiles, tend not to avoid the cold, whereas temperate species, such as American alligators, do, and will retreat to warmer refuges when temperatures fall.
A snake's ability to thermoregulate is also set early in its life, and snakes later exposed to novel temperatures often behave differently.
The Florida pythons have probably not experienced temperatures as cold as those in January this year before, say the scientists.
As such, they can be considered to be "thermally naive", and were caught out by the cold snap.
That raises the possibility that Burmese pythons might better cope with cold conditions in the future, particularly snakes that are better adapted genetically to the cold.
Because water covers much of the Everglades, there are relatively few refuges to hide in.
That suggests that, counter-intuitively, more pythons might survive further north, where temperatures are cooler but there are more artificial habitats containing warm places to hide.
Judas snakes
However, overall, the evidence suggests that the Burmese pythons are essentially tropical reptiles that find it difficult to tolerate more temperate climates.
So Prof Mazzotti's team hypothesises that Burmese pythons are unlikely to spread as widely across the US as American alligators, which are a warm, temperate species that also ranges into tropical areas.
The cold snap also appears, for now, to have limited the snake's colonisation of Florida.
Female pythons particularly suffered, likely reducing the population's ability to grow this year.
If many juveniles also died, then the python's recovery will be even more limited.
The researchers warn though that it will be impossible to completely remove Burmese pythons from Florida.
Scientists currently use traps to find the snakes, and sometimes they use pythons to find other pythons during the mating season, following these so-called "Judas snakes".
But a combination of techniques offers the best chance of limiting their impact.
The cold spell in January therefore offers the possibility that nature as well as science might combine to control the snake's population.
Understanding how Burmese pythons respond to their new environment can also help inform the best ways to control them, and prevent other invasive species taking hold before it is too late.

100703-
Plants Airlifted To Keep The Everglades Clean
South Florida News
Junly 3,2010
The sky is green – well, was, when the South Florida Water Management District airlifted 60 tons of aquatic plants to two constructed treatment wetlands to help improve the quality of water flowing into the Everglades.
Three native plants already growing in part of the District's Stormwater Treatment Areas were flown by helicopter to shallow waters. It took approximately 80 flights to bring the vegetation to its new habitat.
The new habitats are the water-cleaning sections when it come to Everglades restoration; plants are used to naturally remove phosphorus from water flowing into the land. Six treatment areas are operated south of Lake Okeechobee, covering more than 52-thousand acres.
Since 1994, the treatment areas have retained more than 1,200 metric tons of total phosphorus that would have otherwise entered the Everglades.

100702-1
Special Report: Should BP nuke its leaking well ?
REUTERS - by Nastassia Astrasheuskaya, Ben Judah, Alina Selyukh
Jul 2, 2010
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - His face wracked by age and his voice rasping after decades of chain-smoking coarse tobacco, the former long-time Russian Minister of nuclear energy and veteran Soviet physicist Viktor Mikhailov knows just how to fix BP's oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
"A nuclear explosion over the leak," he says nonchalantly puffing a cigarette as he sits in a conference room at the Institute of Strategic Stability, where he is a director. "I don't know what BP is waiting for, they are wasting their time. Only about 10 kilotons of nuclear explosion capacity and the problem is solved."
A nuclear fix to the leaking well has been touted online and in the occasional newspaper op-ed for weeks now. Washington has repeatedly dismissed the idea and BP execs say they are not considering an explosion -- nuclear or otherwise. But as a series of efforts to plug the 60,000 barrels of oil a day gushing from the sea floor have failed, talk of an extreme solution refuses to die.
For some, blasting the problem seems the most logical answer in the world. Mikhailov has had a distinguished career in the nuclear field, helping to close a Soviet Union program that used nuclear explosions to seal gas leaks. Ordinarily he's an opponent of nuclear blasts, but he says an underwater explosion in the Gulf of Mexico would not be harmful and could cost no more than $10 million. That compares with the $2.35 billion BP has paid out in cleanup and compensation costs so far. "This option is worth the money," he says.
And it's not just Soviet boffins. Milo Nordyke, one of the masterminds behind U.S. research into peaceful nuclear energy in the 1960s and '70s says a nuclear explosion is a logical last-resort solution for BP and the government. Matthew Simmons, a former energy adviser to U.S. President George W. Bush and the founder of energy investment-banking firm Simmons & Company International, is another calling for the nuclear option.
Even former U.S. President Bill Clinton has voiced support for the idea of an explosion to stem the flow of oil, albeit one using conventional materials rather than nukes. "Unless we send the Navy down deep to blow up the well and cover the leak with piles and piles and piles of rock and debris, which may become necessary ... unless we are going to do that, we are dependent on the technical expertise of these people from BP," Clinton told the Fortune/Time/CNN Global Forum in South Africa on June 29.
Clinton was picking up on an idea mooted by Christopher Brownfield in June. Brownfield is a one-time nuclear submarine officer, a veteran of the Iraq war (he volunteered in 2006) and now a nuclear policy researcher at Columbia University. He is also one of a number of scientists whose theories rely not on nuclear bombs -- he did toy with that thought for a while -- but on conventional explosives that would implode the well and, if not completely plug it with crushed rock, at least bring the flow of oil under control. "It's kind of like stepping on a garden hose to kink it," Brownfield says. "You may not cut off the flow entirely but it would greatly reduce the flow."
BLASTS FROM THE PAST
Using nuclear blasts for peaceful ends was a key plank of Cold War policy in both the United States and the Soviet Union. In the middle of last century, both countries were motivated by a desire to soften the image of the era's weapon of choice.
Washington had big plans to use peaceful nuclear explosions to build an additional Panama Canal, carve a path for an inter-state highway through mountains in the Mojave Desert and connect underwater aquifers in Arizona. But the experimental plans were dropped as authorities learned more about the ecological dangers of surface explosions.
The Soviet program, known as Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy, was launched in 1958. The project saw 124 nuclear explosions for such tasks as digging canals and reservoirs, creating underground storage caverns for natural gas and toxic waste, exploiting oil and gas deposits and sealing gas leaks. It was finally mothballed by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1989.
The Soviets first used a nuclear blast to seal a gas leak in 1966. Urtabulak, one of its prized gas-fields in Uzbekistan, had caught fire and raged for three years. Desperate to save the cherished reserves, Yefim Slavsky, then Minister of Light Industry, ordered nuclear engineers to use the most powerful weapon in their arsenal.
"The Minister said, 'Do it. Put it out. Explode it,'" recalls Albert Vasilyev, a young engineer and a rising star in the project who now teaches at the Lenin Technical Institute in Moscow.
Vasilyev remembers the technology behind the program with obvious pride. "The explosion takes place deep underground," he says. "We pinch the pipe, break it and the pipe collapses." According to Vasilyev, the blast at Urtabulak sealed the well shut leaving only an empty crater.
JUST DOING A JOB
In all, the Soviets detonated five nuclear devices to seal off runaway gas wells -- succeeding three or four times, depending on who you talk to. "It worked quite well for them," says Nordyke, who authored a detailed account of Soviet explosions in a 2000 paper. "There is no reason to think it wouldn't be fine (for the United States)."
But not everything went smoothly. Vasilyev admits the program "had two misfires". The final blast in 1979 was conducted near the Ukrainian city of Kharkov. "The closest houses were just about 400 meters away," Vasilyev recalls. "So this was ordered to be the weakest of the explosions. Even the buildings and the street lamps survived." Unfortunately, the low capacity of the device failed to seal the well and the gas resurfaced.
Alexander Koldobsky, a fellow nuclear physicist from the Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute, insists the peaceful nuclear explosions were safe. The people who worked on the program "were brilliant professionals", he says. "They had a culture of safety, which did not accept the word 'maybe', but only accepted the words 'obligation' and 'instruction.' Any derivation from these in nuclear technologies is a crime."
Still, he concedes, "there were different scenarios of what happened after an explosion." At his first blast in a Turkmen gas field in 1972, "the stench was unbearable," he says. "And the wind was blowing toward a nearby town." He closes his narrow lips into a smile as if refusing to say more.
Koldobsky shrugs off any suggestion of fear or emotion when the bomb exploded. "I felt nothing. I was just doing my job."
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Not everybody is so sanguine about the Soviet experience. Speaking on condition of anonymity, an expert from Russia's largest oil exporter Rosneft, urges the United States to ignore calls for the atomic option. "That would bring Chernobyl to America," he says.
Vladimir Chuprov from Greenpeace's Moscow office is even more insistent that BP not heed the advice of the veteran Soviet physicists. Chuprov disputes the veterans' accounts of the peaceful explosions and says several of the gas leaks reappeared later. "What was praised as a success and a breakthrough by the Soviet Union is in essence a lie," he says. "I would recommend that the international community not listen to the Russians. Especially those of them that offer crazy ideas. Russians are keen on offering things, especially insane things."
Former Minister Mikhailov agrees that the USSR had to give up its program because of problems it presented. "I ended the program because I knew how worthless this all was," he says with a sigh. "Radioactive material was still seeping through cracks in the ground and spreading into the air. It wasn't worth it."
"Still," he says, momentarily hard to see through a cloud of smoke from his cigarettes, "I see no other solution for sealing leaks like the one in the Gulf of Mexico."
The problem, he goes on, is that "Americans just don't know enough about nuclear explosions to solve this problem ... But they should ask us -- we have institutes, we have professionals who can help them solve this. Otherwise BP are just torturing the people and themselves."
RADIATION RISKS
Nordyke too believes the nuclear option should be on the table. After seeing nine U.S. nuclear explosions and standing behind the control board of one, he estimates that a nuclear bomb would have roughly an 80 to 90 percent chance of successfully blocking the oil. According to his estimates, it would have to be an explosion of around 30 kilotons, equivalent to roughly two Hiroshima bombs or three times as big as Mikhailov's estimate. The explosion would also need to remain at least 3 to 4 miles away from other offshore wells in the area.
The bomb, says Nordyke, would be dropped in a secondary well approximately 60-70 feet away from the leaking shaft. There it would create a large cavity filled with gas. The gas would melt the surrounding rock, crush it and press it into the leaking well to close it shut.
Although the BP well is thousands of feet deeper than those closed in the Soviet Union, Nordyke says the extra depth shouldn't make a difference. He also says that so far below the ground, not much difference exists in onshore or underwater explosions -- even though the latter have never been tried.
Nordyke says fears that radiation could escape after the explosion are unfounded. The hole would be about 8 inches in diameter and, despite the shockwave, the radiation should remain captured. Even in the case of radiation escape, he says, its dispersed effect would be less than that of floating oil patches.
A LAST RESORT
But don't expect an explosion under the Gulf of Mexico any time soon. Even a conventional blast could backfire and cause more problems. There is a chance any blast could fracture the seabed and cause an underground blowout, according to Andy Radford, petroleum engineer and American Petroleum Institute senior policy adviser on offshore issues. The U.S. Department of Energy has no plans to use explosives "due to the obvious risks involved," according to a DOE spokeswoman.
There's also the question of time. Preparations for a nuclear explosion could take up to half-a-year; BP has said it will have a relief well in place to stop the leak by August. "I think it has to be considered as only the last resort," Nordyke says. But "they ought to be thinking about it."
Would he be willing to work on such an operation? "I'd be happy to help," he says.
(Reporting by Nastassia Astrasheuskaya and Ben Judah in Moscow and Alina Selyukh in Washington; editing by Simon Robinson and Sara Ledwith)

100702-2
Environmentalist: Cutback in Lake O releases must continue
TCPalm - by Tyler Treadway
July 2, 2010
The Army Corps of Engineers has announced a 10-day cutback in water released from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie River Estuary that will reduce flow from an average of 756.2 million gallons a day to an average 129.3 million gallons per day and turn off the spigot entirely two days next week.
A Treasure Coast environmentalist says that’s good news, but ending the 99-day deluge would be better.
The 10-day cutback, which began Thursday, is scheduled to pare down releases to 226.2 million gallons a day on Saturday, to 64.6 million gallons Thursday and to nothing on Friday and July 10.
The influx of nutrient-rich freshwater from the lake has significantly lowered the salinity of the brackish estuary, seriously damaged the oyster population and is suspected of contributing to high levels of enteric bacteria, including fecal coliform and blue-green algae blooms in the estuary.
The lake level was 14.07 feet on Friday. The Corps tries to keep the lake between 12.5 and 15.5 feet, and at the low end of that scale in early summer in anticipation of seasonal rain and possible tropical storms and hurricanes that could quickly raise the lake’s level and threaten the integrity of the 80-year-old Herbert Hoover Dike that surrounds it.
“The brutal fact is, we’ve got to lower (the lake) in preparation for the rain that could come in what is supposed to be a wetter-than-normal wet season,” Col. Alfred Pantano, head of the Corps’ Jacksonville District, told Treasure Coast residents in May. “I can’t put lives at risk.”
After an unusually wet dry season last winter, the Corps began releasing Lake O water March 27.
So far, however, the summer wet season has been unusually dry, according to the South Florida Water Management District.
A statement from the Corps’ headquarters in Jacksonville stated the decision to reduce releases was based on, among other factors, the current lake level, the days remaining in the wet season and the weather forecast.
“I’m glad the Corps listened to us,” Mark Perry, executive director of the Stuart-based Florida Oceanographic Society, said Friday, referring to a weekly teleconference in which water district staff and local environmentalists advise Corps officials how to manage the lake levels. “But I don’t want to give the Corps too much credit, though; they’ve been dumping water on us for 98 straight days now.”
Perry said that at the next conference call Tuesday, he’ll ask Corps officials to continue with no releases at all. “The estuary could really use the break.”
Even with an average daily release of 129.3 million gallons, Perry said, normal salinity could return to the estuary in about 20 days.

100701-1
BP spill hits a somber record as Gulf's biggest
Newstimes.com - Associated Press – by SETH BORENSTEIN and TOM BREEN
Published: 08:32 a.m., Thursday, July 1, 2010
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — BP's massive oil spill became the largest ever in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday based on the highest of the federal government's estimates, an ominous record that underscores the oil giant's dire need to halt the gusher.
The oil that's spewed for two and a half months from a blown-out well a mile under the sea hit the 140.6 million gallon mark, eclipsing the record-setting, 140-million-gallon Ixtoc I spill off Mexico's coast from 1979 to 1980. Even by the lower end of the government's estimates, at least 71.7 million gallons are in the Gulf.
The growing total is crucial to track, in part because London-based BP PLC is likely to be fined per gallon spilled, said Larry McKinney, director of Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi's Gulf of Mexico research institute.
"It's an important number to know because it has an impact on restoration and recovery," McKinney said.
The oil calculation is based on the higher end of the government's range of barrels leaked per day, minus the amount BP says it has collected from the blown-out well using two containment systems. BP collected a smaller amount of oil than usual on Wednesday, about 969,000 gallons.
Measuring the spill helps scientists figure out where the missing oil is, hidden below the water surface with some even stuck to the seafloor. Oil not at the surface damages different parts of the ecosystem.
"It's a mind-boggling number any way you cut it," said Ed Overton, a Louisiana State University environmental studies professor who consults for the federal government on oil spills. "It'll be well beyond Ixtoc by the time it's finished."
And passing Ixtoc just before the July Fourth weekend, a time of normally booming tourism, is bitter timing, he said.
The BP spill, which began after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion killed 11 workers April 20, is also the largest spill ever recorded offshore during peacetime.
But it's not the biggest in history.
That happened when Iraqi forces opened valves at a terminal and dumped about 460 million gallons of oil in 1991 during the Persian Gulf war.
As the Gulf gusher neared the record, Hurricane Alex whipped oil-filled waves onto the Gulf Coast's once-white beaches. The government has pinned its latest cleanup hopes on a huge new piece of equipment: the world's largest oil-skimming vessel, which arrived Wednesday.
Officials hope the ship can scoop up to 21 million gallons of oil-fouled water a day. Dubbed the "A Whale," the Taiwanese-flagged former tanker spans the length of 3½ football fields and is 10 stories high.
It just emerged from an extensive retrofitting to prepare it specifically for the Gulf.
"It is absolutely gigantic. It's unbelievable," said Overton, who saw the ship last week in Norfolk, Va.
The vessel looks like a typical tanker, but it takes in contaminated water through 12 vents on either side of the bow. The oil is then supposed to be separated from the water and transferred to another vessel. The water is channeled back into the sea.
But the ship's never been tested, and many questions remain about how it will operate. For instance, the seawater retains trace amounts of oil, even after getting filtered, so the Environmental Protection Agency will have to sign off on allowing the treated water back into the Gulf.
"This is a no-brainer," Overton said. "You're bringing in really dirty, oily water and you're putting back much cleaner water."
The Coast Guard will have the final say in whether the vessel can operate in the Gulf. The owner, shipping firm TMT Group, will have to come to separate terms with BP, which is paying for the cleanup.
"I don't know whether it's going to work or not, but it certainly needs to be given the opportunity," Overton said.
Meanwhile along parts of the Gulf, red flags snapped in strong gusts, warning people to stay out of the water, and long stretches of beach were stained brown from tar balls and crude oil that had been pushed as far as 60 yards from the water.
Hurricane Alex churned up rough seas as it plowed across the Gulf, dealing a tough setback to cleanup operations. It made landfall along a relatively unpopulated stretch of coast in Mexico's northern Tamaulipas state late Wednesday, spawning tornadoes in nearby Texas and forcing evacuations in both countries. Alex weakened to a tropical storm Thursday morning as it moved across Mexico.
Oil deposits appeared worse than in past days and local officials feared the temporary halt to skimming operations near the coast would only make matters worse ahead of the holiday weekend.
"I'm real worried about what is going to happen with those boats not running. It can't help," said Tony Kennon, mayor of Orange Beach, Ala.
Although skimming operations and the laying of oil-corralling booms were halted across the Gulf, vessels that collect and burn oil and gas at the site of the explosion were still operating. Efforts to drill relief wells that experts hope will stop the leak also continued unabated.
In Florida, lumps of tar the size of dinner plates filled a large swath of beach east of Pensacola after rough waves tossed the mess onto shore.
Streaks of the rust-red oil could be seen in the waves off Pensacola Beach as cleanup crews worked in the rough weather to prepare the beach for the holiday weekend.
In Grand Isle, La., heavy bands of rain pounded down, keeping cleanup crews off the water and tossing carefully laid boom around. However, oil had stayed out of the passes.
"All this wave action is breaking up the oil very quickly," Coast Guard Cmdr. Randal S. Ogrydziak said. "Mother Nature is doing what she does best, putting things back in order."
Natural microbes in the water were also working on the spill. The result was a white substance that looked like mayonnaise, that washed up on some spots along the Grand Isle beach.
"People will be fishing here again," Ogrydziak said. "It may take a while, but people may be surprised that it's not taking as long as they thought. Look at the (Ixtoc) oil spill in Mexico. It was massive and now people are back to using those waters."
Associated Press writers Mary Foster in Grand Isle, La., Jay Reeves in Orange Beach, Ala., and Melissa Nelson in Pensacola Beach, Fla., contributed to this report.

100701-2
Corps reduces releases of Lake O water to St. Lucie Estuary
TCPalm
July 1, 2010
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced it is reducing the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie River Estuary from 1,170 cubic feet per second to 200 cubic feet per second.
That’s a reduction from 756.2 million gallons of water per day to 129.3 million gallons of water per day.
The influx of nutrient-rich fresh water from the lake has significantly lowered the salinity of the brackish estuary and been blamed for wiping out the oyster population. The releases also have been suspected of contributing to high levels of enteric bacteria, including fecal coliform, and blue-green algae blooms in the estuary.
The lake level was 14.07 feet on Friday, still about 1.75 feet higher than the Corps’ schedule for this time of year. The Corps tries to keep the lake between 12.5 and 15.5 feet, and at the low end of that scale in early summer in anticipation of seasonal rain and possible tropical storms and hurricanes that could quickly raise the lake’s level and threaten the integrity of the 80-year-old Herbert Hoover Dike that surrounds it.
After an unusually wet dry season last winter, the Corps began releasing Lake O water March 25.
“The brutal fact is, we’ve got to lower (the lake) in preparation for the rain that could come in what is supposed to be a wetter-than-normal wet season,” Col. Alfred Pantano, head of the Corps’ Jacksonville District, told Treasure Coast residents in May. “I can’t put lives at risk.”
So far, however, the summer wet season has been unusually dry, according to the South Florida Water Management District.
“Late June typically produces the wettest weeks of the year,” the district, which includes Martin and St. Lucie counties, reported this week. “Yet only 68 percent of the average rain for the month (5.24 inches) fell throughout the 16-county district by June 30. This represents a deficit of 2.52 inches so far for the 2010 rainy season.”
According to a statement from the Corps’ headquarters in Jacksonville, the decision to reduce releases was based on, among other factors, the current lake level, the days remaining in the wet season and the weather forecast.

100701-3
Planning for a "super region" in central Florida's future
St Petersburgh Times - by Robert Trigaux, Staff Writer
July 1, 2010
Floridians wince at the seemingly endless sprawl of development in the Sunshine State. But regional planner and University of Pennsylvania professor Jonathan Barnett thinks Florida is well ahead of most states in smart regional planning.
Barnett's Penn Design, the graduate school for arts and architecture, has done multiple regional planning projects in the state. The latest? A sweeping assessment of how Tampa and Orlando, using smart growth management, could eventually merge into one "super region."
The goal, says Barnett, 73, is not to rubber-stamp Penn Design's ideas. Instead, he's urging officials to use them as a starting point for Central Florida to devise its own smart growth strategy to handle a doubling of the area's population by 2050 or so. High on Barnett's must-have list for Florida: a statewide high-speed rail system.
We caught up with Barnett just before he headed to China to discuss sustainability in a country faced with much greater growth pressures and far less land available to handle it.
So how important is smart growth management for Florida's future?
For Florida? Your face is your future, and that includes the environment that makes Florida attractive. There are places like Charleston, S.C., which understand that what kind of place they are is important for economic health. That's not so true in, say, a coal mining region, but it is in Florida where you want to preserve what brings people to the state.
Since you started regional consulting for Central Florida, we've been awarded a federal grant for a high-speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando. How does that change things?
We could tell you needed it, recommended it in a 2005 study and in a 2007 study designed an entire high-speed rail plan for the whole state. High-speed rail is an absolute essential for regional growth. The state of Florida has a lot of destinations and having the choice of going by air or driving is not enough.
But high-speed rail in Florida does not mean much if it does not get to Miami. Otherwise, with a Tampa-Orlando link, you are more like a Minneapolis-St. Paul or a Dallas-Forth Worth. But the major economic effect eventually will be connecting to Miami and, later to Jacksonville, Tallahassee and down to Fort Myers.
Are other areas of the country preparing as we are for super region status?
There are probably nine to 11 super regions emerging where most of the nation's population will increase. They include the broad region of Birmingham to Atlanta to Charlotte to Richmond, or San Francisco to San Diego. Or Eugene, Ore., stretching north to Vancouver, a super region dubbed Cascadia. Florida's super region will look like an "H" with density along each coast and I-4 as the connector.
This may sound parochial, you being in Philadelphia, but is the gulf oil spill a potential danger to Florida's long-term growth?
If you tell me the spill will be contained, even though it is taking a long time, and lessons will be learned and other offshore rigs will be handled with more understanding of safety factors, then I do not think it is a major planning issue. But there are other issues Florida should be anticipating.
What would they be?
Rising sea levels. You have to be careful how you talk about this because it varies a lot by location. If we're talking about a 3- or 4-foot increase in sea level, it is manageable. The bigger issue is it amplifies storm surges and hurricanes and can mean seawater intrusion into fresh water aquifers. It's not too soon to talk about it. The question is: Do you wait for a disaster or do you anticipate it?
The other issues for Florida are energy and water as you plan for your population doubling. If everyone adopted water-saving techniques starting now, you probably could handle twice the population with the amount of water used today. We will look back in 2050 at the use of purified water for watering plants and lawns or washing cars, and we will be astonished.
Contact Robert Trigaux at trigaux@sptimes.com.

100627-1
North Florida farms honored for sustainable practices
Business Matters - by Dave Hodges, Editor
June 27, 2010
Sidney Koon, a farmer in Lafayette County, knows the importance of a good balance in his business operation, where care for both his land and his crops can be achieved in a sustainable manner.
Koon’s Farm Inc. totals 2,200 acres and produces corn and peanuts. The business is one of 24 in the Suwannee River Basin being honored Tuesday by CARES, the County Alliance for Responsible Environmental Stewardship.
“We are always looking for ways to save money and make ourselves more efficient,” Koon said. “These days, our profits are so thin on what we make, we have to be efficient.”
Darrell Smith, coordinator for the Suwannee River Partnership that sponsors CARES, said the improved practices being utilized are having a big impact. “We have some progressive or demonstration farms where they are reducing their nitrogen use by 50 pounds per acre,” he said. That amounts to 2,500 tons less per year across the whole program.
The change in water usage is equally dramatic. In the last five to six years the program has had 325 to 350 irrigation systems retrofitted to make them better. “We estimate they save a billion gallons of water per crop-year by making those improvements,” Smith said.
In the use of fertilizer, Koon’s Farm has tissue tests done on the plants to determine the amount of nitrogen they have absorbed. That’s an indicator of how much should be applied to achieve plant growth, but avoid creating a pollution source in the Suwannee River watershed.
“Before we moved to tissue sampling, you ‘guess-timated’ about what you needed,” Koon said.
In application, tractors and sprayers are outfitted with global positioning system units, which show the vehicles’ exact location on a screen inside the cab. With each pass across the field, the map on the screen changes color to show where the product has been distributed.
Chemical and fertilizer applications are now more precise. Koon says his costs for those products is down 25 to 30 percent because he uses less.
He has also picked up 400 to 500 more pounds of peanuts per acre when harvesting because the GPS tracking shows any parts of the field that may have been missed.
See Monday's Tallahassee Democrat for more reporting on this story.

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