110930-
Federal Judge Rules For Cleaner Water In The Everglades
Earthjustice.com
September 30, 2011
Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge needs cleaner water.
Tallahassee, FL — A federal judge has ruled that water running south into the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge has been exceeding pollution limits designed to protect one of America’s most significant environmental treasures.
Specifically, water coming off the state-operated stormwater treatment areas exceeded the official limits that the state of Florida set for phosphorus between 2005 and 2009, ruled U.S. District Judge Frederico Moreno.
“We know that too much phosphorus, which comes from agricultural pollution, upsets the delicate balance in the Everglades,” said Earthjustice attorney Alisa Coe. “Judge Moreno affirmed what we’ve been saying—that the state limits must be met and pollution must be reduced.”
The ruling is part of a long-running legal case that stretches back to an historic 1992 consent decree between Florida and the federal government. The federal government sued Florida for allowing too much pollution in Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and Everglades National Park. In the 1992 consent decree, the state agreed to build stormwater treatment areas to clean and filter pollution before it reaches the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and Everglades National Park.
Judge Moreno’s ruling says the state must set more protective limits on the amount of phosphorus entering Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.
READ: Judge Moreno's decision dated Sept.28, 2011.

110930-a
Critical Research Cut From Everglades Restoration Program
NBCMiami.com - by Ari Odzer
September 30, 2011
The $14 billion plan to restore the Everglades is safe, but scientists say studies that gauge whether or not the restoration is working are being critically slashed.
The massive $14 billion, multi-year project to restore the Everglades has several goals: preserve a source of drinking water for South Florida's human population, restore the environment to its natural condition wherever possible, and provide conditions in which wildlife can thrive.
Scientists working on the project say all of that is in jeopardy now because of what they call short-sighted cuts in critical research -- research designed to monitor the restoration efforts to see if they're working.
"It's a 59 percent cut, that's devastating," said the U.S. Geological Survey's Dr. Ronnie Best, who coordinates of all Everglades restoration science efforts.
Best says the state of Florida is slashing 71 percent of its contribution to the research program through a big cut to the South Florida Water Management District, and the Army Corps of Engineers is chopping 40 percent of its portion of research money.
The bottom line: the science budget is going from $7 million to less than $3.5 million for the next fiscal year.
Among the research that will be defunded are surveys of crocodiles and alligators. They are an indicator species, which means the health of the swamp can be gauged by the health of the gator and croc populations.
"Alligators can tell us whether or not we're successful," said Dr. Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife biologist who has studied Everglades crocodilians for years.
Mazzotti's research, which provides some of the guidelines for the restoration projects, is on the chopping block, which is one of the reasons Best is so upset.
"We will not know if the projects are working, that's why we have this Monitoring Assessment Plan, MAP is what's being cut by 59 percent," he said.
Best contends the only way to tell if taxpayer money is being spent wisely is to study the health of key species, like alligators, certain fish populations, and wading birds. Decimating the research program will mean at least a dozen scientists will most likely be laid off. Plus, he says, it's like the state is shooting itself in the foot.
"You're going to take this program, which is about four to five percent of the total cost of restoration, and you're going to cut it in half?" Best asked, rhetorically. "You don't save any money doing that, you don't save any money at all, give me a break, compared to what you're losing, which is an enormous amount of information."
The state's portion of the research money has already been cut. Because the cut was so severe, Best says there's a possibility the Army Corps of Engineers may now decide to put more money back into the program -- realizing that without scientists taking water samples and doing their studies in the swamp, the big projects are essentially proceeding blind.

110930-b







Federal Judge
Federico MORENO


Click HERE for LEGAL
aspects presented by
EvergladesHUB.com

110930-b
Federal judge questions results of Everglades phosphorus clean-up
Sun Sentinel - by Andy Reid
September 30, 2011
Florida needs to do more to address polluting phosphorus flowing into the northern reaches of the Everglades, but shouldn’t face punishment for not yet meeting clean-up thresholds, according to a federal court ruling released Friday.
U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno affirmed that the state is not meeting restoration thresholds for phosphorus-laden stormwater runoff washing into the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, the northern remnants of the Everglades in Palm Beach County.
But Moreno refused the Miccosukee Tribe’s request to find that the continued high levels of phosphorus runoff mean the state has violated a 1992 consent decree that set water quality parameters key to Everglades restoration.
Elevated levels of phosphorus that wash off agricultural land and drain into the Everglades fuel the growth of cattails that crowd out sawgrass and other vital habitat.
The phosphorus thresholds called for in the consent decree are "meant to signal environmental red flags that the parties must address to achieve overall compliance," but don’t necessarily trigger punishments if they are not met, according to Moreno’s ruling.
The consent decree is intended "to succeed and not punish," Moreno said.
The environmental group Earthjustice on Friday praised Moreno’s determination that the state needs to do more to meet phosphorus thresholds in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.
Earthjustice and other environmental groups contend the state should start requiring more pollution cleanup at sugar cane fields and other agricultural land before stormwater carries phosphorus into the treatment areas.
"What we should be doing is ratcheting down (on) the pollution coming off agriculture," Earthjustice attorney Alisa Coe said. "There’s more that could be done."
The South Florida Water Management District, which leads Everglades restoration for the state, and the Army Corps of Engineers are at odds over the effectiveness of one of the stormwater treatment areas relied on to clean up water that flows into the Everglades.
Stormwater treatment areas, called STAs, are man-made filter marshes used to absorb phosphorus from stormwater before the water flows into the Everglades.
The water management district contends that delays and defects in the construction of STA-1E in Wellington – built by contractors for the Army Corps – hamper the ability to filter phosphorus that ends up in the refuge.
South Florida Water Management District officials on Friday issued a statement saying they were "pleased" with the judge’s order.
"We will continue to work with our partners to fulfill our shared restoration and water quality improvement goals for the Everglades," district officials said.
Judge: Water leaving Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge must meet strict phosphorus rule (Palm Beach Post)
Judge says state is polluting Everglades with its runoff (Miami Herald)

110930-c
Florida Forever ... sort of
Pnj.com – by Andy Marlette
September 30, 2011
Environmentalists in Florida probably never thought they would look back with fondness on the days of Jeb Bush, but the conservative former Florida governor is looking greener and greener compared to the current administration.
Bush, never a friend of environmental regulation, was nonetheless an enthusiastic proponent of Florida Forever, the multibillion-dollar, decades-long state program to buy and preserve critical state lands forever. He and other Republicans saw it as a conservative, non-regulatory approach to environmental protection: If forests, wetlands and other habitat needed protecting, they reasoned, the best way to do it was buy them from their owners and let the state manage them.
Bush was such an advocate that in 2001 he called a legislative effort to redirect Florida Forever money into other projects "bad policy," and vetoed it.
The program purchases, dating back to the 1980s, were aimed at flood control, preserving aquifer recharge areas, protecting surface water quality, and saving critical wildlife habitat and prime recreational and hunting lands for future generations.
Today, budget cuts and an active disinterest in not just regulation, but also preservation, in Tallahassee are putting momentum behind a very bad idea: selling large parcels of those lands to raise money for water management districts strapped for cash by reductions in their taxing authority.
No doubt there is some land that the state or its agencies can sell with little impact. Such house cleaning should be routine.
But the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported this week that at least three water management districts and the Department of Environmental Protection are looking into selling state lands, including lands in state forests, parks and preserves. In the Southwest Florida Water Management District, the newspaper reported, 450,000 acres are being considered for possible sale.
Yes, state agencies have been told to sell off "non-essential" lands, but that definition is big enough to sail a cruise ship through. To paraphrase a now-famous saying, it depends on what the definition of "non-essential" is.
Fiscally, it would be bad enough to sell land now just because of low property values. But to sell land bought in the name of all Floridians to protect their state's natural resources, forever, is an intrinsically bad idea.

110930-d
Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center to educate students on Everglades
TCPalm - by Paul Ivice
September 30, 2011
STUART — Because of increasing interest lately in the Florida Everglades, the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center has developed a range of educational programs for the thousands of school children who will visit the center this school year.
Of the 50,000 or so people a year who visit the center, which began leasing its 57-acre site on Hutchinson Island from Martin County in 1985, about 2,500 are students and their teachers, usually in groups of 25 to 50.
Center Executive Director Mark Perry gave River Coalition members a little tease of the new programs at their meeting Thursday at Stuart City Hall.
Perry also talked about the River Coalition's new River Kidz program and introduced its two founding members — 11-year-olds Naia Mader and Evie Flaugh.
Students still will get to spend time observing and interacting with the turtles, fish and other wildlife during their field trips to the center at 890 N.E. Ocean Blvd.
Since it opened in 2006 the 750,000-gallon lagoon that serves as a habitat for dozens of marine animals is one of the center's most popular features.
"It's such an incredible facility," said Ellie Van Os, the center's director of education and exhibits. "There are so many opportunities because we have the fish and the habitat and the great water coming from the ocean."
The lagoon also is used to help educated anglers "to know what they're looking for and what they should not catch," Van Os said.
This year, though, the students will also get some Everglades education, in keeping with the center's mission of inspiring environmental stewardship.
"Too often people think the Everglades is a South Florida issue," Van Os said. "And yet the water meant for the Everglades frequently ends up in our St. Lucie River, so we need to better understand that relationship, as do our children."
This knowledge, Van Os said, will help the children, the future stewards of Florida's environment, understand the Greater Everglades ecosystem.
Van Os said different programs have been developed for each grade level from kindergarten through eighth grade, and another for high school students.
"What we are trying to get across is that the Everglades is a much more varied ecosystem than what is found in the national park," Van Os said.
"When they shoot water down the St. Lucie River, that's what links us to the Everglades, and it's an unnatural link," she said. "Historically, that connection was through a drainage canal (C-44) and brought freshwater that had previously gone to South Florida and the lower Everglades systems."
River Coalition chairman Leon Abood and other members said too much freshwater is being allowed to traverse through the area into the Atlantic Ocean.
The field trips from schools in Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Palm Beach counties begin in October and continue to near the end of the school year.

110930-e
Jacksonville company wins $42 million Army Corps contract for Everglades work
Jacksonville.com – by David Bauerlein
September 30, 2011
Harry Pepper & Associates of Jacksonville has landed a second big-dollar contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, pushing the company’s total workload to almost $121 million on Corps projects in Florida.
The Army Corps of Engineers this week awarded a $42 million contract to Harry Pepper for replacement of two huge culverts in Martin County and Palm Beach County. The culverts are part of the Herbert Hoover Dike that controls water flow at Lake Okeechobee, which is the biggest freshwater lake in the country.
The recent award comes on top of a $78.9 million contract that Harry Peppers won last December for a pump station in Collier County. The pump station will slow water passing through canals, and it’s part of an Everglades restoration plan being done by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Founded in 1918, Harry Pepper and Associates was purchased in October 2010 by EMCOR Group, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Norwalk, Conn. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
EMCOR said at the time it was expanding its government contracting business and Harry Pepper has a long history of working with the Corps, the state of Florida, and local governments on drainage and utility projects. EMCOR’s announcement said Harry Pepper’s estimated revenue in 2010 was $100 million

110930-f
Judge says state is polluting Everglades with its runoff
Miami Herald – by Mary Ellen Klas
September 30, 2011
U.S. District Judge Frederico Moreno dealt a blow today to the state's efforts to allow discharge flow into the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and Everglades National Park and ruled that the practice exceeds pollution limits. Download 1010-Order-Affirming-SM-2011-01-04-Report
Here's the press release from Earth Justice, which filed the suit:
A federal judge has ruled that water running south into the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge has been exceeding pollution limits designed to protect one of America’s most significant environmental treasures. Specifically, water coming off the state-operated Stormwater Treatment Areas exceeded the official limits that the state of Florida set for phosphorus between 2005 and 2009, ruled U.S. District Judge Frederico Moreno.
 “We know that too much phosphorus, which comes from agricultural pollution, upsets the delicate balance in the Everglades,” said Earthjustice attorney Alisa Coe. “Judge Moreno affirmed what we’ve been saying – that the state limits must be met and pollution must be reduced.” The ruling is part of a long-running legal case that stretches back to an historic 1992 consent decree between Florida and the federal government.
The federal government sued Florida for allowing too much pollution in Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and Everglades National Park. In the 1992 consent decree, the state agreed to build Stormwater Treatment Areas to clean and filter pollution before it reaches the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and Everglades National Park. 
Judge Moreno’s ruling says the state must set more protective limits on the amount of phosphorus entering Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.
Judge: Water leaving Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge must meet strict phosphorus rule (Palm Beach Post)
Federal judge questions results of Everglades phosphorus clean-up (Sun Sentinel)

110929-a
As Clean Water Act Approaches 40, Vital Work Still Must Be Done
Beyondchron.com - by Margie Alt, Environment America
September 29‚ 2011
We are coming up on the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, and in many ways, we have made remarkable progress since Congress passed this landmark bill. Bottom line, rivers no longer light on fire like the Cuyahoga did in 1969. Yet despite this progress, bacteria, sewage and industrial waste still pollute too many waterways, threatening our health. A legal loophole has put millions of acres of wetlands and thousands of streams at risk, including drinking water sources for 117 million Americans. Environment America has been promoting policy solutions and organizing grassroots support to help solve these problems for many years. Since 2006, we have been urging Congress reverse the damage done by the Supreme Court’s decision in Rapanos simply by declaring, once and for all, that the Clean Water Act protects all of America’s waters. Last year, we finally moved at least a compromise bill out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. But industry opponents, including the Farm Bureau, maintained a virtual lock on the issue in the House. And then came the 2010 elections, which turned the prospect of a Congressional solution from dim to non-existent.
Our sights turned to the Obama Administration. On April 27th, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson came to Milwaukee and announced a plan to close the loopholes created by the courts and to restore Clean Water Act protections to waters across the country. Administrator Jackson was joined at this event by Wisconsin Environment’s Megan Severson.
As expected, the reaction from polluting industries was swift and furious. Mining companies, developers and corporate agribusiness attacked the plan as a job-killer in the media, and urged their allies in Congress to stop EPA from closing the clean water loophole. Exxon-Mobil even threatened “legal warfare” over the issue. Unfortunately, their hysteria began to have an effect. By mid-July, the House of Representatives had voted not only to halt EPA’s new initiatives on clean water, but also to invalidate the agency’s Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan, block standards to reduce pollution in the Everglades, and cut funding for EPA’s water programs.
Fortunately, we had anticipated this assault, and had already begun building support to defend EPA’s clean water initiatives. From Colorado to Florida, New Hampshire to Texas and in other states in between, our staff spoke face to face with more than 450,000 Americans about clean water. By the close of EPA’s public comment period, nearly 200,000 citizens, mobilized through our work and that of our allies, had written to tell EPA to stand strong for clean water. Our efforts generated media coverage in outlets nationwide, including the Denver Post, the Dallas Morning News, the St. Cloud Times, and dozens of other print, radio, television and online outlets
As important as the EPA’s work is, in addition to our grassroots field effort we’ve also been busy using the courts to take on water polluters directly. In June, PennEnvironment and Sierra Club reached a $3.75 million settlement in a case involving a staggering 8,684 illegal discharges from GenOn’s power plant into the Conemaugh River. The figure marks the largest penalty ever paid in Pennsylvania under the Act, sending a clear message to polluters and providing needed resources to restoring the river.
And in Rhode Island, we reached a settlement agreement with the City of Newport to end sewage overflows and runoff pollution that have plagued the area’s renowned beaches and Narragansett Bay. Beyond stopping the pollution, the settlement Environment Rhode Island reached includes provisions for the City to use green infrastructure to prevent runoff pollution.
Obviously much more is yet to be done. Over the next several months, we expect polluters and their allies to use the budget process in Congress to again try to derail EPA’s clean water plans. Believing that these unprecedented attacks on our water requires an unprecedented response, I am working with colleagues in the community to muster a coordinated response – organizing ourselves both in DC and more importantly outside the beltway to ensure the public is ready to stand up for the waterways we cherish.
As things continue to unfold in Washington DC, experience shows that the most critical work we can do to ensure that protections for clean water are as strong as possible will happen in cities and towns across the country. From the Chesapeake Bay to the Great Lakes to Puget Sound, there is no doubt that most Americans care deeply about clean water.

110929-b
Collins won't resign from SFWMD
Highlands Today – by GARY PINNELL
September 29, 2011
SEBRING - The South Florida Water Management District is sticking to its $21 million decision to store 34,000 acre-feet of water on Lykes Brothers land in Glades County, despite a controversy about the board's chairman being a Lykes employee.
As vice president of Lykes' ranching division, Joe Collins manages the 337,000-acre spread, including the land where the water will be stored.
Collins, of Sebring, did not vote on the 10-year deal, said Carolyn Ansay, SFWMD's attorney.
Collins was appointed to the district's governing board in 2009.
"Because Mr. Collins is an employee of the ranch where the Nicodemus Slough project is located, the Florida Commission on Ethics was asked for a legal opinion before the district entered into a project agreement," Ansay said.
"The commission's official opinion, CEO 11-02, stated that 'a prohibited conflict of interest would not be created.'"
Even so, Ansay said, "Mr. Collins abstained from each and every decision and formal vote associated with this project."
The award to Lykes has caused controversy, though.
The Southwest Florida News-Press in Fort Myers wrote in an editorial last week: "Even if the Lykes contract is a good one, this is a blatant conflict of interest. The public ought to question the board's decision. The board should vote anew without Collins.
"He must resign if Lykes is going to get $2.1 million per year."
The News-Press editorial insinuates wrongdoing on behalf of Collins, Ansay said. "Nothing could be further from the truth."
The newspaper didn't question the purpose of the contract, however.
"Holding water on distant ranches during the rainy season, rather than draining it as fast as possible, will help … by reducing agricultural and other pollution in the lake," the editorial stated.
Ansay agreed: "The Nicodemus Slough project in Glades County is an innovative public-private partnership that will bring significant environmental benefits to Lake Okeechobee, Fisheating Creek and the Caloosahatchee Estuary at a low cost to taxpayers.
"The 15,000-acre project will store water on private ranchlands during high flows to Lake Okeechobee and deliver much needed water to the estuary during dry times, while also providing water quality benefits."
At $95 per acre-foot of storage, it's also a cheap solution, she said.
An acre-foot is the volume of water that will cover one acre of surface area to a depth of one foot.
Gov. Rick Scott has been critical of conflicts of interest on workforce boards and asked several members to resign.
John Payne, a Highlands Workforce board member, did quit in August after a controversial lease with Heartland Workforce paid his family $1.7 million over 10 years.
Communications Director Brian Burgess did not respond to a telephone call and an email by deadline for this story.
The deal was also questioned by Pam Fentress of 4-D Citrus & Sod, Inc.
In an email to Highlands Soil and Water Conservation District chair Jimmy Wohl about a different subject, she also wrote: "As a past (Southwest Florida Water Management District) Governing Board member, I'm embarrassed at not only chair Collins, but also past (governing) board members that rubber-stamped Lykes' (Florida Ranchlands Environmental Services Project) project.
"If Gov. Scott wants waste in water management districts cut further," Fentress wrote, "he should start right here, right now; cut any and all Northern Everglades Payment for Environmental Services projects.
"When does an organization step back and consider conflicts of interests — whether apparent or real?" Fentress asked.
"How much Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency, SFWMD, etc. funds are funneled through the Highlands Soil and Water Conservation District (and various other institutions) only to end up in the feeding troughs of Lykes Brothers?"
The ethics commission clearly said Collins could vote, Fentress noted.
"Would I do it? No, I would never do that," she wrote in the email.
"You're supposed to do it so that nobody can question you."
Collins agreed: "Public officials should be held to a higher standard."
That's why, in addition to asking the state ethics commission whether there was a conflict of interest, he also abstained from voting.
"I take that kind of stuff very seriously, as the Lykes brothers do as well," Collins said.
Collins said he has no plans to resign from his post with the water district board.

110929-
Conservatives don't care about conserving
Herald-Tribune - by Eric Ernst
September 29, 2011
They may call themselves conservatives, but they have little interest in conserving.
That pretty much sums up the plan of Florida's leadership to sell off thousands of acres of public land.
In this case, we're talking about property purchased over the years by the state's regional water managers, such as our Southwest Florida Water Management District, known as Swiftmud.
It's no secret Gov. Rick Scott has little use for public parks, and the agencies under him are looking for excuses to dump parkland from their inventories.
The idea is that in these troubled economic times, selling land will save maintenance costs, bring in money, lessen the role of government and avoid any "new taxes."
You know the mantra: "We're going to run government like a business." Apparently a bad one — one of those fly-by-night operations that alienates its customers, refuses to consider the future and loses money by buying high and selling low.
Swiftmud has compiled ownership of 447,000 acres to conserve sources of drinking water and to prevent flooding. That's the agency's mission.
To argue that we no longer need those protections defies logic.
Unless someone outright rejects the creation of public parks as a government function — and that's a radical viewpoint — the accumulation of property by the water districts also has been an efficient use of tax dollars in line with conservative philosophy.
Property rights advocates often rail against the "taking" of land through government restrictions. If, for instance, a regulatory agency says a developer can't build a shopping center on a piece of waterfront land because the runoff might pollute a source of drinking water, then the agency has hindered the ability of that property owner to make money.
For several decades, rather than simply imposing the restrictions and saying to heck with the property owner, the water districts have paid fair market price to buy contested land.
The landowners have profited. The water districts have accomplished their missions. And, as a bonus, the land has provided recreational opportunities and habitat for wildlife, relieving the pressure on other government entities to buy and manage land for those purposes.
It's working. Let's not "fix" it with short-term approaches.
Selling now makes no sense from a business standpoint. Real estate prices are down.
And what would we save as taxpayers? Swiftmud assessments are a tiny portion of our tax bills. Mine are about $30 a year. What would they be after the land sales, $29.50? They can keep the 50 cents.
Swiftmud spent $5.9 million managing its parkland last year. If that's unaffordable, then the district should do nothing until the economy turns around. A few years of hands-off won't hurt anything.

(mouse-over to enlarge):

During the 2011 drought,
LO was at an almost
record low level.
This, on the other hand,
allowed for some work
to be done - -

110929-d
Environment Work Progresses At Lake Okeechobee
SWFloridaOnline.com
September 29, 2011
Water Management Workers Complete Projects Around Lake O
CLEWISTON, FL. -- By taking advantage of low water levels that extended into the summer wet season, the South Florida Water Management District was able to complete several successful environmental enhancement projects, such as planting native trees and bulrush and stocking apple snail eggs.
Much of the work was completed in the spring and early summer when water levels were extremely low around Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee Estuary.  After the initial work, the projects continue to be maintained as the plantings now are taking root and flourishing.
Among the Lake area projects completed or underway:
·  Trees were planted around Lake Okeechobee, including 2,000 pond apples on the Rita Island berm, 660 cypress trees along the rim canal and 70 new cypress trees at Jaycee Park in Okeechobee. 
·  Bulrush planting was started on approximately 12 acres at the Harney Pond Canal marsh and the Clewiston Cut marsh to protect areas where muck was previously removed.
·  Apple snail eggs were produced at a newly constructed hatchery at Lemkin Creek in Okeechobee County as part of a joint effort with Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. The eggs were subsequently transplanted to Lake Okeechobee as the preferred food source for the endangered snail kite.
·  Vallisneria, a type of aquatic plant, was installed in cages along the Caloosahatchee Estuary, to re-establish the tape grass, which is critical to the food web in the sensitive estuary environment.
·  Surveying was conducted in Lake Okeechobee's littoral zone and marsh to identify locations for future muck removal or tilling.
Lake Okeechobee is at 11.13 feet NGVD, which remains more than 3.5 feet below average for this time of year when wet season rains would typically have filled the lake. 
This is the third time in five years that the District has taken advantage of drought conditions in Lake Okeechobee to perform environmental improvements. In 2007 and 2008, extremely low water levels allowed access to remove decayed vegetation and hurricane-stirred organic matter along the shoreline.  The work helped to improve water clarity, reduce phosphorus levels and foster new growth of aquatic vegetation when lake levels increased.

110929-e
EPA Designates Center of Excellence for Watershed Management at University of Florida
EPA Press Release
September 29, 2011
Contact Information: Davina Marraccini, (404) 562-8293, marraccini.davina@epa.gov
(Atlanta, Ga. – Sept. 29, 2011) – The University of Florida’s Water Institute has been designated a Center of Excellence for Watershed Management, becoming the second such institution in the state. Representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the University of Florida signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to help communities identify watershed based problems and develop and implement locally sustainable solutions.
 “A watershed approach is the most effective framework to engage communities and address today's water resource challenges,” said EPA Regional Administrator Gwen Keyes Fleming. “This designation will allow the University of Florida to continue developing the strong partnerships with other institutions, organizations and agencies to protect and restore the unique watersheds throughout Florida.”
"We can achieve much more collectively, when we combine and leverage our resources, than as stand-alone organizations working independently," said Drew Bartlett, director of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Environmental Assessment and Restoration. "This designation will lead to enhanced opportunities for collaboration between the University of Florida and FDEP with many mutual benefits. The University of Florida's activities in watershed management, research and education will help assist the Department and local communities in identifying watershed issues and working toward solutions to improve water quality in their watersheds."
To become a recognized Center of Excellence, the institution must demonstrate technical expertise in identifying and addressing watershed needs; involvement of students, staff and faculty in watershed research; capability to involve the full suite of disciplines needed for all aspects of watershed management; financial ability to become self-sustaining; ability to deliver and account for results; willingness to partner with other institutions; and support from the highest levels of the organization.
"We are pleased to be named as a Center of Excellence for Watershed Management", said UF Water Institute Director Wendy Graham. "This designation highlights the Water Institute's strong commitment to partner with watershed-based stakeholder groups and state and local agencies to tackle critical water issues requiring holistic interdisciplinary approaches. This initiative complements our other interdisciplinary research and education programs and provides an important resource for stakeholders with interest in developing solutions to water quality problems."
Some of the benefits of being a recognized Center of Excellence include receipt of EPA technical assistance where needed (instructors, speakers, etc); promotion of the Center of Excellence to stakeholders; EPA letters of support for grant opportunities; and identification of opportunities for Center of Excellence involvement in local and regional watershed issues.
For decades, EPA and Florida have protected the state’s lakes, rivers and wetlands by regulating specific points of pollution; the most common of these being sewage treatment plants and factories. Although this approach led to the successful cleanup of many waterways, others still remain polluted from sources not as easily regulated. These more subtle sources include farms, streets, parking lots, lawns, rooftops or any other surfaces that come in contact with rainwater. Today, EPA and FDEP take a broader approach to water protection, looking at both the individual waterway and the watershed in which it is located.
Started in 2007, the EPA Region 4 Centers of Excellence for Watershed Management Program works with colleges and universities from across the Southeast to provide hands-on, practical products and services for communities to identify watershed problems and solve them. Each EPA designated Center actively seeks out watershed-based stakeholder groups and local governments that need cost effective tools for watershed scientific studies, engineering designs and computer mapping, as well as assistance with legal issues, project management, public education and planning.

110929-f
Former Gov. Claude Kirk dead at 85
The News Service of Florida - by David Royse
September 29, 2011
Former Gov. Claude Kirk, a larger-than-life political outsider who made history when he was elected governor of Florida as a Republican in 1966, pushed for a new state constitution and helped begin a GOP rise in the state, has died.
Kirk, who was 85, died Wednesday at home in West Palm Beach, a statement from his family said.
He was a one-term governor ousted by the election of Democrat Reubin Askew in 1970, and was credited with ushering in a new ethic of conservation and environmental stewardship after a century in which Florida was looked at as a swamp to be filled in.
Kirk, a former Democrat who led a “Democrats for Nixon” effort in 1960 before changing parties, fought as governor with a Democratic Legislature, pushed unsuccessfully to renew the death penalty and was widely credited with opening up Florida state government to fresh faces after years of domination by “pork chopper” legislators from the Panhandle and their political followers.
He may have been best known for his flamboyant personality, out-spoken nature and quirky sense of humor. His nickname during his tenure was “Claudius Maximus.”
Kirk got married while he was governor, after having shown up at his inauguration with his future wife, Erika Mattfeld. Asked by reporters who the lady accompanying him was, Kirk wouldn’t say, identifying her only as “Madame X.”
Later in life, long after he left the governor’s office, Kirk, by then a mischievous elder statesman, said he wanted state rules changed so he could be buried at the Capitol. They weren’t.
“Being buried up there would be a good idea, so I can keep an eye on them,” Kirk said a few years ago in a newspaper interview.
During his campaign in 1966, Kirk visited prisoners at the state prison and shook their hands. Then, Kirk casually let them know that if he were elected, he would be signing death warrants for some of them, though it wasn’t until after he left office that executions were resumed after a national moratorium.
Born in San Bernardino, Calif., in 1926, Kirk was an enlisted man who became an officer in the Marine Corps during World War II, and later, after getting a law degree, returned to the service to fight in the Korean War as an infantry leader.
After military service, Kirk started in business with $408 in his pocket, selling building supplies and insurance in Jacksonville and founding the company that would eventually become American Heritage Life Insurance.
After working for Nixon, Kirk sought office himself, switching his party affiliation to the GOP and running unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate against Spessard Holland in 1964.
In 1966, Democratic incumbent Gov. Haydon Burns lost in the Democratic primary to Miami Mayor Robert King High, opening the door to Kirk with some voters suspicious of the liberal Miami candidate at the height of the Civil Rights movement.
Kirk was the first Republican elected governor of Florida since 1872 during reconstruction, and he was, along with Arkansas Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller, also elected in 1966, one of the first two Republican governors to be elected to run a former Confederate state in the 20th century.
According to the book “The Transformation of Southern Politics,” by Jack Bass and Walter De Vries, the same flamboyance that made Kirk successful in politics was also part of what kept him from getting re-elected. There were reports of lavish parties at the Governor’s Mansion during his tenure and he reportedly hired a Madison Ave. public relations firm with state money to boost his profile for possible future higher office, as he was mentioned as a possible running mate for Nixon in 1968.
His tenure was also marked by a widespread teacher’s strike and Kirk responded by going to California’s Disneyland.
“He was brash, rude, domineering, inventive, determined and marvelously good-humored,” said Nathaniel Reed, who worked for Kirk.
Environmentalists – of which Reed, who served in the Nixon administration, is one - remembered Kirk fondly for ushering in a new era of conservation, and particularly attention to the Everglades and killing a proposed cross-state barge canal.
“He never wavered in his determination to change Florida’s long legacy of what Philip Wiley described as Florida, ‘the polluted paradise,’” Reed said in a statement Wednesday after Kirk’s death.
“Kirk could be very stubborn, but he could be convinced to change his mind. For instance, he once supported the cross-state barge canal and the Big Cypress jetport and the development of what is now Biscayne National Park. But when presented with the facts of environmental damage each project would create, he turned and became an ardent and effective opponent of all boondoggles,” said Reed.
Kirk also may have begun the rise of the Republican Party in Florida after a century of dormancy. While Nixon won the state three times, the party was largely irrelevant here until Kirk’s time. The never-humble Kirk took credit for the success of later GOP politicians in a 2002 interview with The Palm Beach Post.
“They are all the children of my loins,” Kirk said.
“He will be remembered as Florida’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction and a strong, outspoken and capable leader for our state during an era of immense change in our country,” said Gov. Rick Scott in a statement. “Along with all Floridians, we send our condolences to his wife Erika and their entire family. Our prayers are with them during this challenging time.”
Scott will order flags to fly at half-staff on the day of Kirk’s funeral.
U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw issued a statement about Kirk, his father-in-law. Crenshaw is married to Kirk’s daughter, Kitty Crenshaw, of Jacksonville.
“Claude Kirk was probably the most charismatic person I ever met. He could be hysterically funny and fearlessly bold, and he championed the environment, education, and diversity long before those issues were fashionable. He carried a bigger-than-life personality that often overshadowed his true genius and the lasting and positive changes he brought to the state of Florida. It is an honor to be his son-in-law,” said Crenshaw.
“He was a noble veteran of two wars and a champion of the Republican Party,” said Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry. “Although Florida has lost another great Republican leader today, the memory and legacy of his service will not be forgotten.”
Longtime Jacksonville attorney Jim Rinaman offered some memories of Kirk.
“He was very flamboyant. When I was in the National Guard (Kirk) came down on several occasions during summer training at Camp Blanding. Those days, most of our local National Guard people trained at Camp Blanding in the summer,” he said.
“Governors had not typically come very much, but Claude came whenever there was a large unit down there, and he had designed his own uniform. He wore beautiful brown English riding boots and these khaki pants with a kind of a bloomer on the side. He then wore a regular military camouflage shirt with a fancy belt with a big gold buckle. He had a patch or two on the shirt that had to do with Florida and the Florida National Guard. He had a baseball cap with CINC on it, which stood for Commander in Chief, and he really thought that was great. He would come down and make speeches.
“He had a plan where he announced we needed to have a border restriction, where nobody could come to Florida for more than six months unless they made more than $25,000 a year, which was a good amount of money in those days. Nobody bought that,” Rinaman said.
In addition to wife Erika, Kirk is survived by his children Sarah, Katherine, William, Frank, Adriana, Claudia and Erik. He leaves behind 14 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.
Claude Kirk, 1926-2011, remembered as flamboyant, game-changing Florida governor, The Palm Beach Post (Sep.29)

11092(7)9-g
Proposal for inland port ignores many disadvantages
TCPalm - Letter by W. Butch Lester, Port St. Lucie
September 27, 2011
I am a resident of Treasure Coast Air Park. We have been following the inland port project from its inception and have seen the professional PowerPoint presentation regarding the need for a port several times. Like many sales presentations, it avoids and misrepresents some very salient facts.
There are several problems. Officials at the two main cargo ports (Port of Miami and Port Everglades) have told us repeatedly that it is not economically feasible to ship cargo to an inland port more than a few miles away from them. (Port of Miami is 120 miles away; Port Everglades is 80 miles away.) The port officials agreed to cooperate on communication with the inland port, but no projections on actual usage have been promised.
Second is the proposed size of the new facility — 4,000 acres. The average inland port in North America, however, is less than 600 acres. One must also question the motives of a group who request that the property must all be zoned "heavy industrial."
Why ? Money.
According to landandfarm.com, Ag 5 acreage in St. Lucie County has a value of approximately $2,018 per acre or $8.076 million. Industrial land is valued at approximately $142,313 per acre, or $570 million for the 4,000 acres, an increase of 70 times the agricultural value.
I am not implying these companies are doing anything improper but I do believe that they are trying to put a favorable spin on a project that has little or no long-term feasibility, to walk away with a hefty profit (half-a-billion dollars). In doing this they would seriously damage the long-term growth and quality of life of Tradition and all of western St. Lucie County.
Let's make decisions based on hard facts, not on corporate greed, inflated job projections and speculation.

110929-h
Though he could be 'brash, rude, domineering,' former Florida Gov. Claude Kirk transformed state into one that cared about environment
TCPalm – by Nathaniel Reed, Jupiter Island, former undersecretary of the U.S. Interior Department, currently serves on the board of The Everglades Foundation.
September 29, 2011
Late Florida governor challenged 'old guard' and put environmentalism on the agenda
Claude Kirk's passing highlights an era when, as governor, he challenged the old guard that had run Florida since reconstruction.
Gov. Kirk came into office determined to change Florida against all opponents. He was brash, rude, domineering, inventive, determined and marvelously good-humored. Re-apportionment in 1968 brought to Tallahassee numerous young vibrant men and women to become members of an astonishing Legislature. It was an era of great change, often controversial, always fascinating.
From an environmental standpoint, he never wavered. It's hard to believe now, but millions of gallons of untreated sewage were flushed into the Atlantic Ocean from Palm Beach to Key West, from Pensacola to Fort Myers. Not a single industry in Florida could receive the initial federal pollution control permits. To change this incredible mess was controversial and expensive, but against all odds Kirk succeeded where others were fearful of even trying.
He never wavered in his determination to change Florida's long legacy of what Philip Wiley described as Florida, "the polluted paradise." Kirk could be very stubborn, but he could be convinced to change his mind.
For instance, he once supported the cross-state barge canal and the Big Cypress jetport and the development of what is now Biscayne National Park. But when presented with the facts of environmental damage each project would create, he turned and became an ardent and effective opponent of all boondoggles.
He successfully urged passage of Florida's first green bond issue which brought many popular state parks into our system, he supported the acquisition of the Big Cypress, he fought for more water to be delivered to Everglades National Park. His successors, Govs. Reubin Askew and Bob Graham, inherited a new Florida successfully built on conservation foundations of the Kirk era.
It has often been said, no man enjoyed being governor of Florida as much as Claude Kirk.
Gov. Kirk's passing highlights an era of great change in Florida's government. Ever since reconstruction, Florida had been run by a small group of powerful individuals who liked their special privileges and fought for them. Kirk was determined to change the old system and challenge the old guard.
After Kirk, the notorious "pork chop gang" were put out to pasture and Florida reaped the benefits of a new generation of leaders who would bring prosperity based in large part on Florida's natural gifts.
Today the good lord has welcomed home a man who cherished and protected a special place in his creation: the peninsula now known as Florida.

110928-a
Let's junk Florida's inefficient ethanol mandate: REP. Matt GAETZ
Thedestinlog.com
September 28, 2011
Some members of the Florida Legislature gauge their success or failure by the number of laws they are able to enact. I think a little differently. When my time in the Legislature ends, I’ll always be proudest of the outdated, burdensome and sometimes downright silly laws and regulations I fought to repeal.
One prime example is the Florida requirement that gasoline sold in our state contain between 9 percent and 10 percent ethanol. I hope to scrap this requirement during the upcoming legislative session.
The Florida ethanol mandate became law in 2008. The argument was that ethanol use could reduce carbon emissions and create “green jobs” in our state, given the prolific sugar growing in South Florida. We now know the benefits of ethanol were overstated and the negative consequences were overlooked.
Today, government is literally crawling into our gas cans with a product that can be harmful to our engines, our economy and our environment.
And with soaring gas prices impacting our pocketbooks, government should not mandate a product that cuts miles per gallon. Modest estimates show that Florida’s ethanol mandate is costing drivers a minimum of $75 per year — putting the most significant financial burden on drivers living paycheck to paycheck. That’s unacceptable.
Auto manufacturers are so concerned about the corrosive impacts of ethanol on engines that they are warning consumers. Hyundai, for example, tells buyers that “the use of ethanol may result in negative effects to cold starting, as well as engine driveability. … It will also result in reduced fuel economy.” Of specific interest to Floridians, the harm is even more pronounced with boat and lawn mower engines.
But more than engines are harmed by our ethanol policy. The effect of ethanol mandates on global food prices (and the impact on hungry people around the world) raises serious moral concerns with using corn as energy.
There are 3 billion malnourished people on Earth, more than ever before in human history. Corn and grains make up more than 80 percent of food intake worldwide. The United States has played a major role in feeding the world, with our corn exports tripling over the past decade. If more corn is inefficiently converted to ethanol — and not exported — our trade deficit will worsen and poor people who depend on our food exports will die.
Would harm to our engines, our economy and the most vulnerable people in the world be worthwhile if we could reduce dependence on foreign oil and help our environment? Maybe to some. The problem is that ethanol is an energy loser with serious environmental dangers.
A Cornell University research study concludes that ethanol generates a 29 percent energy loss, meaning it takes more than a gallon of gasoline to produce a gallon of ethanol. Even the Obama administration’s Environmental Protection Agency issued a 2009 report showing that ethanol mandates will increase carbon emissions in the short term and may need to be in effect for 100 years before significant reductions are realized.
Ethanol production is also highly water-intensive. It takes 1,700 gallons of water to produce one gallon of ethanol. In a state where water resources are scarce, diverting and polluting large amounts water is hardly an investment in a clean future.
Contrary to the promises, no substantial “green industry” has emerged from the ethanol mandate. By 2009, 9 percent of all ethanol plants had gone bankrupt. With sugar prices climbing, the vast majority of ethanol used in Florida is corn-based and shipped from other states. Higher costs, borne by Floridians, are needlessly subsidizing corporate welfare for a distant corn industry.
As a nation, we must never end the search for efficient energy alternatives. Ethanol, however, is an affront to the efficiency we covet. Hopefully, federal lawmakers will realize this reality if states such as Florida show leadership.
The best way to unlock America’s energy potential is to reduce the red tape that government winds around innovators and cutting-edge research. When we unleash investment in new technology, more creative outcomes can be generated in the private sector by the forces of a free market.
Energy independence is the challenge of a generation — but we won’t meet that challenge with costly feel-good laws that hurt people. Repealing Florida’s ethanol mandate is a good place to start.

110928-b
Nova Southeastern University set to pick finance partner for new Center for Collaborative Research
Miamitodaynews.com - by Anne-Margaret Swary
September 28, 2011
Nova Southeastern University plans to erect a Center for Collaborative Research that will house one of the largest wet-lab research facilities in Florida. The state-of-the-art center at the university's main campus in Davie also will be the nucleus of the university's medical, pharmaceutical, dental, and oceanographic research.
   Nova's trustees could approve one of four financing proposals in December, and officials hope to occupy the building in 18 to 24 months, said university President George Hanbury.
   Because the building's labs and offices will be open the public, the university must finance the project with taxable bonds. Officials sent out eight proposals to see if private capital would be interested in financing the nearly 210,000-square foot building, which could cost $75 million to $95 million, Mr. Hanbury said. Seven responded, and the university has narrowed it to the four to present to Nova's trustees
   "We've been looking at a model that's been very successful down in Miami-Dade with the University of Miami's Life Science [& Technology Park] building," he said. "All of the proposals seem to be extremely creative in their financing."
   The university already has drawn plans and gone through preliminary permit reviews, Mr. Hanbury said.
   The center is to be home to the Rumbaugh-Goodwin Institute for Cancer Research, Florida LambdaRail, information and technology services, investigators from the university's Health Professions Division and Oceanographic Center, and the U.S. Geological Survey.
   The geological survey, which is to occupy the first two floors, is partnering with Nova, Florida Atlantic University and the University of Florida to promote scientific cooperation for the Greater Everglades Restoration Project.
   The other floors would be wet labs essential for biotech, cancer therapy, wildlife DNA, pharmaceutical synthesis and stem cell research that the university has been conducting, Mr. Hanbury said. Two floors are dedicated for software engineering and high-tech development for computer software.
   "We have wonderful capabilities and opportunities now for knowledge-based industries to come into Broward and use Nova Southeastern as its conduit," Mr. Hanbury said. "Maybe Broward will have the next Facebook creator."
   By creating the center, the university now has a literal housing for its externally funded research, which has grown from less than $10 million to more than $85 million in the past 10 years, said Fred Lippman, chancellor of Nova's Health Professions Division. Within the next five years, he said, he expects that externally funded research to grow to well over $100 million.
   The Center for Collaborative Research originally was envisioned six or seven years ago when Nova and the geological survey agreed to work collaboratively with Florida Atlantic and the University of Florida to promote the Everglades restoration project.
   "USGS has been on our campus waiting for this collaborative research to come to fruition," Mr. Hanbury said. "The economy kind of put things on the back burner."
   The university is now moving forward with a number of projects, including a $30 million Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystems Science Research Facility. Nova is using a $15 million federal stimulus grant and its own matching funds to build the 86,000-square-foot facility.
   Next on Nova's agenda will be the Academical Village, which is to transform 30 acres at a neighboring shopping center in which the university has an ownership interest into a high-tech research/office park with nearly 3 million square feet of medical office, retail, governmental and residential space, as well as a hotel and a conference center and possibly a teaching hospital

110928-c
Numbers look grim for Hernando's public lands
TampaBay.com - by Dan DeWitt, Times Columnist
September 28, 2011
It's good to know some people in Hernando County still care about public lands.
Seven of them, to be exact.
That was how many volunteers showed up at Cypress Lake Preserve on Saturday for a cleanup marking National Public Lands Day.
Notice I said "marking," not "celebrating," because these are grim times for the once-popular notion that tax money should go to preserve environmentally valuable lands.
The state's main land-buying program, Florida Forever, is looking strictly temporary now that the Legislature cut its funding to nothing.
The Southwest Florida Water Management District, likewise, won't spend a penny on land acquisition next fiscal year.
And I guess that's one advantage of the political retreat from land acquisition: the numbers are easy to keep track of. Zero is also the amount the county has devoted for this purpose, which became official at the County Commission's final budget hearing Tuesday. After shuffling around shells for a while, $578,368 disappeared from the Environmentally Sensitive Lands fund and showed up under mosquito control.
And the $7.1 million already socked away for, perhaps, setting aside a bridge of natural land between parcels of the Withlacoochee State Forest, will be slowly drained for parks maintenance.
But wait, you might say, didn't voters long ago agree to this small tax — less than a dime on every $1,000 worth of assessed property — specifically to preserve green spaces?
Sure, but don't worry. Commissioners assure us everything they did is perfectly democratic. They'll even let us vote on it — in 2012.
Obviously, that's way too late — not only long after their money grab, but after this action sent the message our votes mean so little there's really no reason to show up at the polls.
How can the commission get away with this ? Because nobody cares, at least not nearly as much as they care about a slight bump in the tax rate. Or the possibility of taking property off the tax rolls, which is one of the arguments against preservation, and one reason the millions in the Sensitive Lands Funds haven't been touched in years.
That's the least the county can do now, find a good project for that voter-designated money. For one thing, we won't necessarily lose tax revenue if the county follows the common practice of buying development rights, not the land itself. By doing nothing now, when prices are low, the commission is missing a bargain. And with the state having pretty much abandoned growth management, paying landowners is about the only way to stop them from covering the county in pavement and Floratam — once there's demand for that sort of thing, of course.
That's why it was so nice to spend a few hours Saturday morning cleaning at Cypress Lake — 331 acres of county-owned land on the Withlacoochee River — even if I was carrying a trash bucket. The people there realize all this and, generally, realize that green space is good.
With 34 percent of the county in preserved lands, don't we have enough? Maybe not. It's cut up in so many different chunks that if the open space between them fills in, these natural lands won't function very well as ecosystem. And maybe you think the following seems alarmist, but I don't, considering, for example, that sea level rise and dropping flow in coastal springs is destroying habitat so fast you can almost watch it happen: If we don't have a functioning ecosystem, we don't have a livable planet.
Then there's preservation's under-appreciated contribution to economic development: it makes us look nice. Face it: Nobody wants to move or visit places that don't.
Yep, those volunteers know all this and talked about it as they worked. And yes, they represent a tiny minority, but they were willing to back up their beliefs with a few hours in the heat, filling garbage bags full of rusted paint buckets, brown beer bottles and faded Busch cans.
So maybe, one day, the commission will actually listen to them.

110928-
Second public hearing this Saturday on proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area
AGNet.com - -by Randall
September 27th, 2011
Here’s a news release from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is hosting the last of two public meetings this Saturday, Oct. 1 in Kissimmee, Fla., to answer questions and take comments on the proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area in south-central Florida.
The meeting starts at 1 p.m. at Osceola Heritage Park, The Exhibition Building – Hall A, 1901 Chief Osceola Trail in Kissimmee. From 1 p.m. to 2, there will be an Open House during which the Service will answer questions about the proposal.
The formal Public Hearing will be from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., during which the Service will make a short presentation about the proposal and attendees will be able to express their views on the proposal. Both verbal and written comments may be submitted.
Written comments may also be submitted by:
• Email to EvergladesHeadwatersProposal@fws.gov
• Fax to 321.861.1276
• Mail to
Everglades Headwaters Proposal
US Fish and Wildlife Service
PO Box 2683
Titusville, FL 32781-2683
Names and addresses should be included with comments, with the understanding that the material is subject to the federal Freedom of Information Act and may be released to the public upon request. The deadline to submit comments is October 24, 2011.
The Service is proposing a 100,000-acre Conservation Area and a 50,000-acre National Wildlife Refuge. This is a voluntary program. The Service would work with willing landowners to purchase full or partial interest in their land. For more information about the proposal, please go to www.fws.gov/southeast/evergladesheadwaters.

110927-
Eric Draper: Continued investment in water infrastructure necessary for Florida's future
TCPalm – by Eric Draper, Executive Director of Audubon of Florida
September 27, 2011
Lower credit ratings could hinder efforts to, for example, restore the Everglades.
Recently it was reported that after Florida's water management districts budgets were cut by about 40 percent, Gov. Rick Scott urged more cuts. While we understand Gov. Scott's zeal for cutting taxes, the impacts need to be examined closely. After all, the Legislature created and voters approved the tax we pay to prevent floods, manage water supply and protect the environment.
The cuts will save the average Florida homeowner enough money each month to buy a couple bottles of drinking water. Without the money, many of the projects that were once planned to store and clean up water are being postponed. To be fair, the state officials say that some of those projects are moving ahead — at least until cash reserves run out.
Gov. Scott and his agency leaders are committed to the core goals of water management. Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel Vineyard stated as much when he said, "We've got to get the water right. Water quality and water quantity is essential for Florida's future."
Mr. Vineyard is right. This year's record-setting drought, a drought that nearly left parts of Palm Beach County without tap water, proves his point. And the endless debate about cleaning out pollution from fertilizer and runoff in our rivers and lakes from drives home his point.
Yet the governor may not have grasped the essential truth of Florida's water resources. Because our state is naturally flood prone but receives little rain half the year, it needs massive water infrastructure. And that costs a bit more than a few bottles of agua. Moreover, most people are willing to pay for reliable water supply.
There is a plan for guaranteeing the water supplies of South Florida — it is called Everglades restoration. The South Florida Water Management District works with federal agencies to design and build a series of projects to store and clean water. The plan provides people and the environment shared benefits of a well managed water supply. The plan costs money. It cost money under Gov. Jeb Bush, it cost money under Gov. Charlie Crist and now, if it moves forward, it will cost money under Gov. Scott.
When conservationists say that it is smart to invest in Everglades restoration as a way to guarantee South Florida's water supplies we mean that money should be spent to build water storage projects and storm-water treatment areas. The water storage projects will store the floodwater from the rainy season and the treatment areas will clean it up so it can be part of our water supply and natural systems.
Those projects cost money. It is not likely that there is enough tax money coming into the water management district to pay for those projects. And this is why conservation leaders including myself, have cast doubt on the budget cuts.
It was Gov. Bush who proposed using low cost loans to finance Everglades restoration and thereby protect South Florida water supplies. At that time the water district had solid credit rating. Now the recent tax cuts led the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's to lower the South Florida Water Management District's credit rating from AAA to AA+. Ironically this could increase costs of borrowing money to build projects.
As our state grows, so does our dependence on clean and abundant water. Legislative leaders are already second guessing the effects of the deep cuts to the water management district budgets. Let them know that investing in our future water supplies and natural systems is vital for Florida's future.

110927-b
New wildlife refuge and conservation area north of Lake Okeechobee may be great idea, but what are state's priorities ?
TCPalm - Editorial
September 27, 2011
There is no money to pay for it. And it may take years to establish.
Nonetheless, the U.S. Interior Department recently announced plans to create an expansive national wildlife refuge and conservation area in the Everglades north of Lake Okeechobee. Conservation easements would be purchased from landowners to set aside about 100,000 acres of pasture land; another 50,000 acres would be purchased by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Total cost: More than $600 million.
On the one hand, the project is welcome news for conservationists and lovers of the Everglades. Everyone agrees that water problems south, east and west of Lake Okeechobee — in particular, contamination from fertilizers — begin north of the lake in the Kissimmee River watershed. Efforts to address pollution and runoff at the headwaters of the Everglades have lagged behind efforts south of Lake Okeechobee. Consequently, creating a huge wildlife refuge and conservation area north of the lake would benefit the entire Everglades system.
"Audubon (of Florida) supports this proposal because it would aid in the restoration of the Everglades and protect vital habitat for key indicator species," the organization stated in a media release. "The new refuge and conservation area will aid other programs to assure a more natural flow of waters into the Everglades."
Who can argue with this endorsement?
At the same time, the project raises concerns about the state and federal governments' seemingly hodgepodge approach to Everglades restoration.
Is it good policy to begin another project when so many other projects — which often begin with glitzy media announcements — languish and die in a sea of bureaucracy and an absence of funding ?  Too much of what state and federal officials do evinces a scattershot approach to Everglades restoration.
In 2000, the state and federal governments launched the ambitious, $10 billion Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. However, year after year, the federal government failed to provide adequate funding. Many projects that were funded went ... nowhere.
In February 2009, Earth magazine summarized a decade of CERP's failures.
"According to the National Research Council, none of CERPs 50 projects have been completed and even relatively modest proposals, such as the Tamiami Trail bridge project, which would elevate a highway blocking marsh water flow, have been derailed by contentious politics, litigation and soaring costs," wrote author Mary Caperton Morton in the article, "Everglades restoration efforts make dismal progress."
Consider the Ten Mile Creek project near Fort Pierce: The $30 million reservoir completed in 2006 and designed to draw in and clean water from Ten Mile Creek before it is released into the North Fork of the St. Lucie River is not operational because of concerns about the integrity of the reservoir constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers. It may never be completed.
Then there's the "panacea" for Everglades restoration announced in 2008 by then-Gov. Charlie Crist, who proposed speding $1.75 billion to purchase about 180,000 acres of U.S. Sugar land (and the company's assets). The goal ? To create a southern flow-way through the Everglades. The U.S. Sugar deal subsequently was watered down to a $197 million version that includes 26,800 acres. It was finalized in October 2010 and provides a 10-year option to buy U.S. Sugar's remaining 153,200 acres.
The state's deal with U.S. Sugar put many CERP projects on hold.
Like the weather in the Sunshine State, the strategy for Everglades restoration can change in the blink of an eye.
Conceptually, a wildlife refuge and conservation area north of Lake Okeechobee is a great idea. But so are many of the CERP projects that have yet to be completed.
Maybe it's time to prioritize the most important Everglades restoration projects — and fund and complete them, in order, before launching new projects.

(mouse-over to enlarge):

Frog Creek, in northern
Manateee County, is part
of the state-owned Terra
Ceia Preserve, one of the
many public properties
that Southwest Florida
Water Management
District officials are
assessing for possible
surplusing and sale.

110927-
Swiftmud's 'Surplus Lands': Retain Valuable Property
TheLedger.com
September 27, 2011
The Southwest Florida Water Management ­District's assessment of its "surplus lands" could turn out to be an exercise in good management and public stewardship.
Or it could become a politically driven effort to undermine the district's longtime, deliberate efforts to protect water sources, environmentally valuable lands and the public interest by purchasing and preserving property.
In March, the governing board of the district — known as Swiftmud — told its staff to review all 430,000 acres of its land holdings "with the goal of identifying … parcels which could be surplused" and sold.
Swiftmud's portfolio of public lands is substantial, but consider: The district encompasses all or part of 16 counties, much of Polk, for a total of roughly 10,000 square miles — about 6.4 million acres.
Today, the Swiftmud staff will provide the 13-member governing board with an update on the Surplus Lands Assessment Program. The presentation will cover "the proposed methodology" for the program and a schedule for public meetings.
UNCLEAR INTENTIONS
The Swiftmud staffer in charge of the program told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that the assessment remains in its early stages — "the second inning of a nine-inning baseball game" — and that wetlands, floodplains, groundwater-recharge areas and spring-protection buffers won't be sold.
But the governing board has yet to make its intentions crystal clear, so there are reasons for the public to be wary about this exercise. There would be less cause for concern about the assessment by Swiftmud if not for Gov. Rick Scott's hostility toward public land-acquisition programs and a June directive to all five water-management districts in Florida.
During this first year of his term, Scott vetoed $305 million allocated by the Republican-­supermajority Legislature to continue Florida Forever — a long-term, land-acquisition program that has had bipartisan political support and voter backing for more than two decades.
A June memo from the "special counsel" of the state Department of Environmental Protection, which has "general supervisory authority" over the districts, effectively put property purchases on hold. The directive also told water districts to determine whether their property holdings "are congruent with the core mission of the districts."
Water districts were originally authorized to prevent catastrophic flooding and they still perform that task. But state law subsequently directed districts to regulate water use, to authorize well construction, to promote conservation — and to acquire land to preserve the quality and quantity of water.
As a result, Swiftmud purchased wetlands, swamps, river banks, and natural areas surrounding lakes and reservoirs. These acquisitions were funded with revenues from Florida Forever (or its precursors) and sometimes matched with tax dollars from the Water District or local governments.
The purchases were intended to preserve lands that provide natural filters and prevent pollution from reaching drinking-water supplies. The acquisitions were also designed to control flooding or protect sensitive areas that help replenish water sources.
SURPLUS PROTECTION
The staff and governing board should begin — starting today — providing the public with strong assurances that lands serving those purposes won't even be considered for surplusing.
The board and staff can send that message by openly and thoroughly discussing the criteria that would be used for evaluating properties and the conditions under which they might be identified for possible sale.
In light of the Water District's significant holdings, it makes sense to periodically review whether those properties continue to serve the functions for which they were purchased with public funds. Plus, the costs of maintaining those properties must be monitored and factored into the public-interest equation.
The water-management districts have an obligation to be cost-efficient in all their operations, including land acquisition and maintenance. But they are also entrusted with the protection of precious public assets — water and land. These resources are not worthless commodities that can be easily surplused and sold, not even in Florida's era of austerity.

110927-d
Water district plans to sell conservation land
Herald Tribune - by Kate Spinner
September 27, 2011
Desperate to cut costs, Florida could soon be selling off tens of thousands of acres of public parks and conservation land — some of it bought at the peak of the real estate boom — to the highest bidder in perhaps the worst real estate market since the Great Depression.
Under a new plan by regional water managers, natural areas bought to help prevent flooding and protect drinking water sources but now deemed to be unnecessary could be sold for development, farming or other uses. Land could be trimmed from dozens of local parks and preserves, including Charlotte Harbor Buffer Preserve in Charlotte County, Myakka State Forest in Sarasota County and Terra Ceia in Manatee.
"If we don't need it to help us conserve water resources or wetlands, then we don't need to be holding it," said Paul Senft, chairman of the board that governs the Southwest Florida Water Management District, the agency charged with regulating and protecting water resources across 16 counties.
The district has not specified how much land it plans to sell. But within about a year, the agency's board expects to vote on a list of parcels from approximately 450,000 acres under consideration.
The move comes amid a backlash against publicly owned land, driven by the Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott. State agencies have been directed to get rid of nonessential land, primarily to save on maintenance costs, an effort made more urgent for the water district as it reels from tens of millions of dollars in budget cuts the state imposed on the district this year to help lower property taxes.
But because of state restrictions on the sale of conservation land, the district's payoff could be minimal, with most of the proceeds going to the state.
Other government agencies, including the Department of Environmental Protection and two other water districts — Suwannee River and South Florida — are also making plans to sell conservation land.
Agencies routinely sell land they do not need, said Janet Bowman, director of legislative policy and strategies for The Nature Conservancy's Florida chapter. But environmentalists said the current sales plans are driven by ideology and money, not because the land is not worth preserving.
"What's distressing is that rather than being a process where you identify land you don't really need as the situation arises, this is being viewed as a way of generating funds for whatever purpose," Bowman said.
The planned sales, some of which could involve sites purchased in concert with cities and counties, could undermine longstanding public confidence in all conservation programs.
"It begs the question as to whether or not this agency or any other agency in the government can be trusted in setting aside conservation lands, if in the future they decide to sell them," said Glenn Compton, president of the local environmental group ManaSota-88.
Frank Jackalone, staff director for the Florida chapter of the Sierra Club, called it an "act of desperation" to sell public land.
"The problem, is where does it stop ?" Jackalone said. "The program was to set up lands for the public benefit, not to set up a bank account for whenever the state gets strapped for cash."
Tight finances
So far, little has been disclosed publicly about the land sales plan. Officials insist that no final decisions have been made and that the public will be included as the district evaluates sites for sale.
The idea was first discussed at a board meeting in March and is scheduled to come up again today.
"We're in kind of the second inning here of a nine inning baseball game," said Roy Mazur, planning director for the water district.
Recent district budget cuts totalling $119 million, or 44 percent, make the land situation more pressing. Last year the agency spent $5.9 million removing exotic plants, managing prescribed burns and maintaining other infrastructure on its public land.
The Southwest Florida district provides water supply and flood control to 4.7 million people from near Ocala to south of Punta Gorda. It also owns 447,417 acres of conservation property, including 72,000 acres in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties.
Nearly half of that land was purchased with money aimed at keeping it forever in public hands, to buffer wetlands, rivers and areas where water percolates into aquifers. As a side benefit, officials previously argued the lands would provide wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities.
But the district's 13-member governing board began discussing a land sell-off after the Legislature directed state agencies to eliminate nonessential property and the DEP told districts to focus on their core missions.
Later, Scott vetoed $305 million allocated by the Legislature for Florida Forever, a conservation land program he called a "special interest."
Over the past two decades, the state has bought outright or purchased development rights to 3 million acres of conservation land, much of it through the state's five water management districts.
But unlike previous governors, Scott is not a big proponent of publicly owned land.
"This is really a very significant ideological shift — in certainly where governors have been — on the importance of land acquisition as a non-regulatory way of protecting Florida's environment," Bowman said.
District officials say they will not sell wetlands, floodplain, groundwater recharge areas and spring protection buffers.
Under state rules, proceeds from most of the sites must go to the state, which can only use the money to pay off bonds that funded conservation programs or to buy new conservation land.
As a result, the main savings would come only through lower maintenance costs or increased tax revenue once property goes back on the tax rolls.
County, state and federal money paid for about one-fifth of the water district's conservation land. Selling those properties will probably require the partner's approval, Mazur said. How funds would be distributed back to partners is unclear.
The district's website urges the public to "get outside and explore YOUR recreational lands." Outdoor enthusiasts consider them some of the best-kept secrets in Southwest Florida.
A regional map directs users to areas such as the Terra Ceia Preserve State Park near Ellenton, the Myakka State Forest near Englewood and the RV Griffin Preserve near Punta Gorda.
From the highway, these lands often look like the pine-and-palmetto pastures that cover Southwest Florida, but hiking and biking trails lead to quiet woods and picture postcard scenes.
The RV Griffin offers 21 miles of trails through oak hammocks. Myakka State Forest trails lead to campsites on small lakes and the shaded banks of the Myakka River. The Terra Ceia Preserve offers paddlers and fishermen access to the waters of Bishop Harbor and Tampa Bay.
Sarasota County Commissioner Jon Thaxton questioned whether this is a good time to sell, in a depressed real estate market.
"It is the taxpayers that are the constituents who really need to be engaged and watching this process because it is their money, their real estate," Thaxton said.
Albert Joerger, president and founder of the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast, said people count on his land conservation group to keep the property it buys in perpetual conservation.
But Joerger, also a member of the district's governor-appointed board, representing Sarasota County, said the district is being careful, adding that the aim is not to sell everything. "Judging by the process I've seen and the thoughtfulness of the staff in acquisition, I would find it hard to believe that we're talking more than a couple percent," he said.
Environmental groups will be watching, said Charles Lee, director of Advocacy for Audubon of Florida.
"We're not going to stand by and allow the treasured assets, important to wildlife and water resources, to be sold off because somebody has a bee in their bonnet," Lee said.
Staff writer Thomas Becnel contributed to this report.

110927-e
Water District seeks to stop West Palm from overdrawing wellfield
Palm Beach Post - by Christine Stapleton, Staff Writer
September 27, 2011
As West Palm Beach braces to enter the dry season, already in a water shortage and in violation of its water use permit, its top water manager said the city would be unable to comply with a proposed order that would spare the city from fines of as much as $10,000 a day.
In August, the South Florida Water Management District cited the city for violating its water use permit by siphoning millions of gallons from its wellfield without replenishing it from the city's Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant. The permit requires that, for every gallon the city draws from its wellfield, it must replace a gallon with water from the plant, to keep a nearby wellfield used by the county from running low.
However, the plant, plagued with design flaws and operator error, has been shut down half the time since 2009 and produced an average of only 1.4 million gallons a day. As the drought worsened, the city began to draw more water from its wellfield than it could replace.
In June, the city withdrew 607.7 million gallons from its wellfield but replaced only 58.1 million gallons with water from the plant. In July, the city drew 757 million gallons from its wellfield but replaced only 81 million gallons.
Although summer rains have provided some relief, ground and surface water levels have been slow to recover after record-low rainfall from October to mid-June. West Palm Beach is especially vulnerable to drought because it relies on rainwater captured in a 20-square mile area known as the Grassy Waters Preserve. During a drought, the preserve goes dry, leaving the city to depend on water from its wellfield.
That happened this summer, forcing the city to begin pumping water from its wellfield. The beleagured plant, designed 20 years ago as a cutting-edge process to turn treated sewage into drinkable water, could not keep up.
Although the city stopped pumping water from its wellfield on Aug. 5, the district sent a notice of violation to the city on Aug. 24 based on two months of data showing more far water pumped from the wellfield than replenished. Since then, water managers have been preparing a consent order to force the city the city back into compliance, according to emails obtained by The Palm Beach Post.
Among the conditions in the Aug. 31 draft of the order, the city would have 90 days to come up with a plan to "modify, enhance, re-design, and/or repair" the Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, so it could produce 17.3 million gallons of water a day to replenish the wellfield.
"That's not going to happen," David Hanks, the city's utilities director, said of the 90-day deadline. "Even if money was not an object, we still couldn't do it."
Hanks, who took over operation of the plant in 2008, two years after it opened, said it could take months to hire experts to decide how to fix the plant. Making those fixes could cost as much $20 million, Hanks told the city commission on Monday. In the meantime, the city has hired an engineering firm to review the plant's operations and recommend a solution -- including converting the plant to a conventional reuse plant.
After meeting with the engineers later this week, Hanks said the city will ask the district to modify its permit by removing the gallon-for-gallon replenishment requirement and instead base replenishment requirements on rainfall data at the wellfield.
Asked what would happen if the city cannot convince the district to modify its permit and the Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant cannot match withdrawls from the wellfield, Hanks had no answer.
"That's a good question," Hanks said. "We don't have any other alternative."

110926-a
Army Corps of Engineers closes Everglades Division
Sun Sentinel - by Andy Reid
September 25, 2011
Army Corps says budget-cutting move doesn't derail Everglades restoration
The Army Corps of Engineers this summer disbanded its Everglades Division, signaling another potential slowdown for overdue restoration of the famed River of Grass and boosting South Florida's water supply.
The move was prompted by Army Corps expectations that both state and federal money for Everglades restoration could be scaled back under Gov. Rick Scott and because of budget fights in Congress.
Less money would delay long-term construction projects and mean less need for a team of 75 employees at the Jacksonville office focused solely on the Everglades, according to the Army Corps.
"We are positioning ourselves to be in a good place three to five years from now," said Howard Gonzales, chief of the Army Corps' ecosystem branch for Florida and the Caribbean. "By no means have we diminished any of the support that we [provide] for the Everglades program."
The Army Corps has been meeting with environmental groups in recent weeks to explain the changes and to assure them that Everglades work will continue.
Disbanding the Everglades Division may be a "public perception issue," but the real long-term threat is the prospect of not getting the state and federal money needed for Everglades restoration, said Julie Hill-Gabriel, co-chairwoman of the Everglades Coalition, which includes dozens of national and state environmental groups.
"To see things cut back now, it's frustrating," said Hill-Gabriel."Putting the brakes on anything now is the opposite of where we would like to be going."
The state of Florida and the federal government in 2000 announced a long-term plan to share the costs of restoring what remains of the Everglades and, by extension, make more water available for South Florida communities and agricultural and environmental needs.
The projected costs have grown to more than $19 billion.
Restoration plans called for more than 60 projects to store, clean and redirect stormwater needed to replenish the Everglades. So far, none of the restoration projects has been finished.
Disbanding of the Army Corps' Everglades Division comes as federal funding and construction gained steam under the Obama administration.
Construction is under way on a $100 million project to raise an initial one-mile section of Tamiami Trail to allow more water to flow to Everglades National Park. Federal economic-stimulus money is paying for the initial $44 million phase of a stormwater storage area and refurbished wetland west of Boca Raton.
"Progress is being made," Gonzales said. "This restoration program is at the forefront."
The nation's struggling economy and political fights in Congress could hurt efforts to keep federal money flowing to the Everglades.
That could affect getting the congressional go-ahead for projects that include a reservoir west of Lake Okeechobee, Biscayne Bay wetland protections and a Broward County water preserve.
Also, Scott and the Legislature this year slashed the South Florida Water Management District's budget by more than 30 percent, prompting $128 million in cutbacks that environmental groups warn threatens Everglades restoration.
State officials maintain that Everglades restoration can continue amid Scott's push for the Water Management District to focus on its "core mission."
Some of the restoration projects funded in its slimmed-down $576 million budget approved Tuesday include: $10 million to expand stormwater treatment areas that clean water headed to the Everglades, $14.3 million to store stormwater on private land; and $930,000 for projects intended to improve water quality in Biscayne Bay, Florida Bay and the Everglades.
Those projects help, but cutting funding for the water district hurts efforts to convince Congress to provide matching federal money needed for long-term Everglades restoration, said Dawn Shirreffs, of the National Parks Conservation Association.
"It would be irresponsible to say we don't need to be careful about the message we send to the federal government," Shirreffs said.

110926-b
Front & Center: DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard
Orlando Sentinel
September 26, 2011
The state's new environmental chief, Vinyard says the Department of Environmental Protection is "hitting the pause button" to evaluate its extensive conservation land holdings. Depending on the evaluation, DEP might put some of the land up for sale. Asked for an example of land DEP owns that isn't in "the right places," Vinyard mentions only that DEP lands must have "environmental value." Vinyard also tells editorial writer Victor Schaffner that DEP will concentrate on improving Florida's water quality, even though the state cut water-management-district budgets and opposes tough new federal water rules.
"Do we own the land in the right places?... [And] is it the land that we need ?"

110926-c
The Cell from Absolute Hell: Pfiesteria piscicida
The beachsideresident.com
September 26, 2011
I’ve seen many things that have scared the crap out of me over the years, but there is literally nothing that has creeped the living bejeezis out of me more than this creature. And it has been found in Florida.
Red tide and harmful algal blooms suck in our area; they’re a seasonal occurrence beachside residents often have to deal with. Many don’t really know what causes them and why the fish die in their wake. I investigated a fish kill in the Cocoa Beach area recently, and observed a couple of hundred fish dead in the green-tinged canals. It was no big deal for most of us, but when I got the report back from the lab in St. Pete indicating one of the organisms responsible, it got me thinking. I was reminded of a scenario that baffled North Carolina researchers in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Written off as merely a red tide event, fish kills in the Outer and Inner Banks prompted an investigation that would uncover an organism so horrifying and mysterious that it defies logic. They had discovered the cell from absolute hell, Pfiesteria piscacida.
To understand what I am talking about, you must first understand the processes of harmful algal blooms (i.e. red tides). Red tide and harmful algal blooms can cover a myriad of organisms, but in our area we usually look for a particular species of algae that blooms out of control when conditions are right. For the short version, the resulting lack of oxygen and/or toxins produced by the organism produces fish kills. Sounds relatively simple right? In the North Carolina incidents, however, it was much more complicated. Reports began to come in of blue crabs trying to climb up pilings to get out of the affected waters and fish being eaten to the bone. Fishermen, the backbone of the community there, started showing up with their arms and faces covered in sores that wouldn’t heal. Initially, nothing anomalous showed up in post-fish kill water tests, but eventually a suspect was found — and the resulting investigations almost killed the people who’d found it.
Pfiesteria piscicida is technically classified in a group of one-celled organisms called dinoflagellates, which use photosynthesis to obtain energy and prey on other animals in the process. Often, this species can be found merely resting on the bottom, feeding on bacteria and algae. When a school of fish swims by though, things get very different. This organism begins to change. It grows a tail, and begins to swim to the fish. A neurotoxin is secreted by Pfiesteria piscicida into the water column, and as fish enter the contaminated area, they begin to exhibit signs of lethargy, and eventually end up dying due to paralysis of the respiratory muscles. Then Pfiesteria piscicida changes yet again, becoming an amoeboid-like form that devours these fish, often while they are still living. If the fish did not die from the toxin meant to suffocate them, it does die from the bacterial infection as the organism feeds. A change occurs yet again as Pfiesteria piscicida returns to its original, undetectable form near the bottom. The only evidence that this organism was at work in the North Carolina instance were the small lesions found on the carcasses of fish that were not totally devoured. It is estimated that Pfiesteria piscicida has killed over one billion fish since its discovery in 1988 by Dr. Joann Burkholder. And all of this havoc wrought by a small, one-celled organism.
If all this hasn’t creeped you out enough, here comes the interesting part. As Dr. Burkholder and her team were investigating this new organism, strange things began to happen. People who remained in the laboratory for too long began to exhibit symptoms of respiratory distress, confusion, nausea, and memory loss. One of the researchers even lost her short-term memory for about a week. This prompted the researchers to drastically alter their safety protocols. This species had to be classified as a Class III organism, and people studying it had wear biohazard suits with an external oxygen supply — the same suit and safety measures used by those who study the AIDS virus.
Although it hasn’t been found in our immediate area, there have been reports of this species in Florida, primarily on the west coast. The incidents here were nothing compared to what happened in North Carolina, but they were damaging nonetheless. This creature is believed to have existed for millions of years, but only after years of study we were able to found out more about this horrific and amazing creature.
Mahalo, Bloody Bill

110926-d
The EPA has carefully considered the cost of proposed new pollution limits
TCPalm.com - Letter by David Guest, attorney with Earthjustice
September 26, 2011
In her Sept. 23 guest column about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new limits on sewage, manure and fertilizer in our public waters, Andrea Sampson gets a critical fact plain wrong. She writes: "It's disconcerting that EPA has no mandate to consider the cost of the rules it adopts."
Not true. EPA does have to consider costs. In fact, EPA economists did a detailed study on predicted costs of the new EPA limits on sewage, fertilizer and manure pollution in Florida. EPA economists concluded that modernizing outdated waste-treatment systems to meet the rule will cost homeowners an average of $3 to $6 a month — or 11 to 20 cents per day, per household, for clean water.
The study is here:  tinyurl.com/5wowrrk
(http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/upload/florida_econ.pdf )
The new pollution limits are needed to protect public health. Florida scientists identified the dangers of this pollution 11 years ago. It causes dangerous toxic algae outbreaks throughout the state, especially during hot weather.
The Florida Department of Health now hands out educational materials that ask people: "Have You been Slimed?" Callers to the state's Aquatic Toxins Hotline hear a recording that warns: "It is very important that pets, livestock and small children are kept out of water suspected of having a blue green algae bloom since there have been many reports of animals dying after drinking highly contaminated water."
To protect public health, we need to move forward with these pollution limits.

110925-a
Cut of key monitoring program imperils Everglades restoration, experts warn
Miami Herald - by CURTIS MORGAN
September 25, 2011
A program that monitors Everglades health gets hit with a 60 percent budget, and some scientists are worried.
The agencies in charge of restoring the Everglades are set to gut a science program critical to determining whether work they’re doing is helping or hurting plants and animals that live there — from algae that anchors the bottom of the food chain to alligators that feast at its top.
The budget for the long-running monitoring program, which assesses key “indicator” species that serve as the vital signs of complex, interconnected Everglades ecosystems, is being slashed by almost 60 percent overall, with nearly a dozen research projects eliminated completely.
The cuts, all but finalized, drew sharp criticism from some members of an interagency Everglades restoration group that reviewed them last week. They warned that the resulting data gap could compromise the ambitious multibillion-dollar restoration effort.
“It’s devastating. It’s completely killing the science, the foundation on which everything was built,’’ said Ronnie Best, coordinator of the greater Everglades science program for the U.S. Geological Survey. “We can’t move forward in the future with any confidence that what we’re doing is making a difference because we won’t be out there monitoring.’’
The cuts come from the two partners splitting the cost of the ambitious $14 billion Everglades restoration effort, the South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The district’s governing board, under orders from Gov. Rick Scott and state lawmakers to reduce yearly spending by 30 percent, last week approved an “austere’’ $600 million budget that lopped off some $130 million through layoffs and benefits reductions as well as delays of maintenance work and Everglades projects.
The science monitoring program took an outsized hit, with the district cutting its share of funding some 71 percent, from $2.3 million to $645,000. The Corps, also one of the program’s primary supporters, is proposing a cut of about 40 percent, from $5.8 million to about $3.5 million. Susan Gray, the district’s chief environmental scientist, said the district had worked with the Corps as well as other agencies and academic researchers handling monitoring to prioritize projects “in light of the very tough financial situation.’’
The district is legally obligated to continue certain monitoring, she said but the cuts were fashioned to preserve critical measures across the Everglades, which stretch from the Kissimmee River to Florida Bay.
She also said the program, specifically designed under the 2000 Everglades restoration plan to track and analyze large-scale changes in the system, can be supplemented with data from individual restoration projects or by other agencies. It was also decided that some monitoring could be left on standby and potentially resumed down the road as projects are built.
Still, she acknowledged the cuts were significant, especially to monitoring programs that have been “optimized,’’ meaning trimmed, several times in the last few years. The result is that the expected budget for 2012 of about $3.9 million is down by more than half from this year and more than two-thirds from 2008.
“There was not any fluff,’’ Gray said. “We’re losing some of the cause-and-effect science that is so critical to understanding how the system operates.’’
Among the monitoring that will be halted: submerged vegetation in Biscayne Bay, the Indian River Lagoon and Loxahatchee watershed; water quality, circulation and salinity in southern coastal areas; assessments of crocodiles and alligators, fishes in marshes and mangroves, and juvenile pink shrimp. Monitoring damaging algae blooms in Florida Bay — the blooms have been a persistent problem — also will be ended. Money for more than a dozen other projects will be cut from 10 to 83 percent.
Scientists like Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife ecology professor based in Davie, said the most frustrating thing is that $4 million savings amounts to a drop in the bucket of an Everglades restoration plan with an estimated official price tag of $14 billion.
“In the grand scheme of things, it’s not like they are saving a lot of money by doing this,’’ said Mazzotti, who for decades has monitored South Florida’s populations of crocodiles and alligators, creatures whose movements, productivity, growth rates and numbers have proven to be good gauges of changes in water levels and quality.
The program cut all $300,000 for his surveys, meaning a half-dozen technician and grad students will be out of work. He’ll continue more limited work himself with funding from other agencies. In the Everglades, where life waxes and wanes with seasonal rainfall and changes in water levels, he believes there is a risk of missing potentially serious changes if monitoring is dropped for a year or more.
He likened it to skipping annual dentist visits: “If you only go every five years, instead of a little cavity, you might need a root canal.’’
Joel Trexler, a professor of biology at Florida International University, echoed Mazzotti. A program he runs with FIU colleague Evelyn Gaiser was lopped by more $200,000 to $315,000. Gaiser monitors periphyton, ubiquitous algae that are the base of the Everglades food chain, while Trexler focuses on crayfish and small fish, which eat algae and in turn are eaten by wading birds.
They’ve already had to trim a six-person technical staff in half. Worse, the cut, combined with a decision by the district to no longer allow researchers to charter its helicopters, will put some spots in the Everglades effectively out of reach, he said.
Trexler fears the cuts will undermine what was supposed to be one of the hallmarks of Everglades restoration, a concept called “adaptive management’’ — meaning that changes observed on the ground are supposed to guide decisions on projects designs and operation.
The idea was to avoid mistakes of the past, with engineering projects in one spot producing unintended and unfortunate ripple effects elsewhere. Cutting the C-111 canal to drain farms in South Miami-Dade, for instance, shunted water flow away from Florida Bay, resulting in higher salinity, periodic seagrass die-offs and algae blooms.
“Often in a system like the Everglades,’’ Trexler said, “the impacts and the consequences are far distance and there are often surprises.’’
Mazzotti, Best and other scientists acknowledged it’s hard to make the case for robust monitoring with the public and policymakers, particularly when results can sometimes show little, if any, changes. But not doing it can carry high costs as well, Mazzotti said.
“The reason we are restoring the Everglades is that when we tried to manage it in previous years, there was no monitoring,’’ he said.
Best and other scientists also warned that there was a risk of losing future federal funding. When Congress approved the landmark state-federal restoration plan in 2000, it also demanded scientific proof that the billions of dollars in projects were working. To a large extent, the health of indicator species like wading birds, crayfish and alligators are supposed to serve as that proof.
The district’s Gray said enough monitoring remained to support the restoration work. “There were touch choices that needed to be made,’’ she said.
Craig Tepper, water resources director of the Seminole Tribe, listened to the scientists’ concerns during Wednesday’s meeting of the science coordination group of the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force but said he had a different take on the cuts.
He told scientists that he supports the district’s decision to put a priority on building projects, rather than more monitoring.
“You’ve been studying the system for quite a few years now,’’ he said. “It’s more important for the public to see projects.’’

110925-b
Invasive Species Menace Florida Ecosystem
The Epoch Times - by Paul Darin
September 25, 2011
A 20-year University of Florida study shows that Florida has the worst invasive species problem in the world. Specifically, invasive reptiles and amphibians have had disastrous ecological impacts in Florida spanning over 100 years. 
“Most people in Florida don’t realize when they see an animal if it’s native or non-native and unfortunately, quite a few of them don’t belong here and can cause harm. No other area in the world has a problem like we do, and today’s laws simply cannot be enforced to stop [the] current trend,” said head author Kenneth Krysko. Krysko is also herpetology collection manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. 
Since 1863, 137 species of amphibians and reptiles not native to Florida have been introduced to its ecosystem. The university study specifies 56 migrant species, including 43 lizards, 5 snakes, 4 turtles, 3 frogs, and a species of caimen (a genetic cousin of the indigenous alligator). 
“The invasion of lizards is pretty drastic considering we only have 16 native species,” said Krysko. “Lizards can cause just as much damage as a python. They are quicker than snakes, can travel far, and are always moving around looking for the next meal.”
The study shows bleak results, indicating 137 introductions with only 3 species intercepted before populating in the wild, and none being eradicated or removed.
Invasive species can cause a variety of damage, including iguanas that can ruin cement walls like those found in Florida residents’ home foundations, or Burmese pythons in the Everglades that eat ecologically threatened species. 
“The biggest example is the Burmese python,” Krysko said. “It’s a large constrictor and has definitely shown impact on native species, some you just can’t even find anymore.”
The greenhouse frog was the first documented foreign species, according to the study. A native to the West Indies, the frog made its way to Florida in 1887 via cargo ships from Cuba. Accidental introduction through cargo trading was the primary factor for species introduction until about the 1940s. 
Since the 1970s, the great majority of invasive species introduction has been through the keeping of exotic terrarium animals. The release—accidental or otherwise—of these animals is accountable for 84 percent of the current invasive species.
The state of Florida does not permit these releases normally. However, no prosecutions can be made unless offenders are caught in the act, and so far no one has been prosecuted for the release of invasive animals. Hence, researchers urge politicians and policymakers to enact tougher policies before more foreign species are introduced.
“This is a global problem and to think Florida is an exception to the rule is silly,” Krysko said. “The Fish and Wildlife Commission can’t do it alone—they need help and we have to have partners in this with every agency and the general public. Everyone has to be on board; it’s a very serious issue.
“It’s like some mad scientist has thrown these species together from all around the world and said, ‘Hey let’s put them all together and see what happens,’” Krysko said. “It could take decades before we actually know the long-term effects these species will have.”

(mouse-over to enlarge):

Frog Creek, in northern
Manateee County, is part
of the state-owned Terra
Ceia Preserve, one of the
many public properties
that Southwest Florida
Water Management
District officials are
assessing for possible
surplusing and sale.

110925-c
Protect priceless public lands
Herald Tribune
September 25, 2011
The Southwest Florida Water Management District's assessment of its "surplus lands" could turn out to be an exercise in good management and public stewardship.
Or it could become a politically driven effort to undermine the district's longtime, deliberate efforts to protect water sources, environmentally valuable lands and the public interest by purchasing and preserving property.
In March, the governing board of the district — known as Swiftmud — told its staff to review all 430,000 acres of its land holdings "with the goal of identifying ... parcels which could be surplused" and sold.
Swiftmud's portfolio of public lands is substantial, but consider: The district encompasses all or part of 16 counties, including Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte, for a total of roughly 10,000 square miles — about 6.4 million acres.
On Tuesday, the Swiftmud staff will provide the 13-member governing board with an update on the "surplus lands assessment program." The presentation will cover "the proposed methodology" for the program and a schedule for public meetings.
Board's intentions unclear
The Swiftmud staffer in charge of the program told Kate Spinner of the Herald-Tribune that the assessment remains in its early stages — "the second inning of a nine-inning baseball game" — and that wetlands, floodplains, groundwater-recharge areas and spring-protection buffers won't be sold.
But the governing board has yet to make its intentions crystal-clear, so there are reasons for the public to be wary about this exercise. There would be less cause for concern about the assessment by Swiftmud, if not for Gov. Rick Scott's hostility toward public land-acquisition programs and a June directive to all five water-management districts in Florida.
During this first year of his term, Scott vetoed $305 million allocated by the Republican-dominated Legislature to continue Florida Forever — a long-term, land-acquisition program that has had bipartisan political support and voter backing for more than two decades.
A June memo from the "special counsel" of the state Department of Environmental Protection, which has "general supervisory authority" over the districts, effectively put property purchases on hold. The directive also told water districts to determine whether their property holdings "are congruent with the core mission of the districts."
Water districts were originally authorized to prevent catastrophic flooding, and they still perform that task. But state law subsequently directed districts to regulate water use, authorize well construction, promote conservation — and acquire land to preserve the quality and quantity of water.
As a result, Swiftmud purchased wetlands, swamps, river banks and natural areas surrounding lakes and reservoirs. These acquisitions were funded with revenues from Florida Forever (or its precursors) and sometimes matched with tax dollars from the water district or local governments.
Public needs assurances
The purchases were intended to preserve lands that provide natural filters and prevent pollution from reaching drinking-water supplies. The acquisitions were also designed to control flooding or protect sensitive areas that help replenish water sources. Much of the land — for example, the Edward W. Chance Reserve in Manatee County and the Myakka Prairie Tract in Sarasota County — is also open for recreation, an added public benefit.
The staff and governing board should begin — starting Tuesday — providing the public with strong assurances that lands serving those purposes won't even be considered for surplusing.
The board and staff can send that message by openly and thoroughly discussing the criteria that would be used for evaluating properties and the conditions under which they might be identified for possible sale.
In light of the water district's significant holdings, it makes sense to periodically review whether those properties continue to serve the functions for which they were purchased with public funds. (Sarasota County government, for instance, is undertaking a similar task.) Plus, the costs of maintaining those properties must be monitored and factored into the public-interest equation.
The water management districts have an obligation to be cost-efficient in all their operations, including land acquisition and maintenance. But they are also entrusted with the protection of precious public assets — water and land. These resources are not worthless commodities that can be easily surplused and sold, not even in Florida's era of austerity.

110923-a
Broward County Commission to Oppose Everglades Drilling (Which Already Exists)
BrowardPalmBeach.com - by Stefan Kamph
September 23, 2011
In next Wednesday's meeting, the Broward County Commission will move to adopt language in its state and federal legislative programs "opposing any oil drilling or exploration in or around the Everglades."
The legislative programs are a set agenda of issues that the County Commission hires lobbyists to push for in both Tallahassee and Washington. Previously, the county's state and federal programs opposed oil drilling within Florida's territorial seas or continental shelf.
In response to recent comments, most notably by whistling teakettle Michele Bachmann, indicating that the Everglades could be opened up to oil drilling, the commission will move to explicitly oppose that as well.
According to the commission agenda:
In response to recent suggestions that "responsible" oil drilling could be supported in the Everglades, adding a provision to both programs clarifying that the County also opposes any drilling or exploration in the Everglades is recommended. Authorizing drilling in the Everglades would only increase the threat to Florida's beaches and economy already presented by existing offshore drilling and exploration while also degrading one of the country's most unique natural environments.
Bachmann wants domestic oil. "Whether that is in the Everglades, or whether that is in the eastern Gulf region, or whether that's in North Dakota, we need to go where the energy is," she said last month. Other politicians were quick to criticize, and Rick Scott agreed with cautious drilling in the Glades until backpedaling amid popular opposition.
And then Allen West sent her a letter, setting himself up to be branded as a "radical environmentalist."
Only one problem, folks. We're already drilling for oil in the Everglades. According to a Sun-Sentinel article that poked a hole in all the supposedly preventative alarmism of the past weeks:
BreitBurn Energy Partners, a Los Angeles company that has acquired leases on three South Florida oil fields, drilled five new wells in 2010 and 2011 on the eastern edge of Big Cypress National Preserve, a rugged wilderness inhabited by panthers, blackbears and more than two dozen other protected species.
Big Cypress is also the subject of some debate on whether to allow hunting in the addition lands, a small section of the preserve that's still off-limits to hunting, for now. Pedro Ramos, the preserve's superintendent, oversees both issues.
"We have not had any significant issues from their operations," he said of the active wells to the Sun-Sentinel.
We'll reach out to BreitBurn to see if they have an opinion on the county's apparent disapproval of their quiet drilling operations in the River of Grass.

110923-b
No conflict of interest in water board vote
News-Press.com – Guest Opinion by Carolyn Ansay
September 23, 2011
A recent News-Press editorial cast an unnecessary shadow on a South Florida Water Management District restoration project and the District's Governing Board and its chairman because the editorial lacked readily available, accurate and factual information.
While it appears that The News-Press understands and generally supports the project, the editorial insinuates wrong-doing on behalf of Chairman Joe Collins -although nothing could be further from the truth.
Because Mr. Collins is an employee of the ranch where the Nicodemus Slough project is located, the Florida Commission on Ethics was asked for a legal opinion before the District entered into a project agreement. Issued on Feb. 9, 2011, and available to the public at ethics.state.fl.us, the Commission's official opinion (CEO 11-02) stated that "a prohibited conflict of interest would not be created" under Florida law in this circumstance.
In an act of further caution, Mr. Collins abstained from each and every decision and formal vote associated with this project-a fact that is publicly documented by the District in meeting minutes and on its website, which I encourage your staff and readers to review. You might also be interested to know that concepts for this project were part of the district's public planning process - and communicated to the entire agricultural community within the Northern Everglades - as early as 2006, well before Mr. Collins' appointment to the Governing Board in 2009.
Your readers may want to know that the Nicodemus Slough project in Glades County is an innovative public-private partnership that will bring significant environmental benefits to Lake Okeechobee, Fisheating Creek and the Caloosahatchee Estuary at a low cost to taxpayers. The 15,000-acre project will store water on private ranchlands during high flows to Lake Okeechobee and deliver much needed water to the estuary during dry times, while also providing water quality benefits. The project is on land that, because of its unique location to Lake Okeechobee and existing landscape features, can quickly be readied to clean and store significant volumes of water.
At a cost of $95 dollars per acre-foot of storage, the Nicodemus Slough project requires a tiny fraction of the cost (and construction time) that would be needed to build new storage and treatment facilities to deliver these same benefits. The project is one of more than 100 dispersed water management projects that are part of the Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Plan. This multi-component plan, supported with funding from the water management district and the Florida Legislature, is designed to bring about the long-term restoration of Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie River estuaries.
The South Florida Water Management District Governing Board has worked hard to deliver cost-effective, meaningful results for Lake Okeechobee, the Caloosahatchee Estuary watershed and its residents. I can assure you that the board diligently observes Florida ethics and procurement law in all of its actions.
Carolyn Ansay is general counsel to the South Florida Water Management District

110923-c
NPDES update
Lexology.com – by Bergeson & Campbell PC
September 23 2011
Susan Lewis, EPA OPP Biological and Economic Analysis Division (BEAD), Allison Wiedeman, Office of Water, EPA, and Jordan discussed the status of EPA's development of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Pesticides General Permit (PGP) for EPA and six states (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Alaska, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Nevada). This PGP will be available by October 31, 2011, along with a fact sheet and electronic form templates for the applications under the PGP.    
According to the presentations, Florida, California, Washington, North Carolina, Virginia, Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota, which have delegated NPDES authority, already have developed their own PGPs. Twenty-five other states are in various stages of developing their PGPs. EPA urges all states to complete their PGPs by the October 31, 2011, deadline or the use of direct application of pesticides to aquatic environments would not be allowed. Based on discussions during the meeting, the POM WC voted to recommend that SFIREG send EPA a formal request to seek an additional six-month stay from the Court-imposed deadline.

110923-d
Proposed water-quality standards will put already burdened households in poverty in even more trouble
TCPalm – by Andrea Samson
September 23, 2011
YES: Too many poverty stricken Floridians cannot afford any more.
The essence of the argument put forward by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and EarthJustice at the recent Congressional Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations field hearing in Orlando was not that Florida's total maximum daily loads process is flawed. The argument for EPA to set numeric nutrient criteria is that it will make things happen more quickly.
The sad reality is that it will also make severe hardship and hunger happen more quickly. Unfortunately, many of the discussions of criteria costs are sanitized, ignoring completely that right now there are real people facing impossible choices between paying for housing, utilities, gasoline or food. It's a moot point to a family already without food money whether municipal plant upgrades will cost the consumer $40 a year or $700 a year. They don't have either amount.
In fact, most of the counties identified as targets for the criteria are in counties where the unemployment and poverty rates are some of the highest in the state, averaging an overall poverty rate of more than 22 percent and child poverty rate of 30 percent.
2009 poverty statistics for Florida published by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities show 620,882 poverty level, renter households pay more than half their monthly income ($1,083) for housing. After paying utilities, these households typically have about $133 to pay for other necessities. Sixty-six percent of these low-income renters are elderly, disabled or families with children. Today's unemployment numbers are at least 2 percent to 4 percent higher than in 2009. Given the positive correlation between the unemployment rate and the poverty rate, 2011 poverty figures are likely higher as well.
In the numerous meetings held to date, little or no attention is given to the price schools, hospitals, landlords, nursing homes, day care facilities and businesses will have to pay to cover the capital and operational costs of municipal plant upgrades. This is the point where the "sanitized" cost discussion explodes into a scenario of incredible proportions.
It's both undeniable and inevitable that all these increased costs will be borne by Florida's residents in the form of property tax increases, higher rents, food prices and health care costs. The actual cost is much higher than just the per-family increase, and it is an escalation that will send families on the cusp of poverty into financial chaos. Those already living in poverty will simply be without options.
It's disconcerting, that EPA has no mandate to consider the cost of the rules it adopts. It's especially alarming that everything presented so far by EPA and EarthJustice addresses the health and well-being of endangered plant and animal species, but nothing presented so far addresses the corresponding and consequential danger to human health and well-being.
The proposed water quality standards to be achieved are essentially the same. The only difference is that Florida does have an obligation to consider costs — all costs. All the more reason why Florida needs to handle its own water quality issues — so that the necessary improvements can be implemented in a judicious time frame.
Given the current human misery factor, accelerating the cost should be unthinkable
Andrea Samson, of Orlando, is the volunteer president of the TRI-County Association Health Environment Legislation Policies, the voice for issues and legislation involving septic systems.

110923-e






Click for
rising seas:

Current saltwater
intrusion into FL
freshwater aquifers.
Rising seas
aggravate and
accelerate the
situation

110923-e
Pumping Groundwater Raises Sea Level
DiscoveryNews.com - Analysis by Sarah Simpson
Sep 23, 2011
Groundwater mining — pumping aquifers faster than they can be replenished — can have nasty consequences. Mining the Ogallala Aquifer (also called the High Plains aquifer), for example, has infamously run the White River dry where it once gushed over Texas' Silver Falls (above in 1891 and today, right).
Most of the groundwater sprayed on thirsty croplands across America makes its way into streams and rivers. Even though much of the water seeps into the soil first, the vast majority never makes its way back into the aquifer. Instead, it heads toward the sea, where it eventually contributes a surprising share of global sea level rise, reports Leonard Konikow, a hydrogeologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
SCIENCE CHANNEL: Biggest Engineering Projects in the World
In a rigorous new analysis of global groundwater depletion published earlier this month, Konikow estimated that global aquifers lost 4,500 cubic kilometers between 1900 and 2008 — enough to raise global sea level by about 12.6 millimeters. That’s a little more than 6 percent of the total sea level rise that took place over that time.
The actual impact on global sea level would have been much greater had it not been for dams, which stall groundwater’s trip to the sea. In a second paper out last week, Konikow and a group of colleagues showed that between 1972 and 2008, dams retained more water in their reservoirs than people pumped out of aquifers. Specifically, groundwater depletion contributed an average of 0.3 millimeters per year to sea level rise, whereas surface water retention decreased sea level rise by 0.4 millimeters per year.
NEWS: Giant Dams Mess with Global Sea Level Rise
Dams and pumps may be locked in a zero sum game for now, but the balance of power is shifting. Konikow points out a startling acceleration in groundwater depletion since 1950: one quarter of the depletion from 1900 to 2008 occurred in the final eight years. Indeed, the volume of groundwater lost between 2000 and 2008 was equal to 13 percent of global sea level rise. That means groundwater loss is accelerating right at a time when dams may be unable to keep pace; the reservoirs of old dams continue to fill with sediment, and new dam construction is expected to slow.
We need not fear groundwater will flood Florida anytime soon. Only the mega-melting of the planet’s ice sheets and glaciers are up to that task.
NEWS: Oceans Could Rise 5 Feet by 2100
Still, clarifying how much groundwater depletion does (or doesn’t) contribute to sea level rise is critically important for climate scientists. They must understand all pluses and minuses in the global sea level equation, because it is against those accounts that they check the global energy budgets that are so critical to predicting future climate change.
For the rest of us, the most pressing concern about the future groundwater mining is pragmatic: will we have enough fresh water? Konikow’s analysis reveals that the acceleration of groundwater loss in the U.S. is due increasing extraction from the High Plains (Ogallala) and other Gulf Coast aquifers, despite recent initiatives to change farming practices and conserve water.
The Ogallala Aquifer took 30,000 years to fill the first time, so it won’t replenish itself any time soon. We'll have to make due.

110923-f
Support water storage and Joe Collins
News-Press.com – Guest Opinion by Eric Draper
September 23, 2011
Editor's note: Joe Collins is vice president of Lykes Bros. Inc., and chairman of the South Florida Water Management District. The landowner the author describes in the article is Lykes.
Re: "Editorial: Revote on Lykes contract," Sept. 21.
The News-Press editorial on the South Florida Water Management District dispersed water storage project was correct in saying the program offers important public environmental benefits.
Audubon estimates the public is getting a very good deal at $87 per acre foot for water storage - far cheaper than building reservoirs. This project is 800 percent larger than a similar impoundment the district is building on its own for more than $76 million plus operating expenses.
The $2.1 million annual payment to the landowner for the Nicodemus Slough project represents a very sound investment in storing and cleaning water.
However, the editorial erred with regard to Joe Collins. Mr. Collins has served with distinction on the water district's governing board.
He filled a seat representing the vast agricultural acreage surrounding Lake Okeechobee and was supported by most Everglades restoration advocates including Audubon of Florida.
The thankless role of unpaid citizen volunteer sitting on the governing board is a tough job to fill. The district Mr. Collins represents went unrepresented for many months as Governor Crist sought an appointee to be the lone voice for agriculture on the board.
Mr. Collins took on the role reluctantly knowing that as an employee of one the region's large landowners he would face many challenges.
He has handled those challenges honorably and admirably.
Audubon has not always agreed with Mr. Collins' votes, but we have found him to be as honest and straightforward a public servant as any who have served on the South Florida Water Management District board.
We know he shares our objectives for restoration of the Everglades and the protection of South Florida's water and natural resources.
We should all cheer citizen volunteers such as Mr. Collins who pull themselves away from family and work to carry out the public's business.
We need more like him. Audubon of Florida disagrees strongly with your editorial's demand that Joe Collins step down from the SFWMD board.
He should continue to serve and continue to exercise the outstanding leadership that has been a hallmark of his term thus far.
Eric Draper is executive director, Audubon of Florida

110923-g
The Mosaic Company Announces Preliminary First Quarter Earnings Summary in Conjunction With the Secondary Offering Related to S&P 500 Inclusion
PRNewswire (BUSINESS)
September 23, 2011
NET EARNINGS UP 77% TO $526 MILLION, EARNINGS PER SHARE UP 75% TO $1.17.
PLYMOUTH, Minn. - - In conjunction with the announcement yesterday of a secondary offering of shares related to the Company's inclusion in the S&P 500 index, The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) announced first quarter fiscal year 2012 net earnings increased 77 percent to $526 million and earnings per diluted share increased 75 percent to $1.17.  Mosaic's net sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 increased 41 percent to $3.1 billion. Segment volumes, realized prices, operating rates, and the tax rate were all within the ranges of the Company's previously disclosed estimates.
Consolidated gross margin rose 4.4 percentage points to 27.5 percent driven by improvements in both Phosphates and Potash.  Phosphate margins improved 3 percentage points to 18 percent as higher prices were partially offset by higher ammonia and sulfur costs.  Potash margins improved 10 percentage points to 51 percent, with higher prices and higher operating rates both contributing to margin improvements.
The Company believes the fundamental outlook for the industry remains strong as a result of low global stocks of grain and oilseeds, attractive agricultural commodity prices and record farm net income.
These preliminary results are based upon management's expectations and currently available information. 
Mosaic will release full earnings after market close on Wednesday, September 28, 2011 and conduct a conference call on Thursday, September 29, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. EDT to discuss first quarter earnings results as well as global markets and trends.  Presentation slides and a simultaneous audio webcast of the conference call may be accessed through Mosaic's website at www.mosaicco.com/investors.
About The Mosaic Company
The Mosaic Company is one of the world's leading producers and marketers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients.  Mosaic is a single source provider of phosphate and potash fertilizers and feed ingredients for the global agriculture industry.  More information on the company is available at www.mosaicco.com. 
The Mosaic Company's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the predictability and volatility of, and customer expectations about, agriculture, fertilizer, raw material, energy and transportation markets that are subject to competitive and other pressures and economic and credit market conditions; the level of inventories in the distribution channels for crop nutrients; changes in foreign currency and exchange rates; international trade risks; changes in government policy; changes in environmental and other governmental regulation, including greenhouse gas regulation and implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's numeric water quality standards for the discharge of nutrients into Florida lakes and streams; further developments in the lawsuit involving the federal wetlands permit for the extension of the Company's South Fort Meade, Florida, mine into Hardee County, including orders, rulings, injunctions or other actions by the court or actions by the plaintiffs, the Army Corps of Engineers or others in relation to the lawsuit, or any actions the Company may identify and implement in an effort to mitigate the effects of the lawsuit; other difficulties or delays in receiving, or increased costs of, necessary governmental permits or approvals; further developments in the lawsuit involving the tolling agreement at the Company's Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, potash mine, including settlement or orders, rulings, injunctions or other actions by the court, the plaintiff or others in relation to the lawsuit; the effectiveness of our processes for managing our strategic priorities; adverse weather conditions affecting operations in Central Florida or the Gulf Coast of the United States, including potential hurricanes or excess rainfall; actual costs of various items differing from management's current estimates, including among others asset retirement, environmental remediation, reclamation or other environmental regulation or Canadian resource taxes and royalties; accidents and other disruptions involving Mosaic's operations, including brine inflows at its Esterhazy, Saskatchewan potash mine and other potential mine fires, floods, explosions, seismic events or releases of hazardous or volatile chemicals, as well as other risks and uncertainties reported from time to time in The Mosaic Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
The Mosaic Company has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the SEC for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other documents filed with the SEC for more complete information about The Mosaic Company and this offering. You may get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC Web site at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, The Mosaic Company, any underwriter or any dealer participating in the offering will arrange to send you the prospectus if you request it by calling toll-free (866) 803-9204 or (888) 827-7275.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/23/3932519/the-mosaic-company-announces-preliminary.html#ixzz1YmtTkr00

110923-h
Wastewater killing Florida Key coral
esemag.com (Env.Sci.Eng. Magazine)
September 23, 2011
A research team from Rollins College in Florida and the University of Georgia has identified human sewage as the source of the coral-killing pathogen that causes white pox disease of Caribbean elkhorn coral.
The team has known since 2002 that the bacterium that killed coral was the same species as found in humans, Serratia marcescens. In order to determine a source for the pathogen, the research team collected and analyzed human samples from the wastewater treatment facility in Key West and samples from several other animals, such as Key deer and seagulls.
While Serratia marcescens was found in these other animals, genetic analyses showed that only the strain from human sewage matched the strain found in white pox diseased corals on the reef. The final piece of the investigative puzzle was to show that this unique strain was pathogenic to corals.
With funding from Florida’s Mote Marine Laboratory “Protect Our Reefs” grant program, the team conducted challenge experiments by inoculating fragments of coral with the strain found in both humans and corals to see if it would cause disease. The strain caused disease in elkhorn coral in five days.
This research reveals a new disease pathway, from humans to wildlife, which is the opposite of the traditional wildlife-to-human disease transmission model. Movement of pathogens from wildlife to humans is well documented—for example, bird flu or HIV—but the movement of disease-causing microbes from humans to marine invertebrates has never been shown before.
The entire Florida Keys is in the process of upgrading local wastewater treatment plants, and these measures should eliminate this bacterium source.

110922-a
Hot, wet summer gives way to fall
News-Press.com
September 22, 2011
Parts of Southwest Florida see record rainfaill.
With autumn starting today, weather watchers can look back on a hot and wet summer of 2011.
For the continental United States, it was the second-hottest summer on record. Rainfall at Page Field in Fort Myers was the most on record and temperatures were the ninth highest — this doesn’t mean, however, the rest of Southwest Florida was as hot or wet as Page Field.
“It’s been hot sometimes and not hot sometimes,” said Pine Island resident Capt. Harvey Hamilton, 72, who was born and raised on Cayo Costa. “I think it was just a normal summer. Sure, you sweated. Everybody sweats during the summer.”
By the numbers:
• The average temperature nationwide this summer was 74.5 degrees (2.4 degrees above average); the hottest summer on record was 1936, with an average temperature of 74.6 degrees.
• Page Field received 38.66 inches of rain, the most on record.
• At Page Field, the average temperature was 83.61 degrees; the hottest average summer temperature on record was 84.58 in 1979.
One reason for the high heat was the lingering effects of La Nina, cooler-than-normal water temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, which dissipated in June, and a recurrence of La Nina in August.
“Other than La Nina, we had widespread drought, and that dryness can have feedback for temperatures,” said Dan Collins, a meteorologist for the National Climate Prediction Center. “With La Nina back, we’re expecting above normal temperatures across the middle of the country, in the southern plains, the Southwest and Central Plains. But South Florida will go the other direction with below-average temperatures and precipitation.”
Despite Page Field’s rainfall totals, not all of Southwest Florida got record rain this summer.
Naples Municipal Airport, for example, recorded 19.23 inches. The National Weather Service did not have records for how that ranks historically or this summer’s average temperature for Collier County.
Even with good rain in some areas, the 16-county South Florida Water Management District was 1.97 inches below average for the summer, and the Southwest coast, which includes Lee and Collier counties, was 3.36 inches below average.
(Page 2 of 2)
Lake Okeechobee water levels were at 10.97 feet Thursday, 3.65 feet below normal for this time of year.
“You guys got slammed over there,” said Susan Sylvester, a water district director of operations. “Districtwide, we had a late wet-season start and are about normal, rainfall-wise.
“We need a strong finish to the wet season. I hate to say it, but a tropical event would top off the lake. Be careful what you wish for.”
Heavy summer rains in Lee County made for a busy mosquito season.
Most of the county’s 48 mosquito species lay eggs on dry, flood-prone ground, and the eggs hatch when they are covered by rain or tides.
Other species lay eggs on standing water, usually after rains.
Coastal areas had large hatches of salt-marsh mosquitoes associated with high tides in May and June, and then the rains came.
“We had probably the most challenging mosquito summer we’ve had in the last 10 or 15 years,” said Shelly Redovan, spokeswoman for the Lee County Mosquito Control District. “We believe the drought set us up to have massive areas for eggs to be laid, and, when we had the high tides and rains, it set off a chain reaction of massive hatches. We have been busy countywide most of the summer.”
In a typical year, mosquito control planes spray 1 million acres for adult mosquitoes; this year, they had sprayed 1 million acres by the end of July.
“Since then, we’ve added another 700,000 acres, and, unless everything dries up and we don’t see any more bugs, we’ll end up with more than 2 million,” Redovan said. “It’s been a rough season.”
Collier County Mosquito Control had the same kind of summer, director Frank Van Essen said.
“Compared to the last two or three years, we’ve certainly been more active,” he said. “We had a strange pattern. In the past, rain would cover the whole county.
This year, we’d get 3 inches in one area and not much in other areas.”
Although the district is spraying often, Van Essen suggested people take the usual precautions, such as avoiding outdoor activity at dawn and dusk.
“We can’t get the mosquito population to zero,” he said. “People think we fly over with a magic wand, and the mosquitoes disappear. We can’t get them to do that.”

110922-b
Shining A Light On The Hidden Hardships Of Tomato Pickers
NPR-TheSalt-Blog – by Eliza Barclay
September 22, 2011
If you shopped at a Trader Joe's store this summer, you might have passed activists wielding signs in the shape of plump red tomatoes with slogans like "Trader Joe's Exploits Farmworkers." The Florida-based labor rights group behind these picket lines is demanding that the grocer pay an extra cent per pound to the tomato pickers at the other end of the supply chain.
Why? Because those workers are some of the worst treated and lowest paid farmworkers in the U.S., the Coalition of Immokalee Farmworkers says.
The coalition's tour of Trader Joe's stores was just the latest in a growing movement of labor groups hoping to make shoppers and corporations more accountable to the people who harvest their food. And a writer's recent attention to this issue may be helping to nudge it along.
The American supermarket tomato is a case study in tragedy, says Barry Estabrook, who tells its story in a book out earlier this year. Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit is a depressing discourse on our food system's glorification of efficiency, joining the likes of Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore's Dilemma.
While there are many reasons to lament the mealy, pinkish Florida tomatoes that flood the market every winter, Tomatoland devotes a lot of its attention to the plight of the tomato pickers, who Estabrook calls "the most abused workforce in the country."
Indeed, even as Americans grow increasingly concerned about animal well-being and the environment's role in large scale food production, the social cost of industrial food is rarely discussed. And while Estabrook praises the small, organic tomato growers who are gaining footing in the market – the familiar heroes of these kinds of books — it's the hardscrabble immigrant pickers and their organizers who emerge as the most compelling characters.
To get to know the world of the pickers, most of whom are undocumented immigrants from Latin America, Estabrook goes to Immokalee in south Florida. He learns that laborers there work in fields routinely injected with the highly toxic pesticides methyl bromide and methyl iodide. Those chemicals have been found to contaminate the air and water and are blamed for appalling deformities in the workers' children. It's also here that Estabrook unpacks a shocking case of slavery of several workers who were abused, robbed, bought and sold.
For sure, the enslavement of farmworkers is not exclusive to the tomato fields; more than 1,000 people trafficked to work in American vegetable, fruit and citrus groves have been discovered and freed since 1997, according to Oxfam America. And if you're curious, you can calculate approximately how many slaves might have been involved with producing your food with the Slavery Footprint tool, launched today.
As recently as September 2010, a guestworker recruiting company called Global Horizons was charged with operating a forced labor ring in 13 states, including Florida. Seven employees are accused of holding hundreds of laborers from Thailand, some of whom worked in Hawaii pineapple fields, against their will.
Florida, though, has the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which as Estabrook told NPR's Terry Gross, is a "loose, grass-roots collection of people who've been working since 1993 " on behalf of tomato pickers and others. They have also become deeply involved in the nascent "fair food" movement, which is trying to improve wages and working conditions for laborers.
The coalition and its Campaign for Fair Food have had a number of big wins. Companies from Whole Foods to fast food chains to institutional food service providers like Aramark have signed its fair food agreement, which stipulates an additional penny paid to workers for every pound of tomatoes picked. Four supermarket chains, however, continue to resist, including Trader Joe's.
In an email, a company spokesperson named Nicki K. told The Salt that the agreement CIW wants the company to sign is "overreaching, ambiguous and improper." For more on Trader Joe's reasons for rejecting the agreement, see its note to consumers, posted in May.

110922
South Florida Water Management District budget includes $26M for Everglades restoration
News-Press.com
September 22, 2011
The South Florida Water Management District governing board adopted a $576.1 million budget for Fiscal Year 2012 this week in West Palm Beach.
Included in the budget is $26 million appropriated by the Florida Legislature for Everglades restoration.
Highlights of the budget include:
• $2 million to begin water quality treatment and storage projects in the Caloosahatchee watershed.
• $50 million to refurbish the regional flood control network of 2,600 miles of canals and levees.
• $10 million to complete construction of stormwater treatment areas to improve the quality of water flowing into the Everglades.
• $28 million for pump construction to deliver water to help restore the Loxahatchee River and enhance water supplies.

110922-d
'Watson' could put South Florida water supply in less jeopardy
Palm Beach Post - by Rick Qualman
September 22, 2011
Water is the most abundant natural resource on our planet, but in South Florida we're still concerned about its availability. The record drought was an eye-opener for many. Recent rains have alleviated some of the conditions, but valuable lessons remain.
South Florida experienced its driest October-to-June stretch in about 80 years. Lake Okeechobee, our region's backup water supply, dropped to its lowest level since 2008. In the face of growing demand and finite supply, something's got to give.
I was surprised to find that South Florida does have an abundance of one resource - data relating to water. The U.S. Geological Survey monitors groundwater conditions through a series of sensors at wells. These sensors upload data every four hours, providing a near real-time view of the ground water supply.
Also, the South Florida Water Management District monitors weather conditions using data collected at more than 6,000 stations. This sophisticated network helps the district make decisions relating to the opening of floodgates and maintenance of water levels in canals. The data is available to the public through an online database called "DBHYDRO."
Technology can't control the weather, but by using advanced analytics and topographic modeling, we can better anticipate and prepare for floods and droughts. While much data is being collected, however, we must find ways of using that data to make smarter decisions.
I've been asked by friends and family recently what impact Watson, IBM's Jeopardy!-playing computer, could have on South Florida's water woes. For those of you who missed it, the IBM system named Watson competed and won against the game's best performers, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, in a series of matches aired in February. Watson answered complicated questions filled with literary allusions, puns, and wordplay, the sort of things that delight humans but traditionally baffle computers. While IBM has no immediate plans to apply the technology in South Florida, the question did make me think about the potential of such a system here.
One example of the potential role Watson could play relates to analysis of potable water production. Electronic information on raw water intake systems could be made available to a Watson-like system for analysis to constantly adjust the formula used to produce water that is drinkable and exceeds Clean Water Act standards. This could help experts operate the water treatment plant at maximum efficiency, wasting less water.
The big breakthrough was Watson's ability to take data in natural language forms and in real time provide answers to questions. What all this means is that there are solutions that focus on smarter use of water and other natural resources. As the technology from Watson becomes more pervasive, it points to data itself becoming a precious commodity to cities facing challenges to their standard of living.
This data is just the sort of material Watson uses to come up with answers to questions.
This capability in understanding natural language also provides an on-ramp for citizens to provide critical data on water. For example, IBM created a free iPhone application being used by the California State Water Control Board. Creek Watch allows community members to snap a photo of a stream and answer three questions about the waterway. The data is uploaded to a central database, accessible by water authorities responsible for monitoring local water supplies.
The Watson victory in Jeopardy! is really a victory for humans. Human ingenuity, and the innovative work of many intelligent people, developed this technology, and humans can use it as we use other tools, from calculators to cars, to advance water management.
If we embrace these advances and use technology to protect our natural resources, we can avoid potential crises.
Rick Qualman works in Boca Raton as IBM's senior executive for Florida.

110922-e
Wildfire could help restore Lake Okeechobee's drought-strained wildlife habitat
Sun Sentinel - by Andy Reid
September 22, 2011
Wildfires burning on Lake Okeechobee’s exposed lake bed could end up helping drought-strained wildlife habitat.
While it may seem weird to see fire spreading across land usually covered by water, wildfires are a natural part of Florida’s ecosystem, Audubon of Florida scientist Paul Gray said Thursday.
Lingering low water levels dried out aquatic plants in the normally soggy marshes along the northwestern and southwestern portions of the lake.
The fire can burn away the dried up plants as well as invading ragweed, torpedo grass and other out-of-place plants that spread to the lake bed due to dry conditions, Gray said.
That helps clear the way when the water returns for sawgrass, pickerelweed and other aquatic plants that provide wildlife habitat.
"Fires really are good for the lake," said Gray, who monitors Lake Okeechobee conditions for Audubon.
A small fire suspected to have started from a lightening strike Tuesday evening was expected to grow to as many as 12,000 acres, with firefighters trying to keep it from spreading to other portions of the lake or jumping the levee.
The fire in the lake’s Indian Prairie area, at the northeastern portion of the lake.
Fire may be natural for the lake, but it’s not normal this late in the summer.
Lake Okeechobee water levels remain more than three feet below normal. The lake’s drought-induced decline this year was amplified by decisions last year by the Army Corps of Engineers to drain more than 300 billion gallons of water from the lake.
Safety concerns about the lake’s 70-year-old dike has the corps keeping lake levels lower than normal, which can worsen the effects of droughts.
In addition to providing vital animal habitat, Lake Okeechobee also serves as South Florida’s primary back-up water supply.
The South Florida Water Management District directs lake water to South Florida sugar cane fields and other farms and can use lake water to bolster some community drinking water supplies.
Those competing demands for lake water combined with the drought this year dropped the lake to its lowest point since 2008.
While summer rains have the lake rising again, about 90 percent of the marshes rimming the lake still remain dried out, Gray said.
Lingering low water levels likely resulted in “mass losses” of snakes, turtles, frogs and other wildlife that can’t survive a prolonged dry-out, Gray said.
The endangered Everglades snail kite relies on Lake Okeechobee to feed and reproduce. In May, receding water lines were to blame for adult snail kites abandoning 10 nests that remained, Gray said.
"The adults can leave the lake, but the babies can’t," Gray said. "When they do, they don’t know where to go."
Fires clearing the way for new aquatic plants should help, once the waters return.
But water managers project that without above-average summer rainfall, lake levels will remain below normal heading into the next winter-to-spring dry season.
"It’s frustrating," Gray said. "The water hasn’t come back."

110921-
Aquifer water needs to be tapped
St.Augustine.com - by Clemens Byatt
September 21, 2011
Editor: A few years ago mention was made that millions of gallons of aquifer water were gushing into the ocean around Crescent Beach and that south Florida was interested in piping it down to them. We denied that.
The other day I see the issue of a desalinization plant is again being proposed here for St Johns County. The one for Flagler has recently been postponed, according to news reports.
This is a very expensive source of water both for the initial investment, as well as for the large cost of electricity and maintenance which makes no sense to me if we can tap the wasted aquifer water I read about a while back that is pouring into the ocean at crescent beach.
What are the geniuses whose salaries we pay thinking to even consider such an idea as this most expensive possible source of water when spending a few hundred thousand or even a couple of million would provide a maintenance free source that flows on at no cost except the initial cost to connect a pipe to the system ?
Additionally as to the water issue, the many who have automatic lawn irrigation should be required to have a water sensor to turn it off when sufficient rain is current. I believe that is only required on new systems if at all, but everyone should be required to have one of these inexpensive sensors. I see lawn sprinklers arbitrarily going regardless of available rain all the time.

Wildfires have burned across 400 acres of Lake Okeechobee's exposed lake bed and could spread to 12,000 acres.

110921-b
Dried-out portions of Lake Okeechobee burned Wednesday as wildfires spread across exposed lake bed.
Sun Sentinel – by Andy Reid
September 21, 2011
Fires suspected to have started with a lightening strike Tuesday night spread through dried-out marshes along the northwestern portions of the lake, according to the Florida Forest Service.
What started as a 10-acre fire about 6 p.m. Tuesday spread to 400 acres by Wednesday afternoon. The fire has the potential to grow to 12,000 acres, according to the Florida Forest Service.
To stop the fire from spreading and smoldering for weeks, firefighters Wednesday set controlled burns from the ground and dropped chemical-injected ping pong balls from a helicopter to start more fires intended to burn up remaining vegetation.
"It’s better just to speed it up," said Melissa Yunas, of the Florida Forest Service. "The winds are working in our favor."
Smoke from the wildfires has caused a nuisance for homes in Glades and Okeechobee County, but so far the fire has not threatened to jump over the lake’s dike, Yunas said.
It’s the first time since 2008 that wildfires have burned portions of the lake usually covered by water.
The strains of drought, worsened by past water management decisions, led to the low water levels that left the lake bed exposed.
Aside from providing vital animal habitat, Lake Okeechobee serves as South Florida’s primary back-up water supply.
Lake water levels have yet to rebound from a record-setting October-to-June dry stretch as well as decisions before the drought to drain hundreds of billions of gallons of lake water out to sea because of flood concerns.

110921-c
Florida: Capital of invasive species
Associated Press - by Bill Kaczor
September 21, 2011
Florida has more invasive amphibians and reptiles than anywhere else in the world, and the pet trade is the No. 1 cause, researchers said in a report released Thursday.
State officials, meanwhile, confirmed the presence of another type of invasive species -- the giant African land snail -- in South Florida, where it may pose a threat to human health as well as agriculture and even buildings.
The 20-year amphibian and reptile study led by University of Florida researcher Kenneth Krysko was published in the journal Zootaxa. It urges the passage of stronger laws to prevent the release of exotic species.
"No other area in the world has a problem like we do, and today's laws simply cannot be enforced to stop current trends," Krysko said in a statement. He is herpetology collection manager for the Florida Museum of Natural History on the Gainesville campus.
The study says the pet industry was most likely responsible for the introduction of 84 percent of 137 nonnative reptile and amphibian species introduced from 1863 through 2010. That includes 25 percent linked to one importer, Strictly Reptiles of Hollywood.
"I agree to disagree," said Ray Van Nostrand Jr., one of Strictly Reptiles' co-owners. "We do the best we can to control our inventory."
The study concludes Strictly Reptiles was the most likely source of at least 32 confirmed species found nearby because they have not turned up elsewhere and were listed in the firm's inventory.
"This locality is well known for unusual non-indigenous species, and neighborhood children, hobbyists and even professional herpetologists frequently search the area for released or escaped animals," the study says.
Van Nostrand said the pet industry is far less of a hazard than other industries that pour pollutants into the environment. "Does it have an impact really on the environment?" he asked. "They don't know."
Other releases were traced to cargo and zoos. The most notorious of Florida's invasive reptiles is the Burmese python.
The Legislature last year passed a law banning individuals from owning the large snakes and six other large, exotic reptile species after a Burmese python killed a 2-year-old girl at her home in Oxford, Fla. The snake had been kept as a pet in the home and escaped from its tank.
People who owned the banned reptiles before the law went into effect, though, can keep them.
Of the nonnative reptile and amphibian species introduced, 56 have become established in Florida. They include 43 kinds of lizards, five snakes including the Burmese python, four turtles, three frogs and a caiman, which is related to the American alligator.
The study notes no one has ever been prosecuted for the establishment of a non-indigenous species.
It's difficult to get a conviction because a law enforcement officer must witness the release and the animal must be recovered, said Scott Hardin, exotic-species coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"In the real world, people who release stuff don't do it that way," said Hardin -- who led the effort to eradicate a colony of Gambian giant pouch rates from Grassy Key in the latter part of the 2000s. That colony likely was a result of a breeder releasing some of the rats into the wild.
He said the commission, instead, is trying to educate owners and work with the pet industry to prevent such releases.
Florida also is a haven for other exotic plant, fish and animal species. The giant African land snail could become one of the most destructive.
Growing up to eight inches in length and more than four inches in diameter, the snail eats at least 500 types of plants and can cause structural damage to plaster and stucco. It also can carry a parasite that can lead to meningitis.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has identified a population in Miami-Dade County. They are illegal to import into the United States without a permit and currently no permits have been issued.
The last reported outbreak in Florida was in 1966 when a Miami boy smuggled three snails as pets. His grandmother released them into her garden and they multiplied. It cost more than $1 million to eradicate in excess of 18,000 snails.
It's too late, though, to eradicate the Burmese python, which has found a home in the Everglades and adjacent areas, said Rob Robins, coordinator of operations at the Museum of Natural History.
Hardin agreed. "Our strategy has been to try to contain them," he said.
Pythons in the wild are little danger to humans but could be to such threatened or endangered native species as the Florida panther and key deer, Robins said.

110921-d






For enlargement
mouse over.
Click for "URBANIZATION"
(EvergladesHUB.com)

Dismantling of FL growth-planning
agency gives a green
light to developers.
What will that do to
the environment ?


Miami Corporation's
Farmton Tree Farm is
a 59,000 acres in both
Volusia and Brevard
counties in East Central
Florida.

110921-d
The trouble with sprawl: You pay for it
Orlando Sentinel
September 21, 2011
Next week, the state's growth-planning agency will be demolished — and one of the greatest cons in the history of Florida politics will be complete.
The con involves promises the state made last year to regulate sensible growth. That will be hard to do once the agency that did the regulating disappears.
The other con — the one more germane to you, your family and your budget — is that all new growth is good.
Hogwash. Poor growth costs you plenty.
Why? Because it requires everything from new schools to more police officers. And when the growth doesn't pay for those things, you do.
For proof, look at Lake Nona.
Developers promised new houses and growth aplenty in southeast Orlando. So the city went ahead and built two fire stations — spending $6.4 million to do so.
Only the growth never came as promised.
As a result, taxpayers spent $2.9 million staffing two stations that responded to a grand total of 100 calls over four months in 2009. Compare that with the 2,000 calls handled during the same time by a single station in the city's urban core.
And guess who paid the tab?
We saw a similar story in southeast Orange where Orlando Utilities Commission built massive water pipes for a far-flung neighborhood that never fully materialized. The water was flowing — but unneeded. So OUC (and its ratepayers) paid to dump tens of millions of gallons down a storm drain.
But underused fire stations and unneeded water lines are just the tip of the urban sprawl iceberg.
New growth requires more schools, roads, libraries and bus routes.
In the past, the state's Department of Community Affairs was one of the final checks in making sure those provisions were in place. No more.
Lobbyists helped rewrite the rules. A Sentinel story summed up the changes like this: "Developers and local governments no longer have to prove that there's a financially feasible way to supply roads, sewers, parks and schools to new exurban developments."
And who do you think pays for all those roads, sewers, parks and schools when they're not "financially feasible" for the profit-seekers?
You.
Keep this in mind as an out-of-state corporation pushes to build the Farmton community — as many as 23,000 homes in a remote, environmentally sensitive swath of timber, swamp and wildlife habitats — in Brevard and Volusia counties.
DCA previously rejected the project, saying it lacked plans to pay for new schools. But when DCA disappears, so will the watchdogs of your wallet.
And that's one of the biggest cons of all — because just last year, you were told that DCA would protect you.
It was during the debate over Hometown Democracy, the constitutional amendment that would have given residents more control over growth around them.
Big Business hated the idea that you might occasionally reject a project that would crowd your children's classes or spoil your community's water supply. So they argued that direct democracy was unnecessary when you already had watchdogs at the state level.
Voters relied on the watchdogs, which were promptly neutered.
Hometown Democracy certainly wasn't perfect. But the campaign against it was.
It was all part of the big lie upon which Florida has long been built — that all growth is good.
Wrong. Sensible growth is. Infill and new businesses provide jobs.
But unmanaged sprawl hurts our quality of life — and costs you money.
And frankly, most of us have our hands full trying to meet our own families' needs nowadays without having to subsidize yet another poorly planned subdivision.

110920-
First public hearing this Saturday on proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area
SE-Agnet.com - by Randall
September 20, 2011
Here is a news release from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is hosting the first of two public meetings this Saturday, Sept. 24 in Avon Park, Fla., to answer questions and take comments on the proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area in south-central Florida.
The meeting starts at 1 p.m. at the South Florida Community College Theatre for the Performing Arts, 600 W. College Drive, Avon Park, FL 33825. From 1 p.m. to 2, there will be an Open House during which the Service will answer questions about the proposal. The formal Public Hearing will be from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., during which the Service will make a short presentation about the proposal and attendees will be able to express their views on the proposal. Both verbal and written comments may be submitted.
Written comments may also be submitted by:
• Email to EvergladesHeadwatersProposal@fws.gov
• Fax to 321.861.1276
• Mail to: Everglades Headwaters Proposal, US Fish and Wildlife Service, PO Box 2683, Titusville, FL 32781-2683
Names and addresses should be included with comments, with the understanding that the material is subject to the federal Freedom of Information Act and may be released to the public upon request. The deadline to submit comments is October 24, 2011.
The second public meeting is from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011 at the Osceola Heritage Park, The Exhibition Building – Hall A, 1901 Chief Osceola Trail Kissimmee, FL 34744. The schedule will be the same as for the Avon Park meeting, with a one-hour Open House from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and a formal Public Hearing from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The Service is proposing a 100,000-acre Conservation Area and a 50,000-acre National Wildlife Refuge. This is a voluntary program. The Service would work with willing landowners to purchase full or partial interest in their land.
“The conservation value of the Everglades Headwaters is tremendous,” said the Service’s Southeast Regional Director, Cindy Dohner. “Working with great partners like the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and private landowners, the opportunities are enormous to preserve and restore wildlife and their habitats, provide additional outdoor recreation, improve water resources, and help sustain the ranching heritage, economy and land stewardship in central Florida.”
For more information about the proposal, please go to www.fws.gov/southeast/evergladesheadwaters.

110920-b
Potentially Harmful Herbicide Faces Scrutiny
Hobbyfarms.com
September 20, 2011
The public is invited to comment on a move to ban the use of the herbicide Atrazine, shown to cause defects in frogs, fish and mammals.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently seeking public comments regarding a potential ban on Atrazine, one of the most widely used herbicides in the United States. The chemical, produced by Swiss agrochemical company Syngenta, has been banned in the European Union since 2004, but 80 million pounds of it are applied to U.S. farms and lawns each year.
Atrazine, the most commonly detected herbicide in American groundwater, is used primarily on corn, sugar cane, rice, sorghum, golf courses and lawns. The EPA’s call for comments was prompted by more than 60,000 petition signatures and emails received from supporters of the nonprofit groups Save The Frogs, Center for Biological Diversity and Natural Resources Defense Council. Comments will be accepted through Nov. 14, 2011. (Find information about how to comment from the Federal Register.)
Atrazine is a potent endocrine disruptor that, at concentrations as low as 2.5 parts per billion, has been shown to cause immunosuppression, hermaphroditism and even complete sex reversal in male frogs.  The herbicide has been linked to reproductive defects in fish and prostate and breast cancer in laboratory rodents, and epidemiological studies suggest it is carcinogenic to humans. Atrazine is extremely persistent in the environment. It is still detectable in France 15 years after its last usage there. More than half a million pounds of Atrazine return to the Earth each year in rain and snow after it is caught in the airstream following spraying.
Atrazine has been under serious scrutiny over the past several years as an abundance of scientific literature on its harmful effects have been published by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of South Florida. More recently, during the international Save the Frogs Day on April 29, 2011, activists gathered at the steps of the EPA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., to raise awareness of the disappearance of amphibians and call for a federal ban on Atrazine.
“Atrazine is the 21st century’s DDT” says Kerry Kriger, PhD, founder and executive director of Save the Frogs, America’s first and only public charity dedicated to protecting amphibians. Kriger led the Save the Frogs Day rally and hand-delivered 10,012 petition signatures to the EPA’s Herbicide Division the following week.
“Now that we have the EPA’s attention, we are a large step closer towards protecting our food supply, our drinking water and our wildlife from this known endocrine-disruptor,” Kriger says.
This issue arises in the wake of a partnership launched in August between the EPA and the USDA to protect Americans’ health by improving rural drinking water and wastewater systems.
Under the partnership, the EPA and USDA will work together to promote jobs by targeting specific audiences, providing training for new water careers and coordinating outreach efforts that will bring greater public visibility to the workforce needs of the industry, and develop a new generation of trained water professionals. EPA and USDA will also facilitate the exchange of successful recruitment and training strategies among stakeholders, including states and water industries.
The agencies will also help rural utilities improve current operations and encourage development of long-term water-quality-improvement plans. The plans will include developing sustainable management practices to cut costs and improve performance.

110920-c
Ranchers aid the Everglades
News-Press.com
September 20, 2011
For a fee, they store water, easing stress on waterways.
Black cows waded in the muddy water of a long ditch that ran through Buck Island Ranch near Lake Placid.
It sure didn't look like an important step in Everglades restoration.
But, in fact, it's a pilot project for the northern Everglades - Payment for Environmental Services Program, under which the South Florida Water Management District will pay ranchers to store water on their property during wet season.
One property owner, Lykes Bros. Inc., is under contract, and 11 others have applied. Lykes Bros. will be paid $2.1 million a year for 10 years; other contracts will be negotiated.
Storing water on ranches rather than letting it flow down the northern Everglades' many canals into Lake Okeechobee will reduce the need for releases of polluted fresh water to the Caloosahatchee River after major rain. Such releases cause numerous problems for the river and its estuary, including massive algal blooms - microalgal blooms can block light from seagrass and cause fish kills; macroalgal blooms can smother seagrasses and wash up on beaches.
Called dispersed water management, this process also "treats" water by reducing nutrients before it reaches the lake.
"This is a great idea," said Dan DeLisi, Southwest Florida's representative on the water district's governing board. "Things that go on north of us benefit us. We're at the bottom of the system.
"All that water flows south from the Kissimmee Basin into Lake Okeechobee. We want it to flow slower, get filtered, be cleaner going into the lake."
Help the Everglades
The origins of dispersed water management for the northern Everglades can be traced back to the publication in 2000 of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, the goal of which is to restore and preserve water resources of the Everglades.
In 2003, the World Wildlife Fund and a group of ranchers started looking at ways to improve water quality north of Okeechobee.
"We were very involved with Everglades activism for decades," said Sarah Lynch, the wildlife fund's agriculture director. "Our focus had been on the southern Everglades, but with CERP, we felt the southern part of the system had the plans for its critical needs, and we should focus on the northern Everglades: That's where the water comes from."
From those discussions, the group launched the Florida Ranchlands Environmental Services Project in 2005 to test the theory of storing water on working ranches.
With $6 million in grants from state and federal agencies, including the water district, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, eight ranches developed pilot storage programs.
An important part of the projects was to keep down costs by using existing infrastructure whenever possible.
At Buck Island Ranch, for example, culverts and simple water controls - boards - were installed in existing drainage ditches.
Water flows into the ranch's main ditch from Harney Pond Canal, and when boards are put across the culverts, it backs up into a series of secondary ditches.
Because water is held in ditches instead of flowing through the property and back into the canal, which curves around the ranch, it seeps laterally through the sandy soil and rehydrates wetlands on the property.
These wetlands then become important habitat for birds, deer and other wildlife.
"If we didn't have the structures, the water would fly out of here," said Stephen Hollingsed, a service project field coordinator. "After a big rain, the first flush is when the highest concentration of nutrients flush out. If we hold the first flush, those nutrients won't go to Lake Okeechobee."
Ranches solicited
With the pilot projects a success, the water district has started soliciting ranchers to develop larger dispersed water management projects.
"Before drainage systems were put in, the northern Everglades had a significant amount of shallow water," said Benita Whalen, deputy director of the water district's Water Resource Regulation Department. "From six to nine months, there were six to 18 inches of water on the landscape.
"This project's vision is to put some of that drained water back on the landscape, not back to where it was, but to where the landowners can use the land and we can get water resource benefits for the northern Everglades."
Dispersed water projects should not be confused with large water storage projects such as the C-43 reservoir, which is designed to store 55 billion gallons of water just south of the Caloosahatchee in Hendry County.
By comparison, the first dispersed water project, which will be built by Lykes Bros. Inc. in Nicodemus Slough in Glades County, will store 11 billion gallons.
But individual small projects will add up: The water district hopes to eventually see 146.6 billion gallons of water stored on ranches.
The $338 million C-43 reservoir project's plan is finished and ready for congressional authorization and funding.
Construction on the Nicodemus Slough project is scheduled to begin in March 2012 and be completed within a year.
Other properties being considered for dispersed water projects include Buck Island, the XL Ranch in Highlands County and the Alderman-Deloney Ranch in Okeechobee County, all of which participated in the pilot program.
"The C-43 reservoir is the opposite of dispersed water management," said DeLisi of the water district's governing board. "C-43 will cost almost half a billion. We've been waiting 10 years since the property was purchased, and there will be zero benefits until it's done, if it's ever done.
"A more strategic approach is to find as many sources as we can that recreate the natural environment, rather than relying on grandiose projects that may or may not ever be constructed."
Construction for the Nicodemus Slough project, paid for by the water district, will cost about $4.5 million, and the district will pay Lykes Bros. for the use of the land.
"The slough used to be connected to Fisheating Creek before the Herbert Hoover Dike was built," said Linda McCarthy, a Lykes Bros. ecologist. "The dike cut off the natural water flow during high-water times, and this project will help rehydrate these wetlands.
"There is already a lot of infrastructure in place. That's why this property was chosen."
Wait and see
Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah, who has often criticized water district policies, said he wasn't concerned Joe Collins is chairman of the district's governing board and vice president of Lykes Bros.
"I would hope whatever arrangement they've made is in the best interest of the public," Judah said. "The underlying problem is the lack of storage. Wherever we can obtain more storage will benefit the ecosystems of the lake and the receiving waters. I understand the importance of compensating property owners for storing water, and I'm looking at what they're trying to accomplish."
Lykes officials could not be reached for comment.
Judah and Brad Cornell, a spokesman for Audubon of Florida, agreed restoring the northern Everglades and protecting the Caloosahatchee River will require more storage and treatment than dispersed water management can provide.
"The cold reality is we way underestimated how much storage is needed," Cornell said. "We have to put a whole tool kit together. Reservoirs are not the answer. But they can be part of the answer.
"Dispersed water management may be small acreages that can be spread over very large acreages. But there is no silver bullet. We need to do them all. That's the recipe we're cooking up."
With dispersed water management an important ingredient in that recipe, agencies and organizations are developing ideas about the process, Lynch said.
"This is very state-of-the-art, very innovative," she said. "We're going to be doing a lot of learning. There's no cookbook to follow. We're making it up as we go. That's exciting. It's also challenging, so hold on to your hats, as they say in the cowboy world."

110920-d
South Florida Water Management District approves deep budget cuts
Sun Sentinel - by Andy Reid
September 20, 2011
Tax rate drops under state-mandated spending cuts.
The South Florida Water Management District board Tuesday unanimously approved a slimmed-down $600 million budget that lowers the property-tax rate due to state-ordered spending cuts.
The Legislature, at Gov. Rick Scott's urging, this year required the district to cut its budget by more than 30 percent. The Legislature also added restrictions to future spending and land purchases.
That forced more than $100 million in cuts that included laying off 134 employees, cutting benefits and salaries for many remaining employees, reducing proposed spending on maintenance of flood control structures and delaying some Everglades restoration and other construction.
Environmental groups say that could further delay already-overdue Everglades restoration.
"This has been a very challenging time," district board Chairman Joe Collins said.
The district's board, appointed by the governor, on Tuesday set the property tax rate at nearly 44 cents per $1,000 of taxable value for most of the district's 16-county region. That's down from about 62 cents per $1,000 of taxable value.
For a home valued at $230,000 and eligible for a $50,000 homestead exemption, district taxes for a property owner in Broward or Palm Beach Counties would be about $79 a year. That's down from about $112 at the current rate.

110919-a
Don't weaken environmental rules
Daytona Beach News Journal – Letter to the Editor by JIMMY ORTH, Jacksonville
September 19, 2011
Despite the fact that most environmental regulations often provide economic benefits that far outweigh the costs, Florida Gov. Rick Scott and many of our state legislators are working to eliminate or weaken important safeguards that protect our natural resources and human health. Unfortunately, they also fail to acknowledge the significant economic impact from algae blooms and pollution that hurt businesses, cost jobs, impact human health, reduce property values and our tax base, and diminish recreational opportunities and our quality of life.
Eliminating environmental safeguards -- ignoring costly pollution problems that threaten human health and hurt local communities -- is a radical proposition that will have devastating consequences for our state.
These policy changes are also reflected in the budgets and priorities of the agencies charged with managing and protecting our natural resources, such as the St. Johns River Water Management District. The water management district has abandoned efforts to produce an updated water supply plan, once said to be an essential road map to the future. It has also eliminated or significantly cut back on water quality monitoring, research, and critical water conservation and restoration projects, and ended an important rulemaking process that would have established sensible water conservation requirements for permit applicants. Plans are now under way to expedite the permitting process, despite the fact that over-development has played a big role in our current economic problems. Less than a year ago, the SJRWMD was sounding the alarm that we are fast approaching the sustainable limits of the aquifer. However, the district recently issued an unprecedented consumptive use permit to JEA, Jacksonville's water and electrical utility, that could eventually result in a 40 percent increase in groundwater withdrawals by the utility.
While our water management districts certainly had room for improvement, Scott and his colleagues are making matters worse, resulting in agencies that are less capable of managing and protecting our already imperiled water resources. Instead of stimulating our economy, they are enacting policy changes that are actually counter to the economic interests of our state and its citizens and do nothing to address the root causes of our economic woes.
The bottom line is that our economic well-being is inextricably linked to how effectively we protect our environment and preserve our natural resources. Safeguarding our air, waters and natural lands is simply a prudent and wise economic investment in the future of our state and a more sensible and defensible approach to economic recovery.
Orth is executive director of the St. Johns Riverkeeper organization.

<< (mouse over to enlarge) - also cows in our waters.

110919-b
Down to the Grass Roots
The Suit Magazine – by Wendy Connick
September 19, 2011
Soil erosion is a major problem from both agricultural and environmental standpoints. The loss of topsoil – the most fertile part of the soil structure – can ruin farmland in just a few years. If the process continues unchecked, disasters like the Dust Bowl of the 1930s can eventually occur.
Robert Arello Jr., CEO of Hydrograss Technologies Inc., deploys specifically engineered products that stop soil erosion. “We originally concentrated, as the business name indicates, on technologies for the hydraulic application of turf seeds, but as the business matured, we gravitated into the sciences of soils and storm water management,” he said in a recent interview. “And from that point on, we have been branching out into more and more specialty products based on ingenuity and innovation, made possible by relationships we’ve forged with some prominent agricultural chemical companies.”
Many of Hydrograss's more recent products use blends of negatively charged polymers and specialized crosslinking chemicals to hold soil in place. “These EPA-approved synthetic organics take micron-size clay particulates and, based on their electromagnetic chemical charge, create a particle agglomeration that prevents them from migrating off sites during heavy rain events,” Arello explained.
Businesses such as landfills, mines and construction projects are particularly concerned with soil erosion because they are required to comply with U.S. clean water legislation. “In the last 20 years, that's become extremely important,” Arello said. “Any activity related to denuding soil or exposing ground where the runoff of soils or glacial tills could possibly contaminate the environment downstream, needs to be treated. Heavy metals like mercury or lead are easily transported because they are known to be piggybacked on soils. So, if you open up a site, whether it's half an acre or 20 acres, you need to protect it using products and processes that are extremely effective.”
A sampling of Hydrograss’s projects in recent years shows just how diverse their efforts are. They’ve used helicopters for hydroseeding in Colorado, targeting 2000 acres damaged in the Hayman Fire, and they’ve engaged with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to rejuvenate 480 acres of the Everglades in Florida. Abroad, they’ve tackled everything from the Fire Golf Course in Dubai to toxic sludge runoff from tar ponds in Nova Scotia.
Hydrograss has reacted to the economic downturn by diversifying and aggressively pursuing opportunities. “Being proactive, marketing, and making sure you're out front of people all the time—that's very important,” Arello said. “With the economy so slow, you get a lot of competition pursuing the same projects.” But he also believes that the recession has a positive Darwinian effect on small businesses. “When you get these big buildups like we've seen through the early 2000s followed by a sudden colossal drop off, it weeds out a lot of the companies that might not belong in this business,” he said. “We know that everything you do is significant when times get difficult. That means the service has to be exceptionally impeccable, and the product line's got to be outstanding.”

110919-c
Sugar industry big player in campaign cash flows, favoring Dems, GOP evenly
Washington Independent - by Virginia Chamlee
September 19, 2011
Many of the most influential American agricultural interests are headquartered in specific parts of the country: The majority of peanuts come from Georgia, corn from Iowa and sugar from Florida. But even though agricultural interests have a significant presence in only a small number of congressional districts, they play an inordinately large role in the political landscape of the entire country.
The majority of sugar cane might be grown in South Florida, but the industry’s political reach extends far beyond the state.
Legend has it that then-President Bill Clinton even interrupted his breakup with Monica Lewinsky to take a call from one of Big Sugar’s top dogs — Alfonso “Alfy” Fanjul. Fanjul and others in his family own Flo-Sun, based in West Palm Beach. The company, along with U.S. Sugar Corp. (headquartered in Clewiston), are the two largest producers of raw cane sugar in the country.
Flo-Sun — through subsidiaries such as Florida Crystals, Domino Foods Inc. and C&H Sugar Company — also has milling and refining operations around the world, with a global production capacity of about 7 million tons of sugar per year. U.S. Sugar’s refined production is less than 1 million, but its subsidiary Southern Gardens Citrus is one of the largest suppliers of not-from-concentrate orange juice in the United States.
As one of Florida’s top agricultural commodities, sugar has a lot to lose from regulations and a lot to gain from agricultural legislation. So the top companies spread campaign donations fairly evenly between Republicans and Democrats across the country, and are often rewarded with support.
During the 2010 cycle, U.S. Sugar donated $12,400 to then-Rep. Allen Boyd, while PACs and individuals working with Flo-Sun gave $16,000 and American Crystal Sugar gave $10,000. Sugar companies have also given heavily to Reps. Dennis Ross, R-Lakeland, and Tom Rooney, R-Stuart. Ross’ second-largest contributor has been Flo-Sun; individuals working for the company donated at least $13,000 to his campaigns since 2009.
It is no surprise, then, that Boyd (before losing his 2010 reelection bid), Ross and Rooney have all crusaded against environmental regulations. The three have been especially vocal about the EPA’s “numeric nutrient criteria,” which could potentially affect agricultural interests including sugar, whose nutrient-laden effluent often makes its way into state waterways, causing noxious algal blooms and fish kills.
According to OpenSecrets, Big Sugar gave more than $4.2 million to federal candidates and party committees during the 2008 election cycle alone, 63 percent of which went to Democrats.
Companies with ties to Florida Crystals (which has contributed nearly $4.5 million to campaigns since 1991) gave at least $100,000 to now-Gov. Rick Scott’s gubernatorial campaign. The head of Florida Crystals also hosted a large campaign fundraiser for Scott only four weeks after he blasted the company’s rival — U.S. Sugar — over its role in a planned Everglades restoration project.
Adam Putnam, meanwhile, was one of the group’s largest recipients in 2002, when he was running for reelection as a congressman. Big Sugar donated at least $61,000 to Putnam’s successful 2010 campaign to become the Florida agriculture commissioner. Shortly after taking office, Putnam sought to delay a ban on sugary drinks in Florida public schools.
“We have been blessed in that the support for farm policies and sugar policies has not been a partisan issue.”
The lobbying arm of U.S. Sugar is enormously powerful. In 2009, crop producers spent more than $20.5 million on federal lobbying. The American Sugar Alliance, which represents both the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida and the Florida Sugar Cane League, was responsible for $1.3 million of that sum.
In 2011 so far, Flo-Sun has spent at least $345,000 on lobbying, while U.S. Sugar has spent $80,000.
“We have been blessed in that the support for farm policies and sugar policies has not been a partisan issue,” says Phillip Hayes, director of media relations for the American Sugar Alliance, which includes Florida Crystals. “When you talk to Republicans and Democrats, the vast majority of people in Congress support U.S. sugar policy. They recognize that you can walk into any coffee shop and pick up free packets of sugar. We have an ample supply of inexpensive sugar, and most of it is homegrown and most members of Congress want to hang on to that success story.”
“We have been in litigation on the flipside of United States Sugar most of the time over the past 20 years, maybe a little more,” says David Guest, an attorney with the environmental law firm Earthjustice. “So we are intimately familiar with the sugar companies. We know how they work.”
Guest says that Big Sugar operates differently than most agricultural industries — trading cash in the form of campaign donations for political favors in the form of subsidies. If the companies gain enough legislative support, they can ensure that agricultural legislation is written to their specifications, keeping sugar prices and subsidies high.
“They are unlike any other industry in Florida in that they aren’t in the agricultural business, they are in the corporate welfare business.”
“They are unlike any other industry in Florida in that they aren’t in the agricultural business, they are in the corporate welfare business,” says Guest. “They get massive amounts of free services with hundreds of millions of dollars. There is a legal requirement imposed where consumers pay extra for their products … and when those programs were being reviewed and repealed in years past, it was sugar only that managed to escape the repeal.”
With its heavy contributions to congressional campaigns, sugar interests have proven skilled at getting their way — especially when it comes to the most important piece of legislation affecting the industry, the U.S. Farm Bill.
This comprehensive bill, which is passed every five years or so by Congress, usually amends or repeals certain provisions of preceding agricultural acts. For Big Sugar, this often translates into lavish subsidies that some theorize they’d go bankrupt without.
The next Farm Bill will be voted on in 2012, and it might look different than in years past. But Big Sugar isn’t worried.
“The whole process is the great unknown. We don’t know what the bill will look like,” says Hayes. “But there will be some reductions. Specifically with sugar, though, sugar is in a pretty good situation. … Sugar has operated at no cost to taxpayers since 2002 and we project that it will remain that way till at least 2021.”
As Hayes points out, federal legislation calls for the sugar program to be operated on a no-cost basis. But it’s costing someone: namely, candy companies that would prefer that the cost of sugar be lowered. The U.S. is mandated to import sugar from 41 countries across the globe, 38 of which are developing, but the government restricts those imports through a series of quotas — pushing U.S. sugar prices to between two and three times the global market rate.
As a result, a handful of sugar producers pocket around $1 billion a year in excess profits. A portion of that revenue is eventually placed back into the political system, a win for both Big Sugar and lawmakers across the country.
Without the high costs brought on by sugar policy, U.S. sugar companies argue they could lose their market share to Brazil, Australia or Thailand. Extensive lobbying and campaign contributions are merely insurance for companies Guest calls the “corporate welfare kings” of America.
Sugar isn’t explicit about its lobbying efforts, but it makes sure to cite the importance of “education.”
“Sugar always works to educate members of Congress about the benefits to sugar policy,” says Hayes. “What we like to say is that sugar policy is clearly working for everyone it touches.”
This report was produced as part of a collaborative investigative effort to expose the influence of corporate money on the political process by members of The Media Consortium, in partnership with the We the People Campaign. To read more stories from this series, visit CampaignCash.org or follow #CampaignCash on Twitter.
The same article also in:
"How Big Sugar gets what it wants from Congress" (Colorado Independent)
"How Big Sugar gets its way" (Florida Independent)

110919-d
Tampa Bay Water settles reservoir lawsuit for $30 million
TampaBay.com - by Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer
Sep 19, 2011
Tampa Bay Water and the company that designed its flawed reservoir agreed Monday to settle their lawsuit, with HDR Engineering handing over $30 million.
Two of the contractors that worked on the reservoir had previously settled the utility's claims for $6.75 million.
Taken together, the $36.75 million in damages falls far short of the cost of repairing the reservoir's cracks, estimated at $121 million. That leaves the rest of the repair cost, as well as the cost to expand the reservoir during the repairs, to be covered by an increase in rates for the customers.
"There will be an impact on the rates when Tampa Bay Water incurs additional debt to do the work," the utility's general manager, Gerald Seeber, said after the settlement was announced.
The decision on how much money to borrow —- and thus how much to raise rates — will come next year, he said, but at this point projections are that the rates might go up 10 to 15 cents per thousand gallons of water used.
The utility opened the 15.5-billion gallon C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir in June 2005 as a place to store water skimmed from the Alafia River, Hillsborough River and Tampa Bypass Canal. The reservoir, named for the longtime congressman from Pinellas County, is the largest in Florida, covering about 1,100 acres.
The reservoir's walls consist of an earthen embankment as wide as a football field at its base, averaging about 50 feet high. An impermeable membrane buried in the embankment prevents leaks.
The embankment's top layer is a mixture of soil and cement to prevent erosion. That's what cracked in December 2006. Some cracks were up to 400 feet long and up to 15½ inches deep. Workers patched the cracks, but the fix didn't last.
Tampa Bay Water sued HDR and its other contractors in federal court in December 2008. The utility contended the cracking was caused by a design flaw — high water pressure from water trapped in the soil wedge beneath the soil cement created cracks — and that HDR had spent as much time trying to cover its tracks as it had investigating the cause.
But HDR executives contended that the cracks resulted from construction foul-ups by the contractor, Barnard Construction. They also said there was no need for an expensive repair job. They contended that all the reservoir needs is regular monitoring for any new cracks in the walls, and perhaps the occasional patch job, at a cost of less than $1 million a year — which would mean no need for a rate increase.
As a result of Monday's settlement, HDR admits no wrongdoing and promises to pay Tampa Bay Water the $30 million within 30 days.
Last month Tampa Bay Water approved a contract with Kiewit Infrastructure South to repair the reservoir and also increase the facility's storage by 3 billion gallons. The contract calls for spending $156 million on the project. The company has promised to finish in two years — during which the reservoir will be drained, forcing the utility to use its desalination plant more. Water from the desal plant costs more to produce than any other water source.

110918-a
Mica says EPA is gutting Clean Water Act
St. Augustine Record – Guest Column by U.S. Rep. JOHN L. MICA
September 18, 2011
All of us want clean water and air.  As someone who has worked to restore the Everglades and Rose Bay Estuary, and to acquire a natural buffer to protect the St. Johns River, I must correct some of the mischaracterizations of my legislation titled the "Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act" and of my commitment to clean water in Florida. (This in response to a guest column on Sept. 11 in The St. Augustine Record.)
All of us want clean water and air. As someone who has worked to restore the Everglades and Rose Bay Estuary, and to acquire a natural buffer to protect the St. Johns River, I must correct some of the mischaracterizations of my legislation titled the "Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act" and of my commitment to clean water in Florida. (This in response to a guest column on Sept. 11 in The St. Augustine Record.)
The best way to achieve our environmental goals is by making advances at a pace that is economically sustainable. Otherwise, we degrade both our economy and our environment.
Florida was making advances in water quality in a responsible manner before the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in its response to a lawsuit by an activist group, nullified its previous agreement with the state and imposed new nutrients requirements. Florida is now required to implement these standards with little scientific basis, while the state's deliberative effort, which would have led to scientifically robust and sustainable standards, is put on the back burner. Meeting these EPA-imposed standards, if it is possible at all, will cost Floridians billions of dollars and reduce economic activity, possibly with no environmental benefit.
H.R. 2018, the Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act, was crafted by Republicans and Democrats at the request of state and local governments and community leaders who want to protect our waters with responsible regulation. Anyone who says H.R. 2018 would dismantle the Clean Water Act (CWA) ignores the facts and doesn't understand the law. When enacted in 1972, the Clean Water Act established a cooperative relationship between EPA and the states in carrying out this important function. For nearly four decades this partnership has worked remarkably well, providing all Americans with cleaner water. But it is EPA that is gutting the CWA by upsetting this successful cooperative relationship and replacing it with federally-dominated edicts that overturn state decisions that EPA previously had approved.
Critics say my bill would be a step backward and turn over regulation of pollutants to states. These statements are uninformed. Even a casual reading of the CWA reveals that it is precisely the states that must regulate pollutants under the law. The problem in 1972 was not that states were operating without oversight, it was that states were not operating at all to protect the nation's waters.
The Clean Water Act created the framework and the funding to get states to act. Under the law, states established clean water programs that included regulatory schemes. EPA provided, and still provides, technical assistance, funding, and approval authority for the state programs. Once the programs are approved, the states carry them out. It is not a reversal of progress for me and a bipartisan group of legislators to try to maintain the federal/state partnership that has been in law for nearly 40 years and has proven to be very successful.
No doubt there is still much to be done. But replacing the federal/state partnership with dictatorial EPA actions that ignore science and the proper role of states will not be successful in the long run. The states, including Florida, can and must protect their waters. They know how to create scientifically based standards for their watersheds, and they know what standards are achievable and on what timeline.
Requiring EPA to honor its approvals and allow states to manage their waters in accordance with EPA-approved plans is the foundation of the Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act. It restores the process that has been working well for nearly four decades and assures a sustainable pace of environmental improvement.
U.S. Rep. John L. Mica represents District 7 which includes all of St. JohnsCounty. He was first elected to Congress in 1992. He is chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. As chairman, he serves on all six Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittees. Among them is the Water Resources and Environment subcommittee. He resides in Winter Park.

110918-b
Salty Flow Into Rivers Blamed on Sea Rise
St. Petersburg Times - by CRAIG PITTMAN
September 18, 2011
The folks who live along the Chassahowitzka and Homosassa rivers have noticed a lot of changes lately. Saltwater fish swimming in what used to be mostly fresh water, as freshwater fish disappear. Trees on the riverbanks toppling over, killed by an increase in salt. Barnacles growing where they never did before.
To them, the cause seems obvious: pumping too much fresh water out of the underground aquifer so people can keep their St. Augustine grass green. Overpumping cuts the flow of fresh water from the local springs into the rivers, allowing salty water from the Gulf of Mexico to begin pushing upstream.
So they were outraged when they found out the Southwest Florida Water Management District may let pumping cut back the rivers' flow even more. According to the agency commonly known as Swiftmud, the Homosassa's flow can be cut by another 5 percent and the Chassahowitzka by 11 percent before causing any "significant harm" to the environment.
"Our position is that you shouldn't take anything away from these rivers," said Brad W. Rimbey, an engineer who has lived near the Chassahowitzka for five years.
The clash turns on an unusual argument. Swiftmud's experts say the increased saltiness of the rivers is not due to overpumping. They contend it's due to climate change. That means it's not a sufficient reason to block more pumping.
"The increased salinity that has occurred is partly the result of sea level rise, and partly due to recent drought conditions that caused the flow to decline," said Marty Kelly, who is in charge of the river flow project for Swiftmud.
Droughts come and go, Kelly pointed out. As for sea level rise, "it's going to increase," Kelly said. "But sea level rise — it's naturally occurring. The basic premise of our definition of 'significant harm' is due to groundwater withdrawals."
Still, he said, Swiftmud is now trying to run computer models to add in calculations for the continuing impact of sea level rise over the next 20 years. Those figures may eventually lead to changes in how much reduced flow Swiftmud thinks the Chassahowitzka and Homosassa can stand.
Among the critics of Swiftmud's position is its former executive director, Emilio "Sonny" Vergara, who was in charge from 1997 to 2003. Cutting the two Citrus County rivers' flow "doesn't make a lot of sense," he said, "but it does allow you to withdraw a lot more water."
Swiftmud and the other four water districts are setting what are called "minimum flows and levels" for Florida's major waterways. The idea is to figure out how much more those rivers, springs and lakes can be drained for water supply purposes before causing environmental problems.
In some instances — along Central Florida's upper Peace River, for instance — that point has already been passed. Swiftmud is now trying to turn a lake near Bartow into a reservoir to hold extra water that can be dumped into the river the next time it threatens to dry up.
Swiftmud's proposed levels for the Chassahowitzka and Homosassa rivers have made residents skeptical about the whole minimum-flow program. In a recent newsletter, Ron Miller, vice president of the Homosassa River Alliance, labeled it "a statewide project to create a map of water sources available for development" that will "lead to the destruction of our already impacted springs, rivers and lakes."
Kelly said that's the opposite of what's intended. Swiftmud's experts ran computer models to check how various levels of pumping would affect the rivers as habitat for manatees, fish, birds and other flora and fauna.
Ultimately, they concluded that a 15 percent reduction in the wildlife habitat would constitute the vaguely defined standard of "significant harm." Then they calculated how much water could be taken out without hitting that 15 percent mark.
"We're protecting 85 percent of the habitat," Kelly said.
Vergara called Swiftmud's computer modeling "iffy" and questioned the experts' ability to measure the flow of tidally influenced, spring-fed rivers so accurately as to avoid hitting the "significant harm" point.
"Holy smokes, that's an awful fine point to make," he said. "And if they set that point wrong, it's going be wrong in perpetuity."
Kelly conceded that the law on setting minimum flows doesn't provide for any guard against gradual damage from increased pumping: "You're either significantly harmed or you're not."
Public workshops on Swiftmud's proposal have turned out to be "pretty feisty," said Rimbey, a forensic engineer who is with the Chassahowitzka River Restoration Committee. The next one, slated for October, promises to be no love-in. Rimbey said he's got a springs expert lined up to testify against the proposed flow levels, and he's trying to get a climatologist who will testify that there are likely to be more and longer droughts.

110917-a
Biscayne National Park plans spark heated debate
Miami Herald - by SUSAN COCKING
September 17, 2011
At a public meeting, officials presented five options for park management, and then passionate comments started to fly.
Boaters, anglers and even pilots were passionate in offering their opinions at a packed public meeting Tuesday in Miami on the proposed general management plan to guide Biscayne National Park over the next 15 to 20 years.
Park officials posted maps in the rear of the meeting room detailing each of five alternatives, which include new no-motor and slow-speed zones and a marine reserve where fishing, spearfishing and lobster catching would be prohibited. The park’s preferred alternative calls for a 10,500-acre no-take zone covering coral reefs just north of Caesar Creek and east of Hawk Channel out to the park boundary where waters are 60 feet deep. Anglers, divers, paddlers, boaters and conservationists gathered at the maps, pointing and asking questions.
Then park superintendent Mark Lewis opened the public comment portion of the meeting with a defense of the marine reserve.
“If we had been doing a good job, when you go out on the reef today, you would see the same fish you saw 25 years ago. And you don’t see that today,” Lewis said. “This is our draft plan of how we can do it better.”
Predictably, recreational anglers assailed the plan for shutting down access to a public resource.
“I just caught a world-record mahogany snapper in the [proposed marine reserve] and submitted it to the IGFA for review,” said Ovidio Verona of Miami. “The fish are on the reef. You are closing a large part of the reef where the fish are. You close it, it’s gone. We won’t get it back.”
Captain Russell Kleppinger blamed poor water quality in the bay and a lack of enforcement of current fisheries laws for the park’s condition.
“You look at the reefs, they’re dead. The water is crap. The grass isn’t healthy,” he said. “I think it’s water quality. All closing off a bottom fishing area is going to do is hurt the economy and local businesses. The key is education and enforcement. Make us pay for a license to use the park and less people will screw it up.”
Added Kathleen Elliott of the Mahogany Youth Corps: “We need some limits on commercial fishermen. We have to do the law enforcement. We have too many people out there harvesting anything that moves. We need to pay for the rules and regulations we already have to be enforced.”
Personal watercraft riders took to the podium to plead for lifting the decade-long ban on their craft in park waters in the name of safe travel.
“We’re not asking to fish or go inside the park,” Jeffrey Thomas said. “We just want to go through the Intracoastal Waterway. Banning us is like prohibiting motorcycles on the Turnpike.”
A similar request came from several seaplane pilots, who want a zone where they can take off and land.
“We draw six inches of water. We’re much safer than most boaters, but yet we are restricted from being able to land in Biscayne National Park. We have to sight-see from the air,” pilot Luis Otero said.
Several speakers asked park officials to adopt the most restrictive management alternative, which would double the size of the marine reserve and add an access-by-permit-only area in shallow waters north of Black Point.
“Alternative five should be the chosen alternative,” said Lee Buckner of the South Florida Wildlands Association. “You are managing a collapsing ecosystem. The park can support larger fish and more types for all users to enjoy.”
David Puittinen, a former commercial shrimper and lobster trapper from Cutler Ridge, urged an even larger marine reserve than proposed in any of the alternatives.
“That marine zone should be everything on the north side of Elliott Key for five years,” he said. “Right now, people coming through the park are not educated.
“You need to close it out, get the shrimpers and lobster guys out of there. Where’s the hog snapper? Where’s the red grouper? You need to take it farther than you have.”
Two more public hearings were held on the plan last week in Key Largo and Florida City. The public comment period is open through Oct. 31. Park officials said they expect to have a final document ready by early 2012. Comments can be mailed to Biscayne National Park, Attn: General Management Plan, 9700 SW 328 St., Homestead, FL, 33033, or submitted online at www.parkplanning.nps.gov

110917-b
Fla. has worst invasive reptile, amphibian problem
Associated Press/WashingtonExaminer.com -by: BILL KACZOR
September 15, 2011
Florida has more invasive amphibians and reptiles than anywhere else in the world, and the pet trade is the number one cause, researchers said in a report released Thursday.
State officials, meanwhile, confirmed the presence of another type of invasive species — the giant African land snail — in South Florida, where it may pose a threat to human health as well as agriculture and even buildings.
The 20-year amphibian and reptile study led by University of Florida researcher Kenneth Krysko was published in the journal Zootaxa. It urges the passage of stronger laws to prevent the release of exotic species.
"No other area in the world has a problem like we do, and today's laws simply cannot be enforced to stop current trends," Krysko said in a statement. He is herpetology collection manager for the Florida Museum of Natural History on the Gainesville campus.
The study says the pet industry was most likely responsible for the introduction of 84 percent of 137 nonnative reptile and amphibian species introduced from 1863 through 2010.
That includes 25 percent linked to one importer, Strictly Reptiles of Hollywood.
"I agree to disagree," said Ray Van Nostrand Jr., one of Strictly Reptiles' co-owners. "We do the best we can to control our inventory."
The study concludes Strictly Reptiles was the most likely source of at least 32 confirmed species found nearby because they have not turned up elsewhere and were listed in firm's inventory.
"This locality is well known for unusual non-indigenous species, and neighborhood children, hobbyists, and even professional herpetologists frequently search the area for released or escaped animals," the study says.
Van Nostrand said the pet industry is far less of a hazard than other industries that pour pollutants into the environment.
"Does it have an impact really on the environment?" he asked. "They don't know."
Other releases were traced to cargo and zoos.
The most notorious of Florida's invasive reptiles is the Burmese python.
The Legislature last year passed a law banning individuals from owning the large snakes and six other large, exotic reptile species after a Burmese python killed a 2-year-old girl at her home in Oxford, Fla.
The snake had been kept as a pet in the home and escaped from its tank.
People who owned the banned reptiles before the law went into effect, though, can keep them.
Of the nonnative reptile and amphibian species introduced 56 have become established in Florida. They include 43 kinds of lizards, five snakes including the Burmese python, four turtles, three frogs and a caiman, which is related to the American alligator.
The study notes no one has ever been prosecuted for the establishment of a non-indigenous species.
It's difficult to get a conviction because a law enforcement officer must witness the release and the animal must be recovered, said Scott Hardin, exotic species coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"In the real world people who release stuff don't do it that way," Hardin said.
He said the commission, instead, is trying to educate owners and work with the pet industry to prevent such releases.
Florida also is a haven for other exotic plant, fish and animal species. The giant African land snail could become one of the most destructive.
Growing up to eight inches in length and more than four inches in diameter, the snail eats at least 500 types of plants and can cause structural damage to plaster and stucco. It also can carry a parasite that can lead to meningitis.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has identified a population in Miami-Dade County. They are illegal to import into the United States without a permit and currently no permits have been issued.
The last reported outbreak in Florida was in 1966 when a Miami boy smuggled three snails as pets. His grandmother released them into her garden and they multiplied. It cost more than $1 million to eradicate in excess of 18,000 snails.
It's too late, though, to eradicate the Burmese python, which has found a home in the Everglades and adjacent areas, said Rob Robins, coordinator of operations at the Museum of Natural History.
Hardin agreed.
"Our strategy has been to try to contain them," he said.
Pythons in the wild are little danger to humans but could be to such threatened or endangered native species as the Florida panther and key deer, Robins said.

110917-c
Lee neighbors concerned about planned mine across county line in Collier
Naples Daily News - by ERIC STAATS
September 17, 2011
NAPLES — The manmade line that separates Collier and Lee counties west of Immokalee is largely invisible to nature.
Florida panthers roam across it, wood storks fly above it and water flows past it.
For the people who live on the Lee County side of it, though, the county line is looming large as they fight the Lost Grove mine, proposed by Alico Land Development Corp. on 1,300 acres south of Corkscrew Road on the Collier side of the line.
“It’s like your fate is defined really by a property line,” said George Brown, 55, a mine opponent who lives on Tina’s Lane across the county line from the proposed mine.
Lee County rules, adopted in 2010 but subject to a pending legal challenge by landowners and mining companies, would prohibit the mine; in Collier, no such prohibition exists and opponents fear Collier County won’t be as sensitive to concerns about the mine’s effect on the environment, neighbors and truck traffic.
In a rare move, Lee County officials plan to dispatch a team of county reviewers to raise concerns about the Lost Grove mine during a series of Collier County public hearings.
Collier County environmental advisers have questioned whether the two counties are coordinating well enough, and some are calling for a more regional approach to regulating rock mining.
They cite moves in Tallahassee to decrease state oversight of growth management by gutting the former Department of Community Affairs and the state’s Regional Planning Councils.
“I think this is a glaring example, finally the control is at the local level, but are we prepared to take it?” Collier County Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) member Gina Downs said. “We’d better step up to the plate.”
Alico is proposing to excavate rock from about half the site, which also will be used for rock crushing, washing and sorting the mined materials. The mine, which would be in operation for at least 20 years, would generate almost 1,400 truck trips to and from the mine each day.
In May, Lee County Commission Chairman Frank Mann wrote to Collier Commission Chairman Fred Coyle, expressing concerns that the mine would burden neighbors, harm protected public lands at the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed, put underground drinking water supplies at risk and overrun Lee County roads.
Despite the concerns and a March memo from Lee County planners, Collier environmental reviewers recommended approval of the mine without any conditions.
“That’s just surprising to me,” CREW Trust executive director Brenda Brooks told the Collier EAC earlier this month.
County planners still are reviewing the mine for a Nov. 3 meeting of the Collier County Planning Commission. The mine could come to Collier commissioners for a vote as early as Dec. 13.
Collier County planner Kay Deselem, who is leading the planning review of the Lost Grove mine, said Lee and Collier are coordinating their reviews of the mine, exchanging emails and documents.
She said she has asked Lee County officials for specific conditions for approval of the Lost Grove mine rather than a list of general concerns.
“I think we’re doing pretty well,” she said.
Coyle, the Collier commission chairman, said the cross-county review of the Lost Grove mine is complicated by the two counties’ differing regulations.
“Even if we sympathize with Lee, we have to make decisions in accordance with Collier County codes,” Coyle said.
After a daylong hearing earlier this month, the EAC added its own conditions to its recommendation for approval of the Lost Grove mine.
The conditions included wider buffers between the mine and neighbors, limits on lighting and discharge requirements aimed at making sure the mine doesn’t dry up protected wetlands in the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed.
Another condition would require Alico to pay for a program to repair drinking water wells and septic tanks if they are damaged by blasting at the mine.
The mine hours would be adjusted to keep haul trucks off roads at dawn and dusk, when collisions with endangered Florida panthers are more likely.
Some two dozen mining opponents testified at the Lost Grove hearing, urging the EAC to protect what they consider to be a special part of Southwest Florida.
Across Corkscrew Road from the proposed mine is the CREW Marsh trails, lined with benches built by the son of Lee County mining opponent Kevin Hill for an Eagle Scout project.
“I’d hate to think of the folks sitting on my son’s Eagle Scout project benches and listening to back-up beepers and rock crushing and drag line chains and all that stuff going on within a mile of that operation,” Hill told the EAC.

110917-d







This is a map of the
proposed Everglades
Headwater National
Wildlife Refuge and
Conservation Area.
U.S. Department of
the Interior, Fish
and Wildlife Service.


(mouse over to enlarge)

110917-d
Proposed purchase of land north of Lake O has potential benefits for Everglades
Sun Sentinel
September 17, 2011
There's a lot to like about a new federal plan that could help boost Everglades and South Florida wetlands restoration efforts by preserving as many as 150,000 acres between Orlando and Lake Okeechobee — many of them wetlands that feed the River of Grass.
The plan, costing at least $600 million, would make the federal government a more active partner in Everglades restoration — a responsibility it hasn't fully lived up to since agreeing in 2000 to share the project's funding. The money would come from offshore oil leases.
By preserving the wetlands, forests and prairies north of Lake O, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would be safeguarding habitats that several protected species call home — the Florida black bear, panther, scrub jay and Everglades snail kites, among them.
The preservation effort also should protect a large share of the state's drinking water by helping check or reduce the pollutants that otherwise would make their way to the Everglades.
The plan has the potential to do all that by having the government buy 50,000 of the acres, and the development rights to another 100,000 acres. Most of them are now owned by cattle ranchers.
But the plan also comes with wrinkles, common when the purchase of development rights, or conservation easements, are involved. The easements would allow ranchers to keep using the land, but not develop it. Potentially promising.
Governments resort to conservation easement deals instead of outright purchases of land when they encounter landowners who wouldn't otherwise give up their property. Or when governments are looking to economize: Development rights are typically worth about half of a property's full market value.
And, suffice to say, economizing is the operative word these days.
But easements also can provide governments and environmentalists a false sense of security. In this deal, a rancher would give up rights to develop, say, a 10,000-acre tract made part of a conservation easement. But he might turn around and hang a great big "develop here, develop now" sign on his larger lot nearby.
Agencies that purchase conservation easements from landowners also sometimes give them up when there's a request to build a road or utility line across the land that the easement's designed to protect — so long as another easement somewhere else takes its place.
The plan could also flop because no funding has been allocated and Congress has yet to approve it. The plan's next step is a 45-day public-comment period.
The plan's potential to help rejuvenate the Everglades mustn't be ignored, however. It might just help restore a state treasure.

110916-a
David Guest: Don't let polluters write clean-water rules
Gainesville.com
September 16,2011
At the end of August, a large, disgusting algae outbreak slimed Old Tampa Bay. Two months earlier, an algae outbreak in the Caloosahatchee River, near Fort Myers, turned the river bright green, smelled like raw sewage, and made thousands of fish go belly up. Water with algae outbreaks like this is so toxic that health authorities say you shouldn't touch it, much less drink it or swim in it. It can give you rashes, respiratory problems, and even kill you.
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, found that out the hard way. He swam in the same type of toxic algae outbreak in Grand Lake, Oklahoma, in June and said he became “deathly sick” that night with an upper respiratory illness. “There is no question,” Ihhofe told the Tulsa World, that his illness came from the toxic algae in the lake. Oklahoma health officials had warned people not to touch the water, swim in the popular lake, or eat fish from it. Like Florida's outbreaks, the one in Grand Lake was fueled by the so-called “nutrients,” nitrogen and phosphorus, which come from inadequately treated sewage, fertilizer, and manure.
After years of seeing nauseating algae outbreaks on popular Florida tourist beaches like Sanibel Island and at fishing meccas like the St. Johns River, we citizens finally got the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to start setting limits on the sewage, fertilizer and manure pollution that's threatening our drinking water and our health.
This type of pollution is preventable. We can combat it at its source, by upgrading old sewer plants, using modern manure management on agricultural operations and being smarter about applying fertilizer.
At the end of August, a large, disgusting algae outbreak slimed Old Tampa Bay. Two months earlier, an algae outbreak in the Caloosahatchee River, near Fort Myers, turned the river bright green, smelled like raw sewage, and made thousands of fish go belly up. Water with algae outbreaks like this is so toxic that health authorities say you shouldn't touch it, much less drink it or swim in it. It can give you rashes, respiratory problems, and even kill you.
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, found that out the hard way. He swam in the same type of toxic algae outbreak in Grand Lake, Oklahoma, in June and said he became “deathly sick” that night with an upper respiratory illness. “There is no question,” Ihhofe told the Tulsa World, that his illness came from the toxic algae in the lake. Oklahoma health officials had warned people not to touch the water, swim in the popular lake, or eat fish from it. Like Florida's outbreaks, the one in Grand Lake was fueled by the so-called “nutrients,” nitrogen and phosphorus, which come from inadequately treated sewage, fertilizer, and manure.
After years of seeing nauseating algae outbreaks on popular Florida tourist beaches like Sanibel Island and at fishing meccas like the St. Johns River, we citizens finally got the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to start setting limits on the sewage, fertilizer and manure pollution that's threatening our drinking water and our health.
This type of pollution is preventable. We can combat it at its source, by upgrading old sewer plants, using modern manure management on agricultural operations and being smarter about applying fertilizer.
Cleaning up our waters is a good thing, but you wouldn't know it by reading the distortions and inflated cost estimates that highly paid polluter-lobbyists are peddling to scare people. They will spend whatever it takes to make sure they can keep using our public waters as their private sewers.
The truth is that meeting Florida's new limits for these contaminants is likely to cost a few dollars extra per person per month phased in over many years. In Chesapeake Bay, for example, advanced wastewater treatment cut pollution at a cost of only $2.50 per household per month. Not a bad price for clean water.
The Florida DEP is in the process of setting new statewide standards for phosphorus and nitrogen pollution. Unfortunately, the rules that state regulators have proposed so far are inadequate to protect public health and clean up the waters. It is critical that the state's polluters, now emboldened by the current anything-goes mentality in Tallahassee, don't end up writing the DEP's water-pollution rules. It is critical that our state regulators protect the public, not the polluters.
Tourism, fishing, and boating are our economic lifeblood in Florida. When visitors come here and see dead fish and “No Swimming” signs, they won't come back, and that affects our state budget and our jobs.
David Guest is an attorney in the Tallahassee office of Earthjustice, a public-interest law firm.

110916-b
EPA must be steadfast in protecting Florida waterways
Orlando Sentinel – commentary by Lauren Ritchie
September 16, 2011
Imagine someone from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at the top of the Empire State Building, dropping a snowball. If you were to watch it descend in slow motion, the anticipation would build as it nears the bottom.
You know there's going to be quite an impact 102 stories below.
That's what is going on between the state of Florida and the federal EPA right now. The little missile is dropping oh, so slowly, but its effect on the lakes and rivers of Florida could be dramatic when it finally lands.
However, bureaucrats have managed to turn so critical a process, which will affect so many Floridians, into an unintelligible bowl of mush that no one wants to taste.
What's at stake is the health of Florida waters — its lakes, rivers, streams and canals — and whether people can fish, boat, swim and play in them in the future.
This all started in 1998, when the EPA ordered states to set limits on water pollution caused by nitrogen and phosphorous (think: fertilizer).
The federal agency warned it would impose its own rules if states didn't get in gear by 2004. Of course, Florida didn't.
In 2008, the Tallahassee law firm called Earthjustice got fed up and sued on behalf of five environmental groups to make the EPA enforce the Clean Water Act.
Waterways were going to slime while Florida's Department of Environmental Protection plodded along in the background, trying to come up with limits of its own.
Near the end of the George W. Bush administration, the EPA decided to settle and imposed sweeping limits using a one-size-fits-all strategy.
It establishes specific, acceptable amounts for various pollutants, measurable in parts per million, for any given water body.
But the EPA delayed enforcement until March 2012.
These rules are critical because they will determine the destiny of Florida's waterways for years to come.
The EPA plan isn't perfect, but it's doable, can be easily understood even by those without a science background and would produce results that would help clean up water pollution that both the federal agency and the state recognize is rampant in Florida.
Perhaps that's why the proposal is being demonized by Big Agriculture, an industry that doesn't even fall under these provisions because it's primarily regulated through a separate set of rules.
Still, its lobbyists are out doing an extensive trick-pony roadshow to ratchet up the pressure. They say the EPA is limiting agricultural runoff in other states, and they're afraid they'll be next.
Don't you just hate it when the EPA stops polluters?
The big question in all this is whether the EPA will stick to its position or yield to pressure from not only the agricultural industry but also Florida Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature, who both told EPA to take a hike.
Scott contends that Florida can take care of its waters better than the EPA can. Really? Is that why 688 of them fail to meet water quality standards?
Here's the danger: If the polluters can push the feds out of the picture, Florida's surface waters will be subject to death by a thousand little cuts. Scott, after all, doesn't have what might be described as a sterling reputation for defending the environment.
Recently, the EPA "gave" a little when it agreed Florida could create a new classification of water system that would affect mostly man-made canals on the coasts.
The state argued that those waterways aren't worth the untold fortune it would cost to clean them up to Class III standards, which allow for swimming, boating and fishing.
Those now may be considered "Class III-Limited," which means the canals would be suitable for "incidental" contact rather than swimming and fishing.
Consider that the first nick in Florida's environmental hide.
From here on, the EPA must stand fast. So much of Florida's tourist industry depends so heavily on its waterways being clean — or at least not slipping further into the cesspool.
Too bad that Florida, like a little kid, is fighting rules made for her own good.

110916-c
Good and bad on Lake Okeechobee
TCPalm - by Ed Killer
September 16, 2011
Low Lake Okeechobee water levels cause for concern, but fishing may be as good as it gets.
OKEECHOBEE — In three feet of water, schools of largemouth bass, bluegill, plecostomus and shellcrackers scatter across the sandy bottom of Florida's greatest lake as the roar of an approaching airboat sends them scurrying for the cover of bulrushes and lily pads.
The fish are still easy to see — even at 30 mph — because the skies are sunny, the water is clear and most of all shallow.
Very shallow.
And that is the problem, says Jack Fulce, owner of Crappy Jack's Bait and Tackle store, guide service and airboat and pontoon boat tours in Buckhead Ridge. Gliding the airboat to a rest on a grass island on the back side of King's Bar, Fulce stands up to describe his concern.
"Last year we were sitting here in two, two and a half feet of water catching bass to win bass tournaments," said Fulce pointing to an oblong bay with less than 12 inches of water in it.
To further illustrate the point, Fulce stops the airboat another mile away in Pearce Canal, the main thoroughfare between the locks at Buckhead Ridge and the open waters of the lake. Capt. John Miller, of Port St. Lucie who guides out of Crappy Jack's, climbed out of the airboat and waded into ankle deep water in the middle of the canal, usually close to four feet in depth at this time of the year.
"Some areas where we enjoy fishing are becoming too shallow to get a boat into," said Fulce, whose shop recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, one which saw the lake reach its second lowest point ever in June. Now, with about 10 weeks left in the rainy season, the lake's level is only about 10.92 feet, a depth close to four feet shallower than at the same time a year ago. And that depth is too shallow to sustain businesses through the height of the winter tourist season, unless there is more rain coming — and soon.
Susan Sylvester, chief of water control operations for South Florida Water Management District, said managers are concerned that water levels have not risen more. Sylvester said that allocations for lake water users, such as agriculture and municipalities, are still cutback at 45 percent, so little, or no water is going out of the lake.
"Clearly we need about 1.5 to two feet of rainfall to help the lake get to where we want it to be, but we are still a foot above the same trend that led to the 2007 all-time low level of 8.82 feet by July," Sylvester said. "We have not deactivated the water shortage management team and are strategizing. We know April and May will be our most difficult months.
"We also have a history to know what our worst case scenarios are."
Miller and Fulce are also concerned for the safety of boaters who don't spend a great deal of time out on the lake. An inexperienced boater or angler could run aground if unfamiliar with the water.
"The fishing has been great — people can still catch 50 to 100 bass a day out here," said Miller. "But some of the launch ramps are becoming inaccessible like at Okeetantie. If someone backs their trailer off the end of the ramp there, they're in trouble."
To some degree, Capt. Bob Stafford — an Okeechobee fishing guide — agrees with Fulce and Miller, but said anglers who wish to fish from their own boats should not be afraid to come to the lake.
"My general rule of thumb is to not go into water less than four feet deep," Stafford said. "Use your GPS, depth finder and common sense. Don't go screaming around grass lines. Shut down offshore and idle into a fishing spot."
Fishing guides, bait shops, hotels, motels, gas stations and restaurants in Okeechobee do the majority of their business between December and April, said Capt. Mike Shellen.
Low water during those five months will mean limited access to the lake and less business for those who count on it.
Capt. Butch Butler, of Okeechobee, said until then, the fishing is so good that bass anglers need to experience it.
"There are shad everywhere — it's a bass fisherman's dream right now," Butler said Wednesday. "We even had two times (Wednesday) where we caught two bass on the same plug. Small crank baits, small worms, rattle traps are all working.
"You can really load up on 'em."
That is, until you can't get to them.
LAKE OKEECHOBEE: ANOTHER "DRY" WET SEASON
Level of Lake Okeechobee on Wednesday: 10.91 feet
Historical average on this date: 14.48 feet
Level one year ago: 14.23 feet
Level one week ago: 10.73 feet
Deficit below water shortage line: 1.73 feet
These locks remain closed:
S-135 at J & S Fish Camp in Martin County
S-193 at Taylor Creek in Okeechobee County
G-36 at Henry Creek in Okeechobee County
S-127 at Buckhead Ridge in Glades County
S-131 at Lakeport in Glades County
Source: South Florida Water Management District
TIPS FOR RUNNING THE LAKE
"The fishing is good, so come on out." That's the message delivered by fishing guides who know the waters of the lake very well. Here are some tips from Capt. Butch Butler:
- Use your head. Common sense can help save dollars and lives
- Do not run a boat all the way to a shoreline. Shut down a half-mile or quarter-mile offshore and idle in to prevent motor damage on rocky lake bottom
- Use a depth finder, GPS and get local knowledge before heading out to fish or sightsee on the lake
- Hire a guide. The fishing is great, so leave the navigation to a veteran

110915-a
EPA retreats in Florida clean water fight
TampaBay.com
September 15, 2011
Floridians who banked on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to protect the state's waters have a right to be disappointed. The agency appears to have capitulated again by approving this month the state's request to lower standards for water bodies too polluted or physically altered to be redeemed in a "cost effective" way. The true impact remains to be seen, but this puts a new weapon into the hands of the environmental wrecking crew in Tallahassee.
Florida's current standards divide the state's waterways into five categories, from Class I, for drinking water, down to Class V, or water for industrial use. Under federal law, no one is supposed to pollute the waterways to the point that any is downgraded from one class to the next. Most of Florida's water bodies are designated Class III, safe for swimming and fishing. The EPA approved the state's request to create a subcategory, Class III-Limited, which is aimed at waterways the state says are not worth the time or expense to clean up.
The rule change was years in the making, and to a degree it addressed a legitimate concern about maintaining the quality of man-made canals and other small water bodies that lacked the aquatic diversity of a natural, thriving ecosystem. But the EPA will give Florida wide latitude to define what Class III water bodies are fit to be downgraded to the new subcategory. The state would determine a waterway's highest use and whether it was feasible to restore a water body to its original condition. Waters that would be relegated to Class III-Limited status would not be allowed to deteriorate further or harm any waters downstream.
The EPA downplayed the move, insisting it is in keeping with the federal Clean Water Act and noting it must approve any downgrade. The agency said it merely hoped to give Florida "flexibility" to apply standards to water bodies that were already compromised.
But the proof of the agency's judgment is still to come as it oversees the implementation of the new subcategory. At best, Washington has written off an unknown number of waterways and lessened the imperative for environmental restoration. And it sent a terrible sign to heavy polluters and their enablers in state government who have long appeared more interested in saving money than being good stewards of the water resources all Floridians own. Floridians are right to wonder how much faith they can put in the EPA long term when it gives up so much at the outset.

110915-b
Rock mines, wind turbines don't belong in Everglades
Sun Sentinel - by Drew Martin
September 15, 2011
The Palm Beach County Commission approved zoning for up to 90 wind turbines (over 500-feet tall) in the Everglades Agricultural Area, even though this location would put migratory birds and bats at risk. Environmental groups suggested we carefully study the impacts. Why rush these zoning changes?
The same is true of rock mining. We have asked for a comprehensive study of rock mining damage, but the county says they can't afford a study. Yet, county officials ignore existing science showing damage to aquifers in other counties. Two scientists at the Everglades Foundation prepared a study demonstrating that rock mines can contaminate ground water. The county has ignored the study. The current L-8 reservoir shows chloride contamination. Chloride contamination comes when rock mines expose ancient deposits of briny water. The deeper the rock mine, the greater the risk.
The county ignores its own rules, permitting actions that it should be denying. County rules say rock mines should not be allowed to be mined below 15 feet. Yet county staff permitted mines to go deeper. The comprehensive plan requires that rock from mines be restricted to three uses: roads, environmental restoration or agricultural. The county did not enforce the rule and lost to the Sierra Club and 1000 Friends of Florida when challenged in court. Why have rules if they are not enforced?
We ask the county to base its decisions on science. If the county can't afford to pay for the scientific research to make the proper decisions, then don't move forward with decisions that may do irreparable environmental damage.
Drew Martin is conservation chair of the Loxahatchee Group, Sierra Club, in Lake Worth.

110914-a
Clean Water Network Weighing Suit Against EPA for Approval of FL Water Rules
Bradenton Times - by Staff Report
September 14, 2011
BRADENTON – In light of the EPA's approving Florida's request to make changes to designated use categories for state waters, lawyers at the Clean Water Network of Florida are investigating the possibility of suing the EPA. The new regulations would broaden the ability to pollute certain waters, while removing a clear path for legal objections. Below is a letter from the network's director, Linda Young, which went out to members yesterday.
Dear Friends of Florida’s waters:
Last week the US EPA approved Florida’s request to change the designated use categories for Florida’s waters. For decades, all of Florida’s waters had to fall into one of five use categories: drinking, shell-fishing, fishing/swimming, agriculture and industry (for which there are none anymore). As I have written to you many times over the past two years, Florida decided that some of our waters should not be clean enough for fishing and swimming, which means that higher levels of pollution will not only be tolerated but it will be legal and beyond anyone’s legal objections.
We have all tried to stop this from happening for the past several years. We submitted several comment letters to the state and to EPA and have had several meetings with EPA as well as phone conversations and emailing back and forth. Nevertheless, EPA has made yet another decision that will be devastating to Florida’s waters. While I am not surprised, I am deeply disappointed in the Obama EPA, which seems to have little or no regard for our waters. Yes, from time to time they make sounds that would lead one to think they want to do the right thing, but their actions speak louder.
First they gave Florida a numeric nutrient criteria rule that is so full of loopholes that it will actually allow even more nutrient pollution in our waters. Now they are allowing for designated uses that will legalize more pollution. Next year Florida intends to weaken the dissolved oxygen criteria for Florida’s waters. This is necessary because of the higher nutrient levels that are now allowed, which in turn cause lower dissolved oxygen in our waters. Higher nutrients, more algae, lower dissolved oxygen all lead to waters that are unsuitable for fish to survive in and unfit for humans to swim in. When Florida asks EPA to approve the change in dissolved oxygen criteria next year, we can unfortunately expect EPA to say yes again.
Our attorney is reviewing the situation and I’m hoping that we can file suit against EPA for this decision. The wording is carefully crafted in an attempt to cover their butt in court. If there is a way to challenge this, we will.
I’m sorry to bring this bad news to you, but we will continue to fight for protection of our waters on the local level across the state and hopefully in the near future the voters of Florida will elect people to office who care about clean water, our health and preserving our natural resources for future generations.
For all of Florida’s waters,
Linda Young, Director

110914-b
Federal government to allow Florida less stringent water standards
TampaBay.com - by Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer
September 14, 2011
Despite complaints by environmental groups that it will lead to more pollution, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved Florida's request to change state standards for its waterways so they aren't as stringent.
The new standards allow for some waterways — man-made canals, for instance — to be classified as no longer appropriate for swimming or fishing, allowing only "incidental contact."
The reason, say state officials, is that cleaning them up would cost more than it's worth.
State Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller said changing the classifications for such waterways allows the DEP "to focus protection on our most valuable water resources."
But Linda Young of the Clean Water Network contended that the change "is so broad and all-encompassing that it undermines the basis for Florida water protection." The fact that the Obama administration approved it, she said, means Obama is "as bad or worse than Bush" at protecting water quality.
The current state standards were created in 1968. They divide the state's waterways into five categories based on their usage.
Class I is for drinking water. Class II means it's clean enough to eat the oysters and other shellfish harvested there. Class III means it's clean enough for someone to swim there or to eat the fish caught there. Class IV means it's only good for irrigating crops, and Class V is primarily for industrial use.
No one is supposed to dump pollution into those waterways in quantities sufficient to change their use. In other words, no one can degrade a Class III waterway so that it becomes a Class IV or V. To make sure that doesn't happen, the state sets limits on how much pollution can be dumped into each waterway per day, something called a total maximum daily load.
In 1998, state officials drew up a list of 1,200 Florida waterways that had trouble meeting their classification because they were impaired by pollution. About 80 percent had problems with high levels of nutrients and low levels of dissolved oxygen — both manifestations of fertilizer-heavy runoff, which is the target of some controversial regulations that federal officials plan to impose in Florida.
Most of the state's waterways are designated as Class III, safe for fishing and swimming. What the EPA has approved is a new subcategory called Class III-Limited, which is aimed at waterways that the state says can't be cleaned up enough to meet Class III status without spending more than it's worth.
The rules for each one would be site-specific. In those waterways, boating might be allowed, for instance, but not prolonged physical contact with the water.
"They wanted a classification that didn't have to be clean enough for people to swim in," Young said.
Class III-Limited would also not have the same kinds of fish and other aquatic life found in a natural system. Whether people would be allowed to catch and eat those fish — or would want to — is a matter of debate.
A Sept. 6 letter from EPA official Jim Giattina to DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard says the Class III-Limited designation is being approved because it meets the legal requirements for "the highest uses that are attainable."
The EPA's letter says the state cannot change any waterways to the new classification without showing that the change "will result in the protection of all existing uses, as well as the standards of downstream waters." The DEP must post a public notice and also let EPA review the change first.

110914-c
Florida congressman attacks EPA for ‘going wild,’ using ‘junk science’
Florida Independent - by Virginia Chamlee
September 14, 2011
Congressman ROSS video
Congressman Dennis Ross, R-Lakeland, again slammed the federal Environmental Protection Agency in an appearance today on Fox Business.
Ross has long been vocal in his opposition of the EPA-mandated “numeric nutrient criteria,” a set of standards that would govern water pollution in Florida.
Saying they are based on “junk science,” Ross argued that the criteria would have a deleterious impact on Floridians. “The EPA is going wild, and is not relying on genuine science or logic and reason in its implementation of its regulations,” Ross said. Shortly after, Ross said the EPA is hampering the fishing industry in Florida. “They [the fishing industry] can do a very good job making sure they’re policing it the way it ought to be policed because their livelihoods depend on it,” he said.
Supporters of the criteria argue that the rules would help, rather than hinder, the fishing industry. Nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen (which are present in both industry effluent and home fertilizers) lead to large scale algal blooms in state waterways, cutting off oxygen to marine supply and killing fish — a major problem for those hoping to catch them.
Attacks on the EPA are nothing new, especially attacks originating from the right. As we have noted has been noted, however, the numeric nutrient criteria were actually mandated by the Bush Administration, not President Obama.
(Watch the full video)

110914-d
Former planning chief: Farmton 'flies in the face of' Volusia growth model
Daytona Beach News Journal - by DINAH VOYLES PULVER, Environment writer
September 14, 2011
DELAND -- One of the state's leading experts on planning testified -- over and over again -- Tuesday that the massive Farmton plan proposed for southern Volusia flies in the face of sound community planning practices.
Tom Pelham, two-time secretary of the Florida Department of Community Affairs, took the stand during a state administrative hearing on whether the Farmton plan complies with Volusia County's existing long-term land use plan.
Pelham testified for the Sierra Club and the Edgewater Citizens Alliance for Responsible Development, both of which have challenged the county's approval. Pelham served as secretary under Gov. Charlie Crist but left office in early January after announcing his intent to resign last November.
The Farmton plan is a 50-year development proposal for 59,000 acres owned by the Miami Corp. in Volusia and northern Brevard counties. It would allow 23,000 homes and more than 4 million square feet of commercial space between Osteen and Oak Hill. It also requires the property owners to set aside more than 40,000 acres in conservation.
Under Pelham's watch, the department ruled the Farmton Local Plan not in compliance. Once a new administration took office, the ruling was reversed after another round of changes.
At issue in this hearing, expected to last through Friday, is whether the latest round of changes bring the plan into compliance with the county's land use plan. Pelham said they do not.
The administrative hearing judge, David Maloney, has ruled the question will be considered in terms of new changes to state planning policies approved by the Legislature earlier this year.
Pelham, pointing out the number of homes is many more times that allowed under existing rules, said it is "a planning travesty" to put a "new city" in an area previously identified by the county as an important natural resource area.
"In my opinion it would be hard to imagine a plan amendment that would be more inconsistent with the Volusia County Comprehensive Plan," said Pelham, now an independent attorney and planning consultant. "It flies in the face of everything the plan proposes to do."
Volusia has had "one of the strongest" frameworks in the state for guiding future growth and development and for protecting natural resources, Pelham said. And, the stated intention of that plan is to discourage urban sprawl and contain urban development by directing it away from such areas.
Farmton is the exact opposite of that, he said.
"Why in the world would the county want to make it easier to create new urban areas out in the hinterlands?"
Pelham said the number of homes and the commercial space are "many times" what's allowed under existing rules. The property is "not suitable for a development of this nature," Pelham said. "The property is extremely wet, it is dominated by an extensive system of sloughs, marshes, creeks and swamps.
"It is a fundamental principal of planning that you do not direct intense urban development into lands that are dominated by wetlands and water issues," Pelham said.
In her opening argument Tuesday afternoon, an attorney for Miami Corp, Linda Shelley, who also is a former DCA secretary, disputed Pelham's remarks and said the company's witnesses will demonstrate the plan was changed significantly in January.
"We have over 1,573 additional acres set aside in conservation," she said. "To me, that should make a difference."
Shelley echoed Pelham's statements about Volusia County's reputation and said the Farmton amendment is indicative of the county's "excellence in environmental planning."
Jamie Seaman, a deputy Volusia County attorney, said the county has done everything the department asked for in January, including adjusting the size and shape of sustainable development areas, widening the wildlife corridors, adding water consumption data that was approved by regional water managers and adopted a transportation map for the property.
Among those expected to testify later in the week are experts with the St. Johns River Water Management District, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Audubon of Florida. The hearing is taking place in the training rooms at the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center, 123 W. Indiana Ave.

110914-e
If Everglades is a test, we’re still casting for the answer
Jacksonville.com - by Mark Woods
September 14, 2011
From standardized testing to drug testing, Florida is big into testing these days. So perhaps it’s a fitting time to bring up a quote from Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
“The Everglades is a test,” she once said. “If we pass it, we may get to keep the planet.”
Even if you don’t agree with Douglas — and obviously many in the state’s history have not — we clearly have taken the “River of Grass” and turned it into a series of colossal makeup exams.
One hundred years after Napoleon Bonaparte Broward got elected governor by pledging to drain and develop the Everglades, we’re in the middle of the most expensive environmental repair attempt in American history.
In recent decades, it hasn’t just been a bunch of grass-hugging environmentalists defending the restoration of the Everglades. Support has been bipartisan and strong. For instance, in 2002, Gov. Jeb Bush and President George W. Bush led a push for the government to buy back oil and mineral rights held by Collier Resources (rights which predated the establishment of Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve).
So it came as a surprise when, during a recent campaign stop, presidential candidate Michele Bachmann talked about being open to increased drilling in the Everglades. And it was an even bigger surprise when the governor of Florida seemed to second the views of the Minnesota politician, prompting Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerabino to wonder if the Everglades needed a new name: “River of Gas.”
Gov. Rick Scott quickly elaborated, pointing out that there has been drilling in the Everglades since 1943 and saying we should be “very cautious” before expanding.
He’s right. There has been drilling in small parts of the Everglades. But it should be noted that this drilling has produced primarily low-grade crude, hardly the stuff of energy independence.
There is, however, another commodity the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States has proved to be quite good at producing: fresh water.
One in three Floridians is dependent on the Everglades for drinking water.
So beyond last week’s controversy about drilling there is a broader, big-picture question: When this governor looks at the Everglades, what does he see?
We’ve had governors who have seen little more than worthless swampland. And we’ve had governors who have seen beauty and value in the wetlands.
When he visited the Times-Union last week, Scott talked about the importance of a consistent, long-term water plan and said: “We have to continue the process of restoring the Everglades.”
Of course, it should be noted that he cut restoration spending and gutted water management agencies.
So if the Everglades represents a test, it’s still hard to tell what our latest answer is. And the fear is that, once again, decisions made today will cost us in the future.
It’s not just that the population of wading birds in the Everglades has dwindled dramatically. It’s that these birds are the canaries in the coal mines. Or in Florida’s case, the ibis in the aquifer.

110914-f
Protect Florida's waters, not polluters
TampaBay.com - by David Guest, special to the Times
September 14, 2011
At the end of August, a large, disgusting algae outbreak slimed Old Tampa Bay. Two months earlier, an algae outbreak in the Caloosahatchee River near Fort Myers turned the river bright green, smelled like raw sewage, and made thousands of fish go belly up. Water with algae outbreaks like this is so toxic that health authorities say you shouldn't touch it, much less drink it or swim in it. It can give you rashes, respiratory problems, and even kill you.
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., found that out the hard way. He swam in the same type of toxic algae outbreak in Grand Lake, Okla., in June and said he became "deathly sick" that night with an upper respiratory illness. "There is no question," Inhofe told the Tulsa World, that his illness came from the toxic algae in the lake. Oklahoma health officials had warned people not to touch the water, swim in the popular lake, or eat fish from it. Like Florida's outbreaks, the one in Grand Lake was fueled by the so-called nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus, which come from inadequately treated sewage, fertilizer and manure.
After years of seeing nauseating algae outbreaks on popular Florida tourist beaches like Sanibel Island and at fishing meccas like the St. Johns River, we citizens finally got the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to start setting limits on the sewage, fertilizer and manure pollution that's threatening our drinking water and our health.
This type of pollution is preventable. We can combat it at its source — by upgrading old sewer plants, using modern manure management on agricultural operations and being smarter about applying fertilizer.
Cleaning up our waters is a good thing, but you wouldn't know it by reading the distortions and inflated cost estimates that highly paid polluter-lobbyists are peddling to scare people. They will spend whatever it takes to make sure they can keep using our public waters as their private sewers.
The truth is that meeting Florida's new limits for these contaminants is likely to cost a few dollars extra per person per month phased in over many years. In Chesapeake Bay, for example, advanced wastewater treatment cut pollution at a cost of only $2.50 per household per month. Not a bad price for clean water.
The Florida DEP is in the process of setting new statewide standards for phosphorus and nitrogen pollution. Unfortunately, the rules that state regulators have proposed so far are inadequate to protect public health and clean up the waters. It is critical that the state's polluters, now emboldened by the current anything-goes mentality in Tallahassee, don't end up writing the DEP's water-pollution rules. It is critical that our state regulators protect the public, not the polluters.
Tourism, fishing and boating are our economic lifeblood in Florida. When visitors come here and see dead fish and "No Swimming" signs, they won't come back, and that affects our state budget and our jobs.
David Guest is an attorney in the Tallahassee office of Earthjustice, a public-interest law firm.

110914-g
Sugar cane grower: Fear mongering of mercury levels is a disservice
TCPalm – Letter by G. Wentworth, President and CEO of the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida.
September 14, 2011
I read Karl Wickstrom's column of June 6 and felt compelled to correct the record regarding the purported impacts of farming and mercury-tainted fish in the Everglades. His claims appear to be nothing more than pure hypothesis aimed at maligning farmers.
First, there have been no published reports of human health impacts from consuming fish in the Everglades. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted studies of mercury exposure among members of the Miccosukee Tribe who live and fish in the Everglades. The results were provided to the Tribe but never made public. Surely, we would have heard from the Tribe if the results had been of concern.
Second, according to the 2011 South Florida Water Management District's South Florida Environmental Report, Chapter 3B, it found that "In the Water Conservation Areas over the past 30 years, there has been a significant decline in annual median total mercury concentration in largemouth bass based on annual monitoring."
Third, EPA has issued mercury in fish advisories throughout the nation including 100 percent of the Great Lakes. Obviously farming in South Florida has nothing to do with this phenomenon.
The good news for the Everglades is that considerable progress has been made in dealing with mercury reductions attributable to local sources. Most of the mercury deposition in South Florida is now thought to result from international sources clearly beyond our control.
Unfortunately, Mr. Wickstrom's fear-mongering provides a disservice to your readers. Almost all fish have some mercury in their tissues and the higher in the food chain, such as swordfish, the higher the mercury concentrations tend to be. Yet, overall the health benefits of consuming fish far outweigh the limited risks due to contamination. However, we do acknowledge that the EPA and Florida have recommended limiting Everglades' fish consumption in advisories for pregnant and nursing women.
There is a need to balance the well-known health benefits of consuming fish against the very slight risk posed by mercury rather than stoop to fear-mongering the public.
George H. Wedgworth is president and CEO of the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida.

110913-a
Congressional Republicans Attack ‘Broken’ Rules System
Wall Street Journal - by Louise Radnofsky
September 13, 2011
Congressional Republicans are releasing a report critical of the Obama administration’s regulatory policy, a theme that will echo through the 2012 elections
The report continues campaign trail attacks on “job killing” regulations, saying the federal government rulemaking process is “broken.”
Federal agencies are ignoring the impact of their rules on small businesses and carrying out faulty analysis when weighing their costs and benefits, according to the report, which was written by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee, which is chaired by California Rep. Darrell Issa.
The Environmental Protection Agency comes under fire for ignoring the impact on small companies of a 2009 rule that toughened training requirements for home renovators working on dwellings with lead paint. Construction companies say the rule has increased their costs and they have lost work to contractors who don’t comply.
The report cites Small Business Administration criticism that the EPA failed to give serious consideration to less-burdensome alternatives.
The White House launched an initiative this year to root out regulations that could hinder job creation, and has recently announced plans to purge hundreds of regulations deemed unnecessary and outdated. It also surprised activists by scrapping other proposed rules, including one to toughen air-quality standards.
Cass Sunstein, the White House regulatory chief, and Bill Daley, a businessman who became the president’s chief of staff after the midterm elections, have been credited for the administration’s new message of restraint in the growth of federal rules.
The GOP has said the administration hasn’t made a significant dent in the problem, and that many potentially harmful rules are still pending.
“The examples in this report clearly counter the administration’s claims that they have the regulatory system under control and are engaged in reform,” according to the report.
The report criticizes Fish and Wildlife Service plans to define boa constrictors and some pythons and anaconda as “injurious” to humans and the environment, banning their transportation across state lines in most cases. The agency has been paying particular attention to a snake infestation in the Florida Everglades.
The agency is accused of failing to consider scientific evidence that the snakes may not pose a risk in most of the country.
The report also singles out the Agriculture Department’s handling of a proposal to change livestock marketing practices. The agency is accused of underestimating the economic impact and only belatedly acknowledged the annual cost would exceed $100 million.
A spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service said that the agency had invited a wide range of comments on the rule. EPA and USDA officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The report will be released Wednesday morning. A copy was obtained early by The Wall Street Journal.
White House spokeswoman Meg Reilly pointed out that several of the rules were still under review and said that the administration welcomed feedback “from any and all members of Congress.”
“We’re changing the regulatory culture to prevent a future backlog of out-of-date and ineffective regulations that needlessly burden American businesses and consumers,” she added.

110913-b
Drill Baby Drill ! Irresponsible Politicians -- Irresponsible Promises
Injuryboard.com - by John Hopkins
September 13, 2011
After just a year since we watched crude oil blow into the Gulf of Mexico; after we saw wildlife injured and dying, caked with oil sludge; after we yelled from the tree tops for better regulation of oil drilling; politics are back to normal.
Still, politicians have the temerity to come out with, “Drill baby drill!” This seems to be developing into a mantra for presidential wanna-be Michelle Bachman and possibly for our own Governor Rick Scott.
Politicians have often catered to the highest bidder and the Oil Industry can certainly bid big, but one would think that good taste dictates a little longer period of appearing like you care about destroying the environment.
Presidential wishful, Michelle Bachman says she does not care where the oil is, we need to drill there:
"The United States needs to be less dependent on foreign sources of energy and more dependent upon American resourcefulness," she said. "Whether that is in the Everglades, or whether that is in the eastern Gulf region, or whether that's in North Dakota, we need to go where the energy is."
Since Bachmann has made the unrealistic promise she will deliver $2.00 per gallon gas; is she simply THAT desperate to be elected?
For his part, Governor Rick Scott does not say that expanded drilling in the eco-sensitive Everglades is out of the question, he does say that “we have to be very cautious”.
August of 2011, planes flying over the Gulf of Mexico are still reporting oil slicks in the Gulf:
“In fact, we found so much oil out in the Macondo Prospect (near the site of the April 2010 explosion), that we have an 11-minute video of it that never covers the same area twice! Not since last summer have we seen this kind of expansive surface sheen. Metallic-gray and rainbow swirls stretched for miles, mixed with dark-brown stuff that resembled weathered crude more than sargassum weed. And there were those round-shaped 'globs' of oil again, here, there, and everywhere it seemed. We did not want to see this stuff anymore!”
We have previously reported on the failed regulation of the Macondo Deep Water Horizon oil rig – a problem that has still not been fixed.
We have talked about the conscious trade off that BP and Transocean made in using a blow-out valve inferior to those used on oil rigs operated in the North Sea – a profit first mentality from which corporate America is not being discouraged.
We have also reported about the corporate irresponsibility demonstrated by those involved in causing or contributing to the oil spill, such as BP Oil, Transocean and Haliburton – responsibility they are each fighting every day.
Sadly things do not seem to have improved as much as hoped or as much as curiously, the government would want us to believe they have.
When politicians feel at liberty to make unlikely promises ($2.00 per gallon gas) or to boldly flirt with repeats of the Gulf oil disaster, something is wrong.
Is it something with us as Americans or is it something wrong with the message we are sending (or not sending) to politicians ?

110913-c
Energy Insiders Say Obama May Punt More Environmental Standards
NationalJournal.com – by Olga Belogolova
September 13, 2011
When President Obama shelved stricter environmental regulations for ground-level ozone until at least 2013, the administration said that delay was meant to alleviate regulatory pressures on a recovering economy. But former Vice President Al Gore accused Obama of “embracing” a scientifically outdated Bush-era environmental standard, and other critics said that the administration is caving to big polluters.
Many National Journal Energy and Environment Insiders say that President Obama’s retreat on environmental issues isn't over yet.
Over half of Insiders responding said that Obama is likely to delay imposition of other new environmental regulations, with 15 percent calling the prospect “very likely” and 39 percent deeming it “somewhat likely.” 
 “The only decision metric that matters for the next 14 months is, ‘Will this help us get reelected?’ ” said one Insider. “If a regulatory decision is a liability, we should fully expect the administration to delay until Nov. 7” of 2012—the day after the presidential election.
Another Insider said that Obama “will likely pick and choose by delaying those rules his advisers believe are too politically damaging to pursue before 2013 and finalizing those that he can survive politically.”
Other Insiders said they believed that Obama might back off more Environmental Protection Agency regulations now that he has argued they could be damaging to the economy.
 “It is disturbing that he used the ‘regulatory uncertainty’ point when backing off the ozone rules, and that might be a sign that he's willing to back off other rules as well,” another Insider said.
On Sept. 2, when Obama announced the decision to delay tighter ground-level ozone standards for at least two years, he cited the “importance of reducing regulatory burdens.” In contrast, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and EPA air chief Gina McCarthy have repeatedly told Congress that regulations actually could help a struggling economy, citing studies that say environmental spending creates jobs.
One Insider said that Obama “can no longer claim the regulations help the economy,” now that he has identified regulatory burdens as a potential issue for employers.
Nearly half of Insiders responding—46 percent—said they don’t expect further retreat by the White House from EPA rules. And about half of those called further retreat “very unlikely,” with some saying that the ground-level ozone decision actually gives Obama cover to move forward on other fronts.
 “I don't think he can afford to do it” politically, one Insider said of any further moves that would anger environmentalists. “He already has his pro-business, political talking point for 2012 with the moves on ozone and Keystone,” referring to the administration’s tentative green light on the Keystone XL pipeline project, which would carry Canada’s tar sands oil to Gulf Coast refineries.
Some lawmakers are set on their own fall agenda to target EPA regulations. Most Insiders said that the EPA’s greenhouse-gas regulations will face the most congressional pushback.
EPA has been planning to issue the first-ever rules that would controlling carbon emissions from electricity-generating power plants by the end of September and for oil refineries by December.  Nearly 40 percent of Insiders expect congressional pushback.
The “GOP will target [greenhouse-gas] regulations next not because of economics but because of politics," one Insider maintained.

110913-d
West to Bachmann: Everglades are off limits
TheHill.com - by Josh Lederman
September 13, 2011
A letter Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) sent Tuesday to Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) drew a clear line in southern Florida’s sand: West wants the Everglades off limits to energy exploration.
The letter to the GOP presidential candidate followed comments Bachmann made during a trip to the state on Aug. 29, in which she highlighted her openness to new energy sources.
“The United States needs to be less dependent on foreign sources of energy and more dependent upon American resourcefulness,” Bachmann said. “Whether that is in the Everglades, or whether that is in the eastern Gulf region, or whether that’s in North Dakota, we need to go where the energy is.”
That prompted a quick rebuttal from West, who said at a town-hall meeting the next day that Bachmann’s remark was off-base, and that he would soon “set her straight.”
That opportunity came Tuesday, with a letter from one member of Congress to another.
“I understand you may not fully understand the importance of the Everglades,” West wrote, before going on to detail the history and environmental characteristics of the subtropical wetlands.
Oil drilling in the everglades has taken place since the 1940s, but has remained relatively limited. As pressure has increased to locate new and cheap sources of energy, environmental activists have pushed back against attempts to increase the extent of the exploration.
“The Everglades represents one of the most cherished treasured of the United States, and should be off limits for exploration of any kind of natural energy resource,” West wrote.
But West’s letter didn't mention an important caveat Bachmann included in her remarks.
“Of course, it needs to be done responsibly,” Bachmann had said. “If we can’t responsibly access energy in the Everglades, then we shouldn’t do it.”
As two conservative Republican representatives with national profiles and close ties to the Tea Party movement, Bachmann and West have much in common. But natural resources play differently with constituents who live near them than they do nationally.
West announced in August that he would not run for Senate against incumbent Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) in 2012, but would run to keep his House seat.

110912-a
Agency Takes New Approach To Save Everglades Land
NPR.org - by Greg Allen
September 12, 2011
In Florida, federal officials have released plans for a new wildlife preserve just south of Orlando. The Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge will include at least 150,000 acres, but there's a twist — most of it will remain under private ownership.
Visitors mostly come to central Florida for its theme parks and beaches, but long before Walt Disney set his sights on the part of the state where he erected a castle at the Magic Kingdom, it was known for its lakes, rivers and grasslands.
Charlie Pelizza with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the area includes dry prairie habitat, sand hills and scrub area found nowhere else in the world.
"We're also looking at a landscape that is just covered with endangered species and threatened species," Pelizza says. "I think there's 98 in this habitat — in this landscape of the Everglades headwaters."
The Interior Department recently released a map and details for the new preserve in Kissimmee, Fla. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working along with the Nature Conservancy to protect at least 150,000 acres from development — an area that includes wetlands, rivers and lakes.
Pelizza says preserving it will help save the Everglades, 90 miles to the south.
"This is where the water starts and ultimately ends up down in Everglades National Park out in Florida Bay," he says. "So, it's really important to make sure that the water quality and the distribution of that water from here is healthy so that the restoration activities that are occurring further south have better water quality and better distribution."
A New Approach To Preservation
To create the refuge and conservation area, Fish and Wildlife is trying something it's done in other parts of the country, but not in Florida. Instead of buying the land, the agency is seeking to create most of the refuge through conservation easements. Under these agreements, cattle ranchers and other big landowners would retain ownership, but give up their rights to develop their property for housing or shopping centers.
Mark Musaus, a deputy regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, says two thirds of the refuge will be protected through those agreements with landowners.
"We can get more through easements than we can through fee title, in terms of the purchase," Musaus says. "It is costly to be able to operate fee title lands, so that's a factor as well. I think we realize as we are facing the conservation challenges that are out there today, that we can do more in a partnership effort working with those who are already there and also have the same kind of vision we do."
Musaus is talking about the cattle ranchers who pioneered central Florida and still own large rural sections of the state.
One of those ranchers, Mike Adams, runs a 50,000-acre ranch started by his grandfather in the 1930s. He says he'll be interested in the conservation plan — if it's done correctly.
"We have aspects to our ranch that we'd like to see preserved forever," Adams says. "At the same time, we're what we'd consider sort of a modern cow-calf operation. So it has to be flexible enough to allow us to change."
Adams says there are some good models out there for conservation easements and U.S. Fish and Wildlife appears to be listening. In public hearings earlier this year, the agency heard from some ranchers who made it clear they just weren't interested.
The agency now says it will not use eminent domain to acquire land and will only work with ranchers who want to sell. U.S. Fish and Wildlife hopes that agreement will tamp down concerns from independent ranchers and other landowners suspicious of a government land grab.
For ranchers, Mike Adams says, signing over some property rights may make the difference between staying in the cattle business and selling out to developers. He says it will help keep the land values down so he and other ranchers can transfer it to the next generation.
"It's kind of like my father — he left plenty of work ahead of me and I'd like to do the same to my kids — you know, give them the tools to continue," he says.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife plans to spend some $600 million on the project and hopes to begin acquiring land and easements for the new Everglades headwaters refuge by the end of next year.

1101912-b
Drilling for trouble in the Glades
NWFdailynews.com
September 12, 2011
Gov. Rick Scott has some oily swampland he’d like to sell us. After presidential candidate Michele Bachmann suggested drilling in the Florida Everglades, fellow Republican Scott chimed in, saying the tiny amount of oil production that goes on in the Glades may not be enough.
He told The Economic Club of Florida on Tuesday he could support a “cautious” amount of new drilling. The Associated Press quoted him: “It’s my understanding, at least, (that) we haven’t had any problems in the Everglades to date.”
Funny, that’s pretty much what supporters of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico said until April 20, 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, burned, sank and unleashed a massive oil spill that stained beaches, killed wildlife and crippled the fishing and tourism industries in our region for a long, nightmarish season.
It was just like Gov. Scott’s sunny assessment of drilling in the Everglades. We hadn’t had any problems in the Gulf. Until we did.
And the problems may linger. After Tropical Storm Lee churned up the Gulf earlier this month, tar balls began washing up on beaches near Gulf Shores, Ala.
Nobody knew whether the tar balls were left over from last year’s Deepwater Horizon spill. But, significantly, workers hired by BP — the oil company blamed for the spill — quickly began picking up the gooey stuff.
“It’s more proof,” said Gulf Shores city spokesman Grant Brown, “that there still are offshore tar mats (on the Gulf floor) and it’s washing ashore …”
Drilling proponents no doubt will argue that the Everglades won’t see any “deep water” drilling. Last year’s blown well off Louisiana was almost a mile down. But remember: In 1979, another Gulf oil leak took 10 months to plug, and it was in a mere 150 feet of water.
Oops. Almost forgot. Rep. Bachmann didn’t talk only about drilling in the Everglades. She thought it would be nifty to see more drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, too.
Terrific.
So here’s our advice to Floridians who cherish the Everglades, that carpet of green, brown and blue in the southern part of our state: If Gov. Scott and Rep. Bachmann have their way, you’d better start planning how to clean up after the disaster that’s bound to happen. And find some good lawyers.

110912-c
Oil drilling has expanded in western Everglades
Sun Sentinel - by David Fleshler
September 12, 2011
Michele Bachmann comment highlights years of industry operations.
Republican politicians caught flak recently for suggesting oil exploration in the Everglades, but it's actually been going on there for decades.
In fact, in the past year oil drilling in the western Everglades has quietly expanded.
BreitBurn Energy Partners, a Los Angeles company that has acquired leases on three South Florida oil fields, drilled five new wells in 2010 and 2011 on the eastern edge of Big Cypress National Preserve, a rugged wilderness inhabited by panthers, blackbears and more than two dozen other protected species.
The expansion raised the number of wells at Big Cypress from seven to 12 and proceeded without notice to the public, despite the sensitivity of oil drilling in the national park system.
"There should have been some sort of public hearing or some public notice about it," said Matthew Schwartz, executive director of the South Florida Wildlands Association, who has led hikes of Big Cypress. "This is public land and I think people have a right to know what's going on on it. This place is a biological treasure house. You've got 30 protected animal species, and the impact on all the wildlife of industrial operations is unknown."
Pedro Ramos, superintendent of Big Cypress, said the additional wells went in on drilling pads previously approved after a 1993 environmental review that generated more than 5,000 public comments. And there have been no environmental problems, he said.
"We have not had any significant issues from their operations," he said.
Throughout the South Florida oil fields, which extend into Lee County, there have been no major spills in 40 years, said Jennifer Diaz, press secretary for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, in an email.
"There have been a number of relatively small spills at the south Florida oil fields that are generally related to isolated mechanical, plumbing, or similar incidents," she said. "Based on the follow-up activities that were done for these spills, there are no measurable environmental impacts at this time."
Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, during an Aug. 28 campaign event in Sarasota, told The Associated Press that she supported additional oil drilling in the United States, including the Everglades, if it could be done "responsibly."
Gov. Rick Scott gave cautious support to the idea, and their comments led to denunciations by environmental groups and newspaper editorial boards. But depending on your definition of the Everglades — and for some it's restricted to the sawgrass marshes east of Big Cypress, for others it includes Big Cypress — drilling is already taking place.
Oil extraction has long been a part of the South Florida landscape. Humble Oil and Refining Co., the predecessor of ExxonMobil, struck the first holdings in 1943 in a field near Immokalee called Sunniland. The company constructed a 16-mile road through the Everglades to look for oil, and that road now serves as a popular bike and tram route through the Shark Valley section of Everglades National Park.
Today, 17 active wells — from the outskirts of Fort Myers to the forested intersection of Broward, Miami-Dade and Collier counties — pump oil from the ground, in extraction operations run by BreitBurn Energy Partners, Newport Oil Corp. and U.S. Capital Energy, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
South Florida's oil patch bears little resemblance to its counterparts in Texas and Oklahoma. It is not a land of smoke-belching refineries, wildcatters and billionaires in Stetson hats. BreitBurn's operation, for example, employs about 50 workers either directly or through contractors, and extracts about 2,300 barrels a day, according to the company. Florida ranks 24th in the United States in crude oil production, according to the Department of Energy.
BreitBurn leases the fields from Collier Resources Co., which represents the descendants of southwest Florida pioneer Barron Collier. The family retained the mineral rights when the preserve was created in 1974.
Oil from Raccoon Point, the largest of the company's three fields, is sent through a pipeline under western Broward County to the Devil's Garden Truck Loading Facility on Snake Road, loaded onto trucks, driven to Port Everglades and taken by ship to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.
Greg Brown, BreitBurn's executive vice president, said strict safeguards are in place to prevent environmental damage.
Trucks haul drilling rigs up 11-Mile Road from Tamiami Trail, calling in to Big Cypress headquarters at designated intervals to ensure they don't speed.
The new wells are drilled at angles, allowing the company to extract oil over a wide area without setting up drills outside its pads. There is no risk of a blowout, Brown said, because the oil is not under pressure, so it needs to be pumped to the surface. Even if all the equipment were removed from a well, he said, the oil would remain underground.
"The impact is so minimal," he said. "The pads are very carefully monitored. Drilling rigs are brought in by truck and raised up into position and not allowed to extend beyond the pad."
A permit for another well at Raccoon Point is pending with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Superintendent Ramos said that at no time can oil drilling take place over more than 10 percent of the preserve, and it currently takes place on 117 acres, or .02 percent of the preserve's land area.

110912-d
South Florida drinking water faces saltwater threat
Sun Sentinel - by Andy Reid
September 12, 2011
Climate change could increase 'saltwater intrusion'.
Summer rains can't wash away a growing underground threat to South Florida's water supply.
Saltwater seeping in from the ocean keeps spreading farther west, threatening to foul underground freshwater supplies that provide most of South Florida's drinking water.
"Saltwater intrusion" in South Florida has worsened through the decades as providing water and flood control for a growing population siphons away freshwater and allows more saltwater to seep into aquifers and well fields.
Ninety percent of South Florida gets its drinking water from underground supplies, most from the Biscayne aquifer. Pumping too much water from underground supplies can allow saltwater to push in from the coast.
Droughts can make saltwater intrusion worse as pumping to provide drinking water continues while rains don't come to replenish underground freshwater supplies.
Now South Florida officials are projecting that sea-level rise due to climate change could increase the reach of saltwater that can make water from community wells undrinkable.
That has city and county utilities along the southeast Florida coast exploring expensive alternatives, with costs passed along to ratepayers, to avoid getting cut off from freshwater.
"It is still progressing westward," Hector Castro, Hallandale Beach public works and utilities director, said. "Eventually all coastal communities will deal with this in some way, shape or form."
Hallandale Beach, Pompano Beach, Dania Beach, Lantana and Lake Worth are among local cities that in recent years have been most at risk from saltwater intrusion.
But the line of saltwater spreading inland comes close to or reaches cities from Jupiter to Florida City, including West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Miami, according to theU.S. Geological Survey.
Reducing well-field pumping, moving well fields farther inland and requiring utilities to pursue alternative water supplies have helped hold the line of saltwater intrusion in some areas and even push it back east.
"It's a serious threat," said Pete Kwiatkowski, South Florida Water Management District water-shortage incident commander. "That saltwater front is very dynamic (and) it does shift."
Six of the eight wells that Hallandale Beach relies on have been closed through the years due to saltwater intrusion.
That's because 85 percent of the city is within the area where saltwater has seeped in, Castro said. As a result, the city pays to get half of its water from Broward County's western well fields and is working on a deal for new western wells of its own.
Hallandale Beach proposes building six new wells and new water lines in West Park for about $10 million. Operating them over 40 years would cost about $36 million, Castro said.
"Any given day, if we were to pull too much water … we could lose another well," Castro said.
Instead of building well fields farther inland, some utilities build new water plants capable of tapping into and treating deeper, saltier underground water supplies.
Lake Worth recently completed a $24 million reverse osmosis water plant to keep 5 million to 7 million gallons of water a day flowing, without threats from saltwater.
Lake Worth also has stricter once-a-week landscape-watering limits intended to cut water use and help avoid saltwater intrusion.
Rising sea levels are expected to add to the spread of saltwater intrusion, said Jennifer Jurado, Broward County director of natural resources planning and management.
Man-made pollution produces more carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases that capture the sun's heat, leading to climate change. Increased temperatures mean melting ice sheets and swelling oceans, projected to bring rising sea levels.
South Florida sea levels rose about 8 inches during the past 100, but are projected to increase between 9 and 27 inches over the next 60 years, according to Jurado. That would lead to more saltwater forcing its way into freshwater supplies, she said.
"Potable water supply is obviously a major concern long-term," said Jurado.
Building water plants capable of converting ocean water into drinking water is one alternative that so far South Florida utilities have deemed too expensive.
Making better use of regional water supplies could help beat back saltwater intrusion, said Ron Nunes, chairman of the Southeast Florida Utility Council, which represents water providers serving nearly 5 million residents.
Flood control for cities and farms built on what used to be the Everglades leads to draining nearly two billions of gallons of stormwater out to sea each day after a typical South Florida summer rainstorm.
More of that stormwater should be redirected to beef up groundwater levels depleted by decades of draining and paving land that once held water and naturally replenished the aquifer, Nunes said.
"The biggest issue is the water is there and it is all going out to sea," Nunes said. "Why can't it be re-engineered to help keep the saltwater back?"

110911-a
Everglades slowly return to their natural splendor
Columbia Daily Tribune - by Wayne Anderson
September 11, 2011
Last year I spent a week in Florida exploring the Everglades, a 50-mile-wide, slow-moving river. During the wet season, the water is a foot deep. During the dry season, depths reach only a few inches before the water nearly disappears. The animals living in this environment have adapted to the wet-dry pattern.
During the rainy season, alligators protect the birds by warding off the raccoons, which don’t chance the water to get to the nests. As the water starts to dry up, the alligators create pools within groves of trees, where small fish live. The gators create the ponds by using their tails and claws, a behavior that seems to be built into their genetic makeup.
The birds that visit the pools to eat the fish become food for the alligators, which only need to eat occasionally because they are cold-blooded and don’t burn up much energy. In the park, I saw many alligators, ranging in size from 2 to 9 feet long. Most seemed to be resting rather than hunting.
By 1947, Floridians thought they had achieved total control over the water of the Everglades by creating a lake with dikes around it and using the land to grow sugar cane. Roads had been built to prevent the water from flowing into the glades, and canals had been built to drain the water toward the ocean. This decrease in water supply was deadly for the fish. As their numbers decreased, so did the wading birds that depended on them for food. Great egret, snowy egret, white keys and wood stork will nest and lay eggs only if there will be enough food for their chicks.
To correct these negative conditions, the federal government has been buying up the sugar farms so the water flow can be returned to normal. The land deals the government is making will protect fishing and tourism and help south Florida obtain the clean drinking water it needs to attract new residents and industry.
U.S. Sugar Corp. also had agreed to sell 26,000 acres, which started to speed up the plans to reconstruct the area. This also will include raising Highway 41 to make the water flow under it instead of being blocked by it. Potassium pollution also is a problem, and purifying wetlands for the water to flow through are planned. By the time the water hits the glades, it will not be hazardous to the wildlife.
Locals told me the federal government and the state had been planning to put billions of dollars into this attempt to restore the environment. At the time, I had a feeling it might take a while because so many things cannot be predicted. In any case, the hope is that our grandchildren will see the rich display of biological diversity that existed early in the 20th century.
When I checked on the restoration progress last week, I found the rehabilitation of the area had slowed because of the country’s economic problems, but the long-term plan to return the area to its natural flow of life continues. This ensures the wildlife will come back and that tourism will continue to be a major contributor to the area’s financial health.

110911-b
New National Wildlife refuge declared in Florida
Wildlifeextra.com
September 11, 2011
September 2011. As part of President Obama's America's Great Outdoors Initiative, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has formally proposed the establishment of a new national wildlife refuge and conservation area in the Kissimmee River Valley, south of Orlando, Florida, to preserve one of the last remaining grassland and longleaf pine savanna landscapes in eastern North America.
Two-thirds of the proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area, or up to 100,000 acres, would be protected through conservation easements purchased from willing sellers. Private landowners would retain ownership of their land, as well as the right to work the land to raise cattle or crops. The easements would ensure the land could not be developed.
The Service would also purchase up to 50,000 acres outright from willing sellers to create the proposed national wildlife refuge where visitors could hunt, fish and view wildlife. The Service has identified six areas where these refuge lands could potentially be purchased. In some cases, the refuge acquisitions would augment existing conservation lands, such as state parks and wildlife management areas.
Building on the conservation work of private landowners, state and federal conservation agencies, conservation groups, and the public, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's proposal is a strong example of how conservation partners are working to preserve the area's rich ranching heritage and way of life, while protecting the headwaters of the Everglades in the Kissimmee River Basin and connecting valuable habitats benefiting the area's rich fish and wildlife resources.
"We established the America's Great Outdoors initiative to help support the efforts of local communities, private landowners and other key stakeholders to protect working lands and signature landscapes like the northern Everglades," Secretary Salazar said.
"This initiative honors the stewardship of generations of Florida cattle ranchers and other landowners who understood that we all have a stake in preserving the health of our land, water, and wildlife. This proposal, which will continue to be shaped by the local communities and landowners, will help protect both the ranching traditions in the area and the wildlife that call this area home.
The establishment of this refuge promotes one of our key Everglades restoration goals, which is to restore habitat and protect species."
This announcement builds on several other key conservation priorities championed by Secretary Salazar as part of the America's Great Outdoor initiative, and developed with the input of private landowners, conservation stakeholders, and state, local and tribal elected officials, including:
The proposed Dakota Grassland Conservation Area, which will conserve prairie landscapes, wildlife resources and working lands in the Prairie Pothole Region, an area that supports more than half of the nation's migratory waterfowl;
The successful community-based conservation initiatives taking place in the Crown of the Continent, a vast and intact landscape that includes portions of northwestern Montana as well as British Columbia and Alberta; and
The 1-million-acre Flint Hills Legacy Conservation Area in Kansas - the first new unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System established under the Obama administration.

110911-
Turning Florida into a throwaway state
Ocala.com – special for Star-Banner by Sarah Clifton
September 11, 2011
I've just heard Sarah Palin and Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., speaking of the "energy" available right here in Florida: in Bachmann's case, specifically, the Everglades. This sound bite reminded me of some things that have been troubling me for some time.
More and more people who live in Florida are not Floridians. I don't just mean not born here, I mean not attached, or tied, or interested in the past or future of Florida.
And then, there is the alarming trend in recent years that more and more of these same folks are now the ones in charge of the very state to which they have no allegiance, or quite frankly, affection. I'm not talking about right- or left-wing politics. I'm talking about the future of our home.
How is it we have let this happen? When did we become so blase about who we choose to represent us, to see to the well-being of our state, to protect our heritage?
Florida has always welcomed new people. The original purpose of our homestead exemption was to get people to move here. But in the last few years there seem to be fewer and fewer people moving to Florida, and more and more people just moving.
They don't seem to care much where they go, so long as land is cheap, taxes are low and the weather is warm. That's it. No interest in our fascinating history or what could be waiting in our future. It's sad. I have often heard people speak about turning into a "throwaway society." I never thought it could refer to something as big as a state.
If people have no thought for anything except their own comfort and give no thought to next week or next year, this will continue. All this talk about leaving a debt for our grandchildren is just that, talk. My grandchildren's future is about a heck of lot more than money!
It's about the Everglades being unique. It's about St. Augustine being the oldest permanent European settlement in the entire country (even if Pensacola folks like to argue about it). It's about President John F. Kennedy and going to the moon. It's about rivers and springs so clean you can use them for drinking water. White sand beaches that hurt your eyes just to look at them. Land so fertile you could live your whole life and never eat anything grown more than 100 miles from where you stand, and know there is no better to be had anywhere. Ancient Native American communities, and thriving modern ones as well. South Beach neon and the live oaks of the Big Bend. We must surely be the most diverse state in the union.
But for some reason, Florida doesn't seem to interest people anymore. Oh, they'll come here. They'll build their houses on the golf courses and complain about property taxes and the high cost of public education, but they will never be Floridians.
It's really very sad. What a waste.
Sarah Clifton is a laboratory technician and a third-generation Floridian who lives in Ocala with her husband, Patrick.

110910-a
Growth-law rewrite may pave way for Farmton's 23,000 homes
Orlando Sentinel
September 10, 2011|By Aaron Deslatte, Tallahassee Bureau Chief
PART 2    ( Click for PART 1 - Sep.4 )
TALLAHASSEE — On paper, the proposed new city of 23,000 homes called Farmton was textbook urban sprawl: smack in the middle of nowhere on a rural wedge of timber, swamp and habitat for black bears, gopher tortoises and Everglades snail kites.
One-third of its 59,000 acres in rural Volusia and Brevard counties was wetlands and vital St. Johns River tributaries, and home to the largest freshwater swamp left on Florida's east coast. Finally, state planners said, no population projections for the area would warrant building thousands of new homes during the next five decades.
"We concluded that the property just wasn't suitable for the type of development that was being proposed — I mean, basically a new city," Michael McDaniel, chief planner with the Florida Department of Community Affairs, testified last September in an administrative challenge to DCA's decision that Farmton violated the state's 1985 growth-management act.
This week, the project is headed back to a courtroom in DeLand. But thanks to a sweeping rewrite of the growth-management act, the legal terrain has been dramatically shifted in favor of the land's longtime owner, a Chicago-based private company called the Miami Corp., and other large landowners and developers.
And environmental and citizens groups question whether the actions of Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature will lead to another 1980s-era wave of bad development once the economy picks up and people start moving to Florida again.
Scott moved quickly
After taking office in January, Scott tapped a former developer, Billy Buzzett, as DCA secretary. He quickly ordered the department to negotiate settlements with large landowners fighting the agency for broader development rights, court records show.
And a cadre of development lobbyists went to work on a bill that largely removes the state from the business of mediating local and regional growth fights.
"I think there was a certain dissatisfaction with the agency. That's no secret," said Buzzett, whose agency will be demolished Oct. 1.
Republican lawmakers say it was past time to give local governments the power to determine how they will grow in the future.
"Who is Tallahassee to tell you whether or not a town needs 50,000 homes?" said Rep. Ritch Workman, a Melbourne Republican and mortgage broker who sponsored the growth-law rewrite.
"Quite frankly, we don't need them [new homes] right now. But the Miami Corp. is a professional organization that apparently thinks we need them and wants them platted out 50 years from now. … I don't begrudge that at all."
But public records show the rewrite was an education process for the cadre of development lawyers pushing it to passage. In the final weeks of the spring session, one of the lead lobbyists on the bill, Nancy Linnan, congratulated Workman, Rep. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, and House staff for overcoming "a very steep learning curve on very complicated issues which you all mastered."
"You folks got it and ran with it," wrote Linnan, whose clients include The Villages and The St. Joe Co. "Rep. Hukill, I remember you telling me at the beginning that Rep. Workman was going to be the guy. I asked you if he knew anything about growth management and you said he didn't but would learn. Wow, did he ever."
Now local governments across the state are just starting to unravel what was done. And one major change is the process by which citizens can try to challenge major developments.
'Sprawl' redefined
The new law eviscerates the state's power to block local-government planning decisions unless they impact "important state resources and facilities" — a phrase written by developer lobbyists that is not defined and left to the courts and Florida Cabinet to flesh out.
Developers and local governments no longer have to prove that there's a financially feasible way to supply roads, sewers, parks and schools to new exurban developments. The legal definition of "urban sprawl" has been watered down to make it harder to prove in court that a project is sprawl.
And the lack of any projected future need for big new developments can no longer be used to challenge them in court.
"This administration doesn't place the same emphasis or focus on need as the prior administration," McDaniel said in a deposition in the Farmton case last month, explaining why his office dropped its challenge. His boss, Buzzett, "has said that he does not want to preclude large-scale planning when we have the opportunity to do so based upon a technicality like need."
"I feel like we're coming into this with our hands tied behind our backs because of what the governor and Legislature have done," said Barbara Herrin, a New Smyrna Beach environmentalist who is the lead challenger in the Farmton case, along with the Edgewater Citizens Alliance for Responsible Government.
New way to conserve?
But Farmton could also represent a bridge to the future for Florida's cash-strapped land-conservation efforts, its backers say.
In the past decade alone, Florida spent $2.8 billion to buy lands to protect water supplies and threatened species. About 29 percent of the state is now under some type of conservation.
Under former Gov. Jeb Bush, state officials and large landholders began negotiating ways to preserve large swaths of old Florida, in exchange for allowing concentrated clusters of urban development.
Prompted by exploding land prices, the idea was to give large landholders rights to develop future new towns in exchange for placing large surrounding tracts into permanent conservation easements, a program called "Rural Land Stewardship."
Environmental groups such as Audubon of Florida and The Nature Conservancy praised the concept, and a half-dozen of the state's largest landowners got in line to participate. Among them was the Miami Corp., whose owners descend from the Deering and McCormick families of farm-equipment fame and whobought the land in 1926.
Under existing zoning, the company's land could be developed into 5- to 10-acre "ranchettes," which would be far more destructive to the environment. The company, in exchange for being allowed to build Farmton, agreed to put 40,000 surrounding acres into conservation easements.
"This is seen now as a model for how we can preserve wildlife corridors," said Glenn Storch, a longtime Daytona Beach lawyer for the company. "From an environmental standpoint, this is the way we're going to be able to proceed in the future. We have no money to buy conservation land anymore."
Farmton undaunted
But when Gov. Charlie Crist tapped land-use lawyer Tom Pelham as DCA secretary in 2007, Pelham decided large-scale developments had to prove they were needed to handle future population growth — prompting owners of more than 500,000 acres to walk away.
Farmton pressed on, even as the economy collapsed and taxpayer funding for conservation programs disappeared. When DCA ruled in 2009 that its plan violated growth laws, the company amended it to preserve more habitat and provide wildlife crossings for the roads.
It also lawyered up for a fight, hiring veteran Tallahassee land-use lawyer Linda Loomis Shelley, who was one of the key architects of this year's growth-management rewrite.
Shelley said she was not working on behalf of Miami Corp. when she helped write the new law. Storch also said the company had "no dog in the fight" either.
However, the rewrite undermined several DCA findings in the case, including the fact that the county and developer have different planning timelines, conclusions that the development wasn't "financially feasible," failed to show a need for a new town of 50,000 people and made no provision for future schools. The new law repealed those requirements.
Pelham is slated to be a star witness for the environmentalists this week. Court records indicate he'll testify that Farmton remains urban sprawl even under the new law, because it is "unnecessary, invasive and incompatible" with the land's rural nature and environmental attributes.
But that might be an uphill fight, given the tougher legal standards of the new law.
"The worst part is that no one is left to enforce the growth-management act except for citizens who don't have the skills or resources to do it," said Marcy LaHart, a Gainesville environmental lawyer representing the Sierra Club, which stepped into the fight in May after DCA settled.
The point came home for LaHart last month when she was outnumbered 7-to-1 by Miami Corp.'s lawyers at a pre-trial hearing.
"It is particularly daunting when you recognize the fact that Miami Corp.'s lawyers had a strong hand in rewriting the growth management act," she said.
But the law's supporters say local governments are up to the task of policing themselves. Cities and counties have had a quarter-century to gain the staff expertise and experience to change and enforce their local comprehensive plans.
"There were many legislators who said, 'Let's just repeal the whole thing.' We said no. We did not spend 25 years growing this process in local government to throw it all away," Shelley said.
"I have a lot more confidence in local government than the people who have declared this a disaster."

110910-b







Oil wells in the
Everglades ??

"Shell, Shell -
      drill in hell !"

110910-b
In the Everglades, oil and water don't mix
Miami Herald/Kansas City Star – Commentary by Fred Grimm
September 10, 2011
South Florida oil wells, those that don’t come up dry (most do), tend to yield a low-grade, sour crude and an ever sourer politics.
Chants of “Shell, Shell, drill in hell !” drowned out the public hearing held the last time an oil company proposed punching an exploratory hole beyond the Everglades dike in western Broward County. The opposition in the early 1990s was loud and angry, and echoed through county halls and Congress and the governor’s office.
The public fury that made a lasting impression on politicians hereabouts. Which made Michele Bachmann’s drill-in-the-Glades-baby-drill pronouncement last week so surprising. And when Gov. Rick Scott seemed to go along with Bachmann, it was downright startling. (His office quickly issued a “clarification,” warning his constituents to pay no attention to the governor’s inscrutable mutterings.)
Two dozen wells ?
To be fair, neither Bachmann nor Scott had been around when all hell broke loose over Shell Oil’s plans to invade the Everglades. But in 1989, Shell struck a deal with the Miccosukee tribe to lease the mineral rights on tribal lands in western Broward. In 1991, the company applied for federal permission to dig an 18,850-foot-deep well in a cow pasture just north of Interstate 75, about three miles east of the Collier County line. If their geologists struck oil, Shell planned to dig two dozen more wells.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management held a public hearing in January 1991, and the crowd turned nearly riotous in its opposition to drilling in the fragile ecosystem. About 250 crammed into the meeting room, some dressed as Everglades animals or, draped in black plastic sheets, as oil spills. Nearly every speaker not employed by Shell voiced opposition. Subsequent hearings were just as furious. At a meeting in 1992, when the feds tried to impose order, someone shouted, “Polite people get poisoned.”
Official opposition
It wasn’t just rowdy environmentalists opposed to the Shell project. First Gov. Bob Martinez, then Gov. Lawton Chiles fought the proposal (though state government has limited jurisdiction over tribal lands). The Broward County Commission objected. Both Florida’s U.S. senators and 14 U.S. representatives signed a letter urging a ban on such drilling.
Even if Shell managed to strike oil, the South Florida Water Management District warned it would never allow the construction of a pipeline out of the Glades.
By the time Shell finally won federal approval to drill the wells, the oil company had had enough of Florida’s anti-oil politics. In 1994, Shell walked away from its Miccosukee lease and four years of work.
Joe Browder, a founding coordinator of the Everglades Coalition and a veteran of Florida’s environmental wars, doubts another oil company would seriously contemplate the hassles of drilling for the limited deposits of gooky, low-quality oil in such environmentally sensitive areas. It makes for lousy economics.
And, as Bachmann and Scott learned last week, except when they’re among the wild-eyed hard right, drilling in the Glades makes for very sour politics.

110910-c
Thumb up: U.S. Agricultural Deparment provides financial assistance for restoration of Northern Everglades
TCPalm – by the Editorial Board
September 10, 2011
MUCH-NEEDED FUNDS: The Northern Everglades Watershed got a big boost recently when U.S. Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack announced his agency will be providing $100 million for restoration projects.
Funds from the agency's Natural Resources Conservation Service will be used to acquire permanent conservation easements from eligible landowners in a four-county area — Glades, Hendry, Highlands and Okeechobee counties — and for wetlands restoration.
The financial assistance from the Agricultural Department will help offset nearly $1 billion in cuts to USDA conservation programs approved in June by federal lawmakers.
"This is a win-win that helps restore the Northern Everglades while allowing Florida ranching traditions to continue," said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

110910-d
Water shortage: Everglades must be a priority for all candidates
Sun Sentinel - by Kimberly Mitchell, West Palm Beach Commissioner
September 10, 2011
In the midst of one of the worst droughts in Florida's history, West Palm Beach, my home, was only weeks away from running out of water.
How could this happen? How could any Florida city be on the verge of losing its water supply?
As a city commissioner, I heard those and many other questions about the threat of running out of water. Our city supplies water for our own residents — as well as those in the Town of Palm Beach and South Palm Beach.
We didn't run out of water this time, but Florida's extreme drought, the third in the last ten years, is an unfriendly reminder that Florida and Washington need to do more to ensure our state's growing population has the water it needs.
I am a Republican; however, this is not a Republican or Democrat issue. This is an issue about the basic needs of our citizens, our communities and our economy. It is an issue that should be addressed by Florida's candidates for U.S. Senate and by presidential candidates seeking to win the support of Florida voters, because decades of state and federal policy have led us to where we are now.
To be clear, I believe people are an important part of our environment. My understanding of Everglades restoration is that the objective is "getting the water right" for the flora, fauna and people of South Florida.
So let me suggest that as these candidates begin debating in the coming weeks, one of the questions CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Fox News' Bret Bair should be asking is this: Will you make saving America's Everglades, the source of drinking water for more than 8 million Floridians, a priority?
Florida's water ecosystem has been tampered with so that it no longer functions as a natural reservoir for the billions of gallons of rain that fall on Florida in an average year. As a result of these man-made changes, most of the more than 50 inches of rain that falls on Florida each year is washed out to sea.
This situation was tolerable in the 1960s when Florida's population was fewer than 5 million. But 50 years later, Florida's population has soared to nearly 19 million people and our water supply is straining to keep up with demand.
State and federal agencies have struggled to find solutions that accommodate the needs of all of Florida's water consumers. And even when solutions are found, the will to follow through often falters.
We know building the necessary reservoirs and other improvements to enhance the natural water ecosystem will help create desperately needed jobs. We also know restoring America's Everglades will ensure that Florida has the water it needs to take care of an ever- growing population. Without a doubt, Florida's economic future depends on it.
A study done by Mather Economics found that Everglades restoration will have an enormous positive impact on the economy.
"Our best estimate is that restoration will generate an increase in economic welfare of approximately $46.5 billion," states Mather. "Everglades restoration will also have an incremental impact on employment of about 442,000 additional workers."
In addition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has estimated its work on restoration would result in 22,000 jobs in the short- to mid-term. There is simply no downside to restoring the Everglades.
Do Florida voters care? Absolutely. A recent survey by the Tarrance Group found that 84 percent say the Everglades is a "very important" source of fresh drinking water; 65 percent say restoring the Everglades is extremely or very important to them personally; and 79 percent support funding for Everglades restoration to attract new business and industries that create jobs.
What happened in West Palm Beach this summer was a sobering reminder to our city and her residents that we cannot take our water supply for granted. It should be a reminder to all Floridians.

110909-a
Everglades Oil: What's to Drill ?
Discovery.com – by Eric Niiler
September 9, 2011
Drilling in the Everglades: the debate is not dead yet, Bachman and Gov. Scott are raising it.
THE GIST :

• GOP presidential candidate Michelle Bachman raised the issue of drilling in protected areas, including Florida's Everglades.
• A small industry that started in the 1940s never stopped drilling, despite the low-quality reserves they are tapping.

Comments by two politicians in the past week have raised a long-dormant debate over oil drilling in South Florida’s huge freshwater wetland. What many people consider a precious natural treasure and home to rare and endangered plants and animals – also sits atop an unknown amount of petroleum.
In fact, nine wells have been pumping oil from a small section of the Everglades since the early 1940s – low-grade crude used for lubrication and paving roads.
During a campaign visit to Florida last week, GOP presidential candidate Michelle Bachman said last week that she would support limited oil drilling.
“The United States needs to be less dependent on foreign sources of energy and more dependent upon American resourcefulness. Whether that is in the Everglades, or whether that is in the eastern Gulf region, or whether that's in North Dakota, we need to go where the energy is," she said. "Of course it needs to be done responsibly. If we can't responsibly access energy in the Everglades then we shouldn't do it."
On Tuesday, Florida’s Republican Governor Rick Scott told business leaders in Tallahassee that he would support “a cautious expansion” of oil drilling, but his office retreated a few hours later on his statement. Still the tempest raises the question: could oil companies drill in the so-called “river of grass” without destroying it?
Dave Mica thinks so. Mica is director of the Florida Petroleum Council in Tallahassee and believes new technologies such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing could be used to pump oil out of the freshwater wetland.
“If you look at our industry, our track record has been excellent in sensitive areas,” Mica said. “I do think we could develop (oil reserves) and hopefully we will.”
The Florida Legislature sparked the drive for oil in the late 1930s when it offered a $50,000 prize to anyone who could find oil in the state. Humble Oil Co., the forerunner to Exxon-Mobil, struck oil with a wildcat well in 1943 in southwest Florida, Mica said. New York advertising mogul and real estate developer Barron Collier began drilling in the western edge of the Everglades, and Collier Resources, a firm run by his heirs, continues small production today.
Edward Glab, professor at Florida International University and an expert in oil and gas drilling, said the reserves are low-quality and may be hard to clean up.
"The question in my own mind is whether the juice is worth the squeeze," Glab told Minnesota Public Radio. "[The Everglades] is an extraordinary important and fragile ecosystem... There are other places we could go that would be far less risky with greater quantities of oil."
The Everglades has a history of abuse by agricultural and real estate development over the years and much of its wetland habitat has been drained. The federal government, led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has embarked on a $15 to $20 billion restoration of the Everglades that includes rechanneling waterways to replenish these freshwater supplies Lake Okeechobee and other sources to the north. Any hint of oil drilling in this unusual ecosystem doesn’t sit well with the state’s environmental community.
“Absolutely not,” said Jonathan Ullman, a spokesman for the Sierra Club in Miami. “There are all kind of reasons. It’s a preserve and the expansion of roads would be as damaging as getting the oil out. It’s not a clean thing. Its putting more industry in a natural area, much of which is wilderness.”
Ullman said the Everglades is the also home to 120 or so Florida panthers, one of North America’s most endangered mammals, along with rare plants, orchids, birds, as well as serving as a nursery for many species of fish and aquatic life along the southern tip of Florida.
Collier Resources retains mineral rights to a portion of the Big Cypress National Wildlife Refuge, despite attempts by the Bush Administration to buy them out in 2002. Congress failed to pass the $120 million buyout.
Ullman says he hopes the state’s current leaders will pull the plug on any new discussion of drilling.
“It comes up every few years,” he said. “But we don’t want to be fighting this constantly.”
With political pressure to find new sources of oil in North America, such as the tar sands of Alberta, Canada; offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, or the Arctic wildlife refuge, it’s not clear Ullman’s wish will come true.

110909-b

Thom RUMBERGER
(June 11,1932 -
September 7, 2011)

110909-b
Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell's Founding Partner, Thom Rumberger, Passes Away
US Politics Today
September 9, 2011
"Thom was as passionate about the law as he was about the Everglades, and he was a larger-than-life presence both in and out of the courtroom," recalls Bud Kirk.
ORLANDO, FL, September 09, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- E. Thom Rumberger, a legal titan and staunch protector of Florida's Everglades, died Wednesday, September 7 during the evening hours at a Tallahassee hospice facility. He was 79 years old.
The death, following complications from diabetes, was confirmed by Frank Sheppard, managing partner of Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell, "We were deeply saddened to hear that our friend and partner, Thom Rumberger, passed away. Throughout his life he served as an inspiration to all who knew him."
While Rumberger was known for his brilliant achievements in the courtroom and his leadership in building one of Florida's leading product liability law firms, it was his passion for preserving Florida's Everglades and his efforts on behalf of educational and political reforms that shape his legacy.
At his death, Rumberger was a partner at Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell, a law firm with offices in Florida and Alabama. The firm represents corporate clients throughout the United States with a focus on business and commercial litigation.
With co-founding partners, Bud Kirk and Dick Caldwell, Rumberger launched the firm in 1978 in Orlando and quickly established the firm as a powerhouse in automotive product liability by building a national reputation for overcoming obstacles and winning cases for clients. An example of their resourcefulness occurred in 1983 when a jury ruled in favor for General Motors after Rumberger convinced the judge and the U.S. Marshals Office to remove the entire window frame of the fourth-floor Tampa courtroom so that a car could be entered into evidence by being lifted by a crane and pushed through the window.
The firm's practice has grown throughout the years to include a variety of complex civil litigation matters, including labor and employment, construction, professional liability and other types of litigation.
In another high profile case, Rumberger represented Teresa Earnhardt, the widow of NASCAR legend, Dale Earnhardt, as she opposed publication by the media of photos from Earnhardt's autopsy. Soon afterward, Rumberger championed legislation passed by the Florida state senate in March 2001 that makes the release of autopsy photographs a third-degree felony.
A dedicated environmentalist, Rumberger represented Save the Manatee Club and served as lead counsel for The Everglades Foundation. As chair of The Everglades Trust, Rumberger leveraged his legal and political experience to advocate for Everglades restoration, ultimately resulting in the passage of two constitutional amendments, including the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. The Audubon Society recognized him for his efforts to preserve the Everglades in 2004.
"Thom was as passionate about the law as he was about the Everglades, and he was a larger-than-life presence both in and out of the courtroom," recalls Bud Kirk. Dick Caldwell adds, "His love for the intricacies and fairness of our legal system drove the firm's success. Everyone in the firm is treated like family, a culture that Thom helped cement from the first day we opened our doors for business." A former chair of the board of trustees of the Collins Center for Public Policy, Rumberger also lent his efforts to ensure low-income families were provided with health and educational opportunities.
His political interests led Rumberger to chair Florida Lawyers for President Bush and serve as Florida General Counsel for President George Bush in the 1988 and 1992 presidential campaigns, as well as the Bob Dole campaign. Representing the Republican Party of Florida in 1992, he was instrumental in redrawing the historic district lines during the Florida Redistricting. He served on the Governor's 2001 Select Task Force on Elections, the 2002 Select Task Force on Election Procedures, Standards and Technology, and chaired the Florida Legislature's Study Committee on Public Records in 2002.
Rumberger, born in Ocala in 1932, had his first experience in capturing the attention of an audience in an unusual setting. At the age of 22, he was hired by Ross Allen's Reptile Institute at Florida's Silver Springs, where he entertained tourists by wrestling alligators and handling venomous snakes. Following service in the U.S. Marines, Rumberger entered the University of Florida where he earned his law degree. He was a member of Florida Blue Key and served as associate editor of the University of Florida Law Review in 1960.
Rumberger went on to serve as a County Prosecutor and Florida Special Assistant State Attorney. In 1967, he was appointed Circuit Judge for the Florida Eighteenth Judicial Circuit. Following a stint as Assistant to the Governor of Florida and a member of the Florida Land Sales Board, he became County Attorney for Seminole County, a post he held from 1971 to 1974.
"Thom was a charismatic trial lawyer who tried cases from Maine to California and anywhere in between," said Sheppard. "He will be missed. You just can't fill the void left by an icon."
Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell provides litigation and counseling services in a wide range of civil practice areas including product liability, commercial litigation, construction, intellectual property litigation, environmental, labor and employment law, insurance coverage, professional liability and administrative law. Offices are located in Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Tallahassee and Birmingham, Alabama. For more information, please visit www.rumberger.com.
Florida’s Legal, Environmental ‘Giant’ E. Thom Rumberger Remembered as “Courageous, Vigilant Guardian” of Everglades’ Natural Treasures
Insurancenewsnet.com/Business Wire, Inc. - September 8, 2011
Remembering Rumberger. Florida attorney was a citizen, not a partisan
Tallahassee.com – September 8, 2011

110909-c
South Florida water managers say tropical storm needed to boost Lake Okeechobee
Sun Sentinel - by Andy Reid
September 9, 2011
Water managers may be the only ones rooting for a tropical storm to hit South Florida this year.
Summer rains are raising drought-strained water levels throughout the region, but have failed to boost Lake Okeechobee back to normal levels.
Lake Okeechobee provides South Florida’s primary backup water supply, as well as vital wildlife habitat.
The lake remains more than three feet below normal, despite average or above average rainfall since July.
Now a lingering, soaking tropical storm may be the only way to get Lake Okeechobee back to normal before the start of the usual winter to spring dry season, South Florida Water Management District officials said Thursday.
Tropical Storm Fay in 2008 helped provide water supply relief after similar drought conditions.
Fay’s record-setting, six-day slog across Florida during August 2008 gave Lake Okeechobee a two-foot boost, which was its biggest one-week increase on record.
"We kind of need some tropical activity," said Tommy Strowd, the district’s director of operations. "We are going to need some help."
Lake Okeechobee on Friday was about 10.82 feet above sea level and had only gone up about half a foot during the past month.
The lowest the lake got this year was 9.53 feet in July, which stopped water managers from using the lake to replenish drinking water supplies or send water to the Everglades. It also reduced the water available to irrigate sugar cane fields and other agriculture south of the lake.
Low water levels dried out wildlife habitat in the marshes rimming Lake Okeechobee, which was a particular threat to the endangered Everglades snail kite.
Lake Okeechobee’s water level problems are largely man-made.
The Army Corps of Engineers lowered the lake last year due to flood control concerns, which worsened the effects of a record-setting dry spell that stretched from October to June.
Safety concerns about the dike the protects lakeside communities from flooding have the corps keeping the lake about a foot lower than normal year round while construction continues to strengthen the earthen structure.
During 2010, the corps released more than 300 billion gallons of Lake Okeechobee water into rivers that drain out to sea.
The Army Corps of Engineers makes the final decision on when to release Lake Okeechobee water, with input from the South Florida Water Management District.
District officials say that even with the steady summer rains, there hasn’t yet been enough water flowing in from the Kissimmee River and its chain of lakes to boost Lake Okeechobee back to normal.
But with other water supplies recovering while Lake Okeechobee still suffers, it raises questions about lake management practices, district Board Member Glenn Waldman said.
"That seems to lead to the conclusion that somebody is doing something they shouldn’t be doing," Waldman said.

110909-d
Sugar producers need to fight proposed bills
PrairieStar.com - To the editor
September 9, 2011
Agriculture has deep roots in America’s history
To insure America’s freedom is to study our past history. This country learned a good lesson years ago.
Sugar history shows us that after 40 years, in 1974 when the U.S. Sugar Act expired, the world price skyrocketed to 60 cents a pound. American consumers suffered.
Then it dropped to 3 cents a pound and forced many sugar beet and cane farmers out of business, but consumers found no savings in their food prices.
To protect the taxpayers from sugar prices and the insecurity of supply, in 1981 Congress included a sugar program in the Farm Bill. It stabilized the price at a reasonable level, and assured American consumers and giant sugar users such as candy, cereal and soft drink makers a reliable and high quality supply of pure natural sugar.
American farmers are one of the most efficient farmers in their practices. Keeping in mind today’s high cost of production, sugar beet farmers in irrigated areas spend between $1000 and $1100 an acre.
On the other hand, sugar cane farmers invest $1100 and $1200 an acre especially around the Florida’s everglades where sugar cane farmers have been sentenced to pay $300 million over 20 years to restore the Everglades.
Comparing American sugar farmers and our industry with foreign countries we discover 110 foreign countries subsidize sugar production, consumption and trade in some way.
This makes sugar one of the most heavily subsidized and therefore distorted markets in the world. The present sugar program gives stability to U.S. sugar prices and ensures plenty of sugar on our grocery shelves.
The European Union (EU) overhauled its sugar policy in 2005.
They sharply reduced their domestic production and became dependent on foreign imports. Now, six years later in today’s highly volatile world sugar market, the consequences of being so dependent on foreign sugar suppliers are starting to surface.
Rationing sugar should bring back a lot of bad memories for America – we were in the same situation during World War II and were forced to ration sugar in 1942 because foreign supplies dried up.
In fact, our sugar policy is different than the EU’s policy because it operates at no cost to taxpayers and without subsidy checks to producers.
The sugar program was constructed by Congress to ensure an adequate supply of homegrown sugar and local jobs in rural areas.
Despite the lessons of America’s past and the EU’s present, some in Congress are again looking to make us dependent on foreign supplies.
Four bills have been introduced to destroy the sugar program that insures our market with sugar, provides jobs and annual income.
Current bills addressing sugar policy are:
S.25 by Senators Shaheen (N.H.) and Kirk (Ill.) introduced Jan. 25 “stop Unfair Giveaways and Restrictions Act of 2011.” Cosponsors Pau (Ky.) and Durbin(Ill.).
S.685 – Lugar (Ind.) introduced March 30 “Free sugar Act of 2011.” Cosponsors Paul (Ky.) and McCain (Ariz.).
HR1385 – Pitts (Pa.)-Davis (Ill.) Introduced April 6 –“Free Market Sugar Act.” No other cosponsors.
HR 1739 – Dold (Ill.)-Blumenauer (Ore.) introduced May 5 – “Free Sugar Act of 2011.” Cosponsor Moran (Va.).
America is already more dependent on foreign suppliers than most would think. Trade deals have forced the United States to be the second biggest sugar importer in the world – imports account for approximately one-quarter of the market – and low prices in past years forced 33 U.S. sugar facilities to close between 1996 and 2008.
History is a wise teacher and if we look back and learn from our past mistakes we will prosper from this great teacher.
Klodette Stroh, WIFE national sugar chairperson

110908-a
Everglades for nature, not for oil
News-Press.com
September 8, 2011
Gov. Rick Scott's office says he has not called for any expansion of oil drilling in the Everglades area.
Scott has not, however, said he would actually oppose such an expansion.
He should do so, clearly, now that he has seen how sensitive this topic is.
The governor set off a firestorm Tuesday when asked if he agreed with presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann, who has said she favors expanded oil drilling in the Everglades, an area with negligible significance for oil and enormous significance for the environment, including the Caloosahatchee River basin and estuary.
Scott said, "I think we have to be very cautious on any oil drilling, whether it's already in the state or in our beaches or in the Gulf, because we aren't going to ruin our environment.
"With regard to the Everglades, I think we have to be very cautious if there's going to be any more drilling."
That is hardly a rousing call for more drilling, but it was not the clear-cut "no" he should have issued to expanded drilling in the Everglades.
An aide hastily clarified the statement, saying, "Gov. Scott has not called for an expansion of drilling in the Everglades."
The oil wells already operating in Collier County, including in the Big Cypress National Preserve, are not part of, nor any indication of, a serious oil resource in South Florida.
Otherwise, efforts would already have been made to expand drilling, since mineral rights remain largely in private hands, even where the surface has been acquired for protection and recreation.
A vast federal-state program has already spent billions of mostly state money to restore natural water resources in the Everglades. The federal government has been lax in its responsibility.
More is needed, especially to make releases of water from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee less damaging.
Urge the governor to make clear his opposition to expanded oil drilling in the Everglades ecosystem.

110908-b
Glades oil drilling would be too much risk for too little
Daytona Beach News Journal - OUR VIEW
September 8, 2011
Jim Croce, the late musician, once sang that you don't tug on Superman's cape. In Florida, there is another rule: You don't call for more drilling in the Everglades.
Michele Bachmann, the Republican presidential candidate, flew into South Florida last week to campaign and quickly stepped into swampy water. In Sarasota, in response to a reporter's question, Bachmann said she would be open to drilling for oil in the Everglades if it could be done responsibly. Bachmann made sure to hedge her position by stressing she did not support irresponsible drilling in the "River of Grass," but it was too late. The remarks set off a small media firestorm.
Even a fellow champion of the tea party, Florida's own U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, said Bachmann committed a substantial faux pas, and that he would bend her ear when he next saw her.
It's not surprising. The Everglades are a national treasure valued by Floridians of all political stripes. The Everglades supply about a third of Florida's drinking water, and the area attracts millions of tourists. The Everglades provide a crucial habitat for alligators, panthers and many other species of wildlife.
Yet Floridians are used to the Everglades getting caught up in the political process.
In 2008, Republican Fred Thompson, the "Law and Order" actor and former senator, made the same mistake as Bachmann. He was castigated quickly by fellow Republican Mitt Romney, who said, "Let's take that off the table."
On Tuesday, in response to a question from a citizen who wondered about Bachmann's stance on drilling in the Everglades, Gov. Rick Scott almost got mired in the controversy. He seemed to indicate he could support more drilling in the Everglades, only to retreat within hours, clarifying that he did not call for an expansion of drilling.
Politicians usually -- and commendably -- try to score points by expanding protection of the Everglades. In 2002, President George W. Bush sought to buy back some land from a company, Collier Resources, that has long exercised drilling rights on 765,000 acres in the Everglades. Congress balked at spending the $120 million to buy the rights and end drilling there.
The federal government estimates there are 40 million barrels of Everglades oil, according to the Miami Herald. That's two days of total U.S. oil usage and a nice supplement, but expanding the area to drill is hardly worth the risk to the fragile ecosystem of the Everglades.
Much more oil can be found in areas where there is less risk in drilling. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has 19 million acres of land, but the nation's leaders have been debating whether to drill on the coastal plains -- about 5 percent of ANWR. A 2004 federal report indicated small drilling platforms in ANWR could help replace the dwindling supplies of Alaskan oil, providing at least 875,000 barrels of oil per day in time.
Many of the arguments against expanded domestic drilling rely on fear. They end up making the U.S. more dependent on foreign oil -- at high prices.
Bachmann and other candidates are on to something when they talk about drilling for more oil on U.S. lands.
But they need to focus on the big finds and the billions of gallons of oil that exist in areas where the environmental risks of drilling are minimal. The candidates shouldn't get bogged down in the Everglades, which offers too little oil at too high a risk.

110908-c
U.S. Fish & Wildlife announces new plans for Florida Everglades restoration
Washington Independent - by Virginia Chamlee
September 8, 2011
More from The Florida Independent
Federal officials with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, along with representatives of various conservancy groups, met in Orlando yesterday for a press conference on the future of Everglades protection.
The assistant director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Audubon of Florida’s director of advocacy, and representatives of the Nature Conservancy and the National Wildlife Refuge Association announced the Department of Interior’s proposed plan for the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge during the conference held at Disney’s Wilderness Preserve.
The plan would preserve as much as 150,000 acres through conservation easements and fee simple purchases (in which land is bought at fair market price and managed by a conservation organization or agency), depending upon the “characteristics of the affected lands and the preferences of cattle ranch landowners.” The proposal also seeks to launch restoration work to block canals and ditches and store additional water in the upper reaches of the Kissimmee watershed.
The funding of the proposal isn’t yet set in stone — which is typical of such projects, says Audubon of Florida’s Charles Lee. The acquisition of land for this kind of a proposal is funded by a stream of revenue from a couple of indepedent sources.
One is revenue from royalties of oil and gas leases maintained by the federal government, a fairly sizable amount of revenue, according to Lee: “For instance, if you have a company paying royalties on an oil or gas lease on the outer contineltal shelf, royalties on that would be paid and would go in to this fund. … That could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.” Those funds are subject to congressional appropriation.
Money for the project might also come from the sale of federal Duck Stamps. In order to legally hunt certain types of water foul, hunters must first purchase Duck Stamps. Ninety-eight cents out of every dollar generated by the sale of Duck Stamps goes directly to purchase or lease wetland habitat for protection in the National Wildlife Refuge System.
“It’s pretty characteristic of all these types of proposals,” says Lee. “The first thing that happens is that Fish & Wildlife will conduct a process, and outline a proposed boundary of an area to be protected as a national wildlife refuge. It typically takes a period of a few years before all of the land transactions can be funded.”
Despite the fact that funding for the project remains in limbo, Lee says the agency has chosen the right lands, and that the proposal to acquire that territory through easements is a” very good approach” that “will reduce overall cost and allow money to be spread further, while allowing agriculture to remain in business in the area.”
Two public hearings to discuss the proposal will be held later this month.

110908-d
Water district may sell unneeded western Delray Beach land leased to Palm Beach Downs horse
Palm Beach Post - by Christine Stapleton, Staff Writer
September 8, 2011
WEST PALM BEACH — The governing board of the South Florida Water Management District is considering selling Palm Beach Downs, the 85-acre equestrian center west of Delray Beach where Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos trained.
The district bought the land in 2000, at the corner of U.S. 441 and West Atlantic Avenue, for a future reservoir and coastal buffer, as part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. As part of the acquisition, Palm Beach Downs retained the right to continue operations on the site rent-free through July 2005.
Under an agreement, Wolf and Siemens, operator of the training center, has been allowed to operate the facility until 2013, after which construction of the reservoir was scheduled to begin. In exchange, the District receives annual rent of $55,000. However, the reservoir is no longer part of the district's restoration program and will not be built.
At a meeting of the district's Project and Lands Committee this morning, Ruth Clemens, chief of the district's Land Acquisition and Management division, made a presentation to the board about land the district leases out, mostly to growers, and surplus lands, that could be sold.
"I question the ownership of an equestrian training facility," said board chairman Joe Collins. "I question our need to continue to own it."
Clemens said the district, as landlord, could restrict how the land is used or sell the property. The board asked Clemens to research the value of the land. However, board member Dan Delisi, cautioned the board about selling the property in a "down market," since the lease is among the district's most lucrative.
The discussion about the Palm Beach Downs lease was part of a larger presentation by Clemens on district-owned lands. "We're looking at all of our lands," Clemens told the board. "Do we need them?"
The district owns 1.4 million acres, with about half in protected water conservation areas. An audit of those properties counted 3,174 acres of potential surplus land, with an assessed value of $52.7 million, that the district is considering selling.
Surplus lands include former spoil sites and field stations, along with land in excess of what is needed in order to avoid condemnation litigation. Other lands are no longer needed for pumps and other structures because of technological advances, Clemens said.
The most valuable piece of surplus land is 1,050-acre parcel adjacent to Everglades National Park on Krome Avenue in Miami-Dade county, valued at $32.8 million. Florida International University has shown interest in buying 250 acres to expand its medical facility, Clemens said.
The Palm Beach Downs property has a market value of $2.5 million and contains a one-mile dirt track, 7-furlong turf track, six 32-stall barns, starting gates, 22 grooms' rooms and clocking stand and snack bar. In 2004 the district partnered with the center's operators to offer rent-free accommodations for Children, Hope and Horses, a non-profit agency that assists abused and abandoned children through interaction with horses.
Michael Blann, the general manager of Palm Beach Downs, said Thursday morning that he was unaware that the district was reviewing the center's lease.
Jack Oxley, oilman, polo player and racehorse owner for 35 years, is among the many owners whose thoroughbreds have been trained at Palm Beach Downs. Oxley's stallion, Monarchos, who won the 2001 Kentucky Derby with the second-fastest winning time in the race's history, was trained by John T. Ward Jr., who along with his wife Donna, were longtime trainers and managers at Palm Beach Downs.

Dr. Martinez is a
faculty member of
the Center for
Landscape Conservation
and Ecology. He
specializes in urban
water resources
and nonpoint source
pollution, watershed
modeling, and the
use of climate
information in water
resource, agricultural,
and ecological
management, planning
and decision making.

110907-a
Drilling in Everglades a detrimental scheme
Central Florida Future - by Andrea Keating, Guest Columnist
September 7, 2011
Ever wonder what people are thinking? And who needs a frontal lobotomy worse than you or I? Rep. Michele Bachmann, Republican presidential candidate, is the first person who comes to my mind.
So what has she done lately to crawl under my skin? I branded it the "raze Florida agenda," or as publicly discussed,"Let's drill the Florida Everglades for oil." This past weekend, Bachmann attended a campaign stop in Sarasota where she revealed her "commonsensical plan" on why we should drill the Everglades, but only if we do so "responsibly."
To me, that entire sentence is a walking convulsion. Last time I did the math, drilling for anything was a sullied job, and simply put, there's no other way around it. Recently, Mother Jones illuminated the discussion with Bachmann's Floridian audience. They focused on how she voiced her concern for the environment and her level of conscious weighing preservation.
"No one wants to hurt or contaminate the earth. We don't want to harm our water, our ecosystems or the air. That is a minimum bar," Bachmann said.
Personally, I find her words to be halfhearted deceptions. Why ?  Bachmann voted to abolish the Environmental Protection Act. Now why would somebody do that ?  Oh yes, so they would not be: accountable, blamable or liable for the devastation of the Everglades National Park.
Dr. Christopher J. Martinez, assistant professor of water resources in the agricultural and biological engineering department at the University of Florida, is very familiar with this issue. When asked about the matter, he said there's more involved here than oil.
"The Everglades is a major source of recharge to the Biscayne Aquifer, one of the main sources of drinking water for the south Florida metropolitan area," Martinez said.
The South Florida Everglades Restoration Project perfectly outlines via the web an ocular atlas that vindicates Martinez's statement. The Everglades is more than a subtropical wetland. Though it once covered about 4,000 square miles, it is now less than half that size. It is home to some extremely specialized animals and plants. Any form of digging or drilling will disturb that precious ecosystem; moreover, it will cause havoc on people's lives too, never mind the localized flora and fauna. After researching many articles and evidence online, I'm truly alarmed.
The rationale is not only obvious, but frightening. Bachmann's proposal is sheer madness. Floridians could never agree to such nonsense — or could they? Gov. Rick Scott is another supporter of "drilling amusement." He too has tried to take one step forward and 50 years back in regard to the Environmental Protection Act. According to the Miami Herald, Scott announced that Florida doesn't need regulations as we already have "guidelines in place that will accomplish the same things." Scott asked the EPA to shrink their laws that are restricting water management standards. I think in English I can differentiate that as, "Let me do as I please."
Overall, I think people know we need energy independence, but we also need it to be "responsible independence." Drilling the Everglades is not a solution; it's desperation on a pipe dream.

110907-b
Everglades refuge program targets land east, south of Kissimmee
Orlando Sentinel - by Kevin Spear,
September 7, 2011
The proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge may wind up including nearly 10,000 acres of hunting, recreational and conservation wilderness just 5 miles south of Orange County in Osceola County, as well as tens of thousands of additional acres in Polk County, federal officials said Wednesday during the much-anticipated disclosure of the lands to be targeted for purchase by the government.
The refuge program aims to acquire outright as many as 150,000 acres between Orlando and Lake Okeechobee — an area known as the headwaters of the Everglades — to protect water, wildlife and even the practice bombing and troop training that takes place at the Avon Park Air Force Range.
Because such land purchases could cost as much as $600 million altogether, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stressed that the refuge wouldn't be complete soon.
"What we are proposing here today is not something we anticipate is going to occur in the next one, two or even five years," said Charlie Pelizza, Fish and Wildlife Service coordinator for the project. Addressing the current economic slowdown, he added: "Whether it takes 10, 20 or 30 years to complete, we hope the economy in that period will recover."
Mark Musaus, an FWS regional deputy director, noted that money for the purchases will come from a federal conservation program that receives its funds primarily from offshore-drilling leases. "We're not talking about tax dollars that come in from taxpayers. This is coming from the Land and Water Conservation Fund," Musaus said.
The refuge plan, enthusiastically backed by local ranchers, environmental groups and several other state and federal agencies, calls for selecting and buying 50,000 acres from within a half-dozen or so tracts that together cover 130,000 acres.
The service will also examine a large, 816,000-acre "partnership area" in which it will attempt to buy the development rights to as many as 100,000 additional acres; such an arrangement doesn't allow public access to the properties but prevents development while allowing the owners to continue cattle ranching.
Pelizza said development rights typically are worth about 50 percent of a property's total value. Musaus said ranchers in the area have long-managed their pastures and other properties in ways that are appropriate for the wildlife refuge.
Wednesday's announcement, at the Disney Wilderness Preserve near the north end of the Everglades watershed, set in motion a 45-day public-comment period that must be completed before the refuge idea can be taken to top Fish and Wildlife Service officials and to Congress for approval and funding.
Reacting to previous criticisms that a refuge would inhibit hunting in the area, the service officials and state authorities said that all of the 50,000 acres targeted for purchase potentially could be open to hunters, depending on the circumstances of the tracts that are acquired.
They also stressed that land deals would be struck only with willing sellers — meaning no condemnation proceedings will take place — and that the refuge approach does not rely on enforcement of wildlife and wetlands regulations.
Lt. Col. Charles "Buck" MacLaughlin, commander of the 106,000-acre Avon Park Air Force Range in Polk and Highlands counties, encouraged creation of refuge properties near the bombing range as a barrier to development that might otherwise hinder use of the practice facility.
"This past year, we had 13,000 aircraft sorties, which are individual aircraft flights. We continue to stay very active, though we are kind of out of the way and people wonder if we are still open."

110907-c
Fla. Gov. Scott clarifies Everglades drilling comments
The Miami Herald - by Mary Ellen Klas
September 7, 2011
Last Modified: Wednesday, Sep. 7, 2011 - 4:59 am
Gov. Rick Scott found himself on both sides of the fence on Tuesday when he said in a speech that he supports oil drilling in the Everglades, then hours later issued a clarification that he didn’t mean “an expansion of drilling.”
Scott’s remarks to the Tallahassee-based Economics Club of Florida were prompted by an audience member who asked whether the governor agreed with Republican presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann’s call last week for oil drilling in the Everglades for “additional energy.”
“You know we already have drilling in the Everglades. We already have oil wells in the Everglades,’’ Scott replied. “There’s a road in Naples called ‘Oil Well Road,’ so we already have oil drilling. We’ve had it since 1943.’’
He noted that most Floridians are “very shocked” to learn that drilling is happening in Florida. He added that “I think we have to be very cautious if there’s going to be any more drilling.”
The comments unleashed immediate warnings from environmentalists, who have fought for decades to shield South Florida’s crucial watershed from additional oil drilling as they attempt to restore the Everglades ecosystem.
"My suggestion to the Governor is quite simple: Don’t go there,’’ said Kirk Fordham, CEO of the Everglades Foundation, the non-profit agency formed to advocate for protection of the state’s River of Grass. “Unless Governor Scott wants to unleash a firestorm of opposition from hunters, fishermen, conservationists and millions of Floridians who depend on the Everglades for their water supply, he should abandon any notion of encouraging drilling in this sacred place."
Within hours, the governor’s office issued a clarification of his statement, retreating from any suggestion that Scott’s remarks could be implied as supportive of additional drilling in the Everglades.
“Governor Scott has not called for an expansion of drilling in the Everglades,’’ said Amy Graham, deputy communications secretary. “That discussion is not on the table.
The issue has traditionally been a tricky one for presidential candidates in Florida. In 2008, GOP presidential contender Fred Thompson said he’d open up the Everglades to more oil drilling only to have GOP rival Mitt Romney respond: “You’re kidding...Let’s take that off the table.”

110907-d
For Florida, Water Quality an Increasing Challenge
FCIR.org - by
September 7, 2011
(Florida Center for Investigative Reporting)
Florida has 1,700 streams and rivers, 7,800 freshwater lakes, 700 springs, 11 million acres of wetlands, not to speak of 1,350 miles of coastline and more than 8,000 miles of tidal shoreline. And some of the largest population increases in United States history.
It’s a prospering recipe that lacks just one ingredient: water. Fresh, clean water. And lots of it. In 2005, Floridians used almost 7 billion gallons of freshwater a day. And there were almost a million fewer people in the state in 2005.
Water is the single most important resource in the Sunshine State. Which is why the state legislature passed the Florida Water Resources Act in 1972, creating six regional water management districts in 1972 (in 1975, two southern districts merged to become the South Florida Water Management District).
Now, 39 years later, the state is bursting at the population seams and facing unprecedented water-related challenges, such as the restoration of the entire Everglades ecosystem and the rehabilitation of other polluted freshwater supplies, mostly from agricultural runoff (agriculture also uses more freshwater than humans). In 2010, Florida had 1,918 miles of “impaired” or polluted rivers (that number almost doubled from 2008 to 2010), and 378,000 acres of impaired lakes.
It would seem to be the time to ramp up the work of the five water management districts, which look out for the quality and quantity of the water in our state.
But facing a moribund economy and a depleted state treasury, lawmakers in Tallahassee have instead chosen to shrink the districts. The South Florida Water Management District, the state’s largest, was cut by 30 percent. The St. Johns Water Management District will have to lay off 120 to 140 of its 700 employees.
The $700 million in cuts — about 40 percent of the districts’ budgets — were supposed to give homeowners a $210.5 million tax break, or about 50 cents per homeowner per week.
That would be almost enough, wrote Eric Draper, executive director of Audubon of Florida, in the Palm Beach Post, to buy each Florida homeowner about two bottles of drinking water a month.
And Gov. Rick Scott is pushing the Department of Environmental Protection to force the districts to make an additional $2.4 million in cuts.
If that savings is passed along to homeowners, that would come out to around a half-cent per week. A quarter a year.

110907-e
New Everglades protection plan proposed, but there's no money
AP / WPEC-CBS12.com
September 7, 2011
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Federal officials are mapping out new plans for protecting the northern section of the Florida Everglades.
Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services are announcing a detailed proposal Wednesday that would preserve as much as 150,000 acres in the upper half of the vast sub-tropical wilderness preserve known as the "River of Grass."
The plan calls for buying land from ranchers and other owners and turning it into wildlife refuges or conservation easements at a cost of as much as $625 million.
The agency currently doesn't have the money to enact the plan.
But agency spokeswoman Stacy Shelton the goal of the announcement outside Orlando is to show state and local officials what they are hoping to accomplish once funding is available.
New plans for Everglades protection - The Associated Press/Miami Herald

110907-f
New federal plan a boon for Everglades
Miami Herald - by SUSAN COCKING
September 7, 2011
Federal officials unveiled final details of a plan to create a new wildlife refuge and conservation area that would preserve open land north of Lake Okeechobee and help waterflow to the Everglades.
KISSIMMEE -- The U.S. Interior Department unveiled Wednesday details of a new huge national wildlife refuge and conservation area in the Everglades north of Lake Okeechobee, aimed at protecting wildlife, wild lands, and fresh water that sustains South Florida.
Most of the proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area would consist of up to 100,000 acres of pasture land to be protected through conservation easements purchased from willing landowners. Ranchers would retain ownership of their land but agree not to allow development there. Another 50,000 acres would be targeted for outright purchase by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to create the refuge itself where public hunting, fishing, and hiking would be permitted. The area extends from southwest Osceola County south to the Lake Okeechobee, including swaths of Polk, Okeechobee and Highlands counties.
Federal officials acknowledge fully accomplishing the plan is years away and could cost more than $600 million, with no money yet set aside. But, they say, it’s worth the effort.
“We found a conservation landscape. We found a gap between those lands. We wanted to make connectivity to these places. We wanted to make sure the ranching community is on board,” said Charlie Pelizza of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Pelizza said the areas targeted for conservation are a mosaic of habitats, such as pinelands, wetlands, prairies, and scrub that support 98 threatened and endangered species, including the Florida black bear, panther and scrub jay. They are also critical to the state’s drinking water supply by slowing down and filtering pollutants in water that flows from farms and suburbs into Lake Okeechobee.
“This is a softer touch of restoration of the Everglades,” he said. “Others rely very heavily on infrastructure. What we’re hoping for here is a more natural approach.”
Osceola County cattle rancher Mike Adams, who attended Wednesday’s news conference, said he supports the program.
“The easement type of program keeps people employed, which is critical,” Adams said. “Working through an easement program keeps lands on the tax rolls. We see this as a win-win for the Adams family and for the wildlife.”
When the idea of a new refuge first was floated early this year, many South Florida hunters and anglers became alarmed because they feared they’d be excluded from some of their favorite recreation areas on dry land and in wetlands, rivers and lakes. But both federal and state officials emphasized that won’t happen.
“The Service will defer to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to decide on hunting opportunities and managing public access for hunting and fishing,” said FWC northeast regional director Dennis David.
Added Pelizza: “We hope to show the sportsman community we’re really serious about providing that access.”
Now that the feds have a map of the area to show people, they will seek public comment through October 24. Public hearings will be Sept. 24 at South Florida Community College in Avon Park and Oct. 1 at Kissimmee’s Osceola Heritage Park. Written comments may be submitted by email to EvergladesHeadwatersProposal@fws.gov.
If the approval process goes smoothly, the deal could be done as soon as early 2012. Then funding would need to be obtained in a process that would likely stretch over many years. The Department of the Interior’s funding for land acquisition and conservation easement such as this typically comes from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Royalties from federal leases of offshore oil and gas drilling go to that fund, and many projects compete annually for some of the money. It’s also possible that private land donations could be part of the equation.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Resources Conservation Service recently announced it would spend $100 million to acquire development rights to some 24,000 acres in four counties around Lake Okeechobee that overlap the proposed refuge and conservation area. The two programs are separate, but the Fish and Wildlife Service and Agriculture say they will work together on their common goals.
What happens next :
There is a public comment period for the plan to create the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area. Two public hearings are scheduled.
•  Sept. 24: South Florida Community College, Avon Park
•  Oct. 1: Osceola Heritage Park, Kissimmee.
•  Written comments may be submitted by email to EvergladesHeadwatersProposal@fws.gov

110907-g
Saltwater imperils South Florida's drinking water supply
Miami Herald – by Marina Giovannelli
September 7, 2011
South Florida's lakes, marshes and rivers pump fresh, crystal clear water across the state like veins carry blood through the body.
But cities along South Florida's coast are running out of water as drinking wells are taken over by the sea.
Hallandale Beach has abandoned six of its eight drinking water wells because saltwater has advanced underground across two-thirds of the city.
"The saltwater line is moving west and there's very little that can be done about it," said Keith London, a city commissioner for Hallandale Beach, who has worked on water conservation and reuse for the last decade.
A wall of saltwater is inching inland into the Biscayne Aquifer — the primary source of drinking water for 4.5 million people in South Florida.
A hundred years ago, saltwater intrusion was not a problem in the area. The Everglades seemed to hold more freshwater than residents could ever use.
But then swaths of the "River of Grass" were drained through canals to clear farmland and build single family homes. Utilities have been trying to keep saltwater at bay since the 1930's. But saltwater has crept in to replace freshwater that drained out to sea.
Now, commissioner London and Hallandale Beach city staff need to secure a new source of drinking water. They are working on a deal to dig wells in West Park, another South Broward city about three miles inland. Hallandale would then pipe the fresh water back east.
The project will cost an estimated $10 million, says Earl King, Deputy Director of Hallandale Beach Utilities and Engineering. Residents will eventually pay those capital costs.
New drinking water wells are likely the cheapest alternative, London said. The city could build a reverse osmosis plant to filter out the salt, but the construction and maintenance costs would be astronomical.
"The energy needed to remove the salt would have made water cost 10 times, 100 times more than what we are paying now," London said.

110906-a
Bachmann’s Empty EPA Trash-Talk
FrumForum.com
September 6, 2011
On a recent campaign stop in Florida, Michele Bachmann waded into a political swamp by saying that she would drill in the Everglades if that “is where the energy is.” While she gave a cursory nod to drilling responsibly, it’s clear she had no clue about the environmental or political consequences of what she was proposing.
The Florida Everglades is a treasured natural resource that provides drinking water and other ecological benefits to much of South Florida. The state of Florida and the federal government have spent hundreds of millions of dollars restoring the Everglades—much of that at the direction of GOP Governors Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist. In 2002, the administration of President George W. Bush bought back oil and gas drilling rights in the Everglades for $120 million.
Bachmann apparently does not realize that oil drilling in the Everglades has been studied and that there is broad bi-partisan consensus that it would be foolhardy—very little oil, very high ecological risk.
Even one of her Tea Party colleagues in Congress, Allen West (R-FL) complained that she had committed an “incredible faux pas” by suggesting Everglades drilling. Still, Bachmann stands by the remark.
Bachmann’s drill-the-Everglades brain splat is just one in a long string of whacky, ill-informed and irresponsible comments Bachmann has made about energy and the environment.
She recently claimed that if she were president, gasoline would fall below $2 per gallon. Either she is planning on instigating a massive economic depression, or she is totally ignorant of how the global oil market works. With only 2 percent or so of the world’s proven oil reserves, U.S. production simply cannot impact the price of oil that much. Plus, the U.S. has no control over demand in other countries that puts upward pressure on prices.
Even if Bachmann blindly assumes that our unproven resources are vast, she fails to take into account that those remote and costly-to-produce resources could only be economically produced if the price of oil (and gasoline) were high. Should the price of gasoline drop below $2 per gallon, U.S. oil production would fall off a cliff because producers would seek out less costly OPEC reserves.
Bachmann likes to say that the U.S. is the “big daddy dog” of energy.
One thing she barks about in making that claim is “oil shale.” What she is actually referring to is kerogen, a low-grade hydrocarbon locked away in sedimentary rock. Not only has producing this stuff not been proven practical or commercially viable, it is a poor feedstock for conversion into motor gasoline, which accounts for some 40 percent of U.S. oil consumption.
The wackiness doesn’t end there. Bachmann also is under the erroneous impression that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has “been busy locking up” our supplies of oil and natural gas. The Department of the Interior, not EPA, is the agency responsible for oil and gas leasing and permitting on federal lands and on the Outer Continental Shelf. EPA is responsible for issuing air permits for drilling rigs, but obtaining these is not typically a problem. Furthermore, the number of U.S. drilling rigs in operation has actually increased over the past three years, not decreased.
On another energy issue, Bachmann has repeatedly claimed that a 2007 efficiency standard for lighting bans incandescent bulbs, when simply reading the law and visiting the lighting aisle of any Home Depot clearly proves otherwise.
Of course, Bachmann has infamously pledged to eliminate the EPA. It apparently matters not that she would be undoing the environmental legacies of fellow Republicans Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon.
Reagan’s action to combat smog as governor of California was a model that the federal government followed when Richard Nixon established EPA and Congress passed the Clean Air Act by sweeping bipartisan majorities.
Reagan was proud of what he had accomplished. During a presidential radio address in 1984, he said:
“I’m proud of having been one of the first to recognize that states and the federal government have a duty to protect our natural resources from the damaging effects of pollution that can accompany industrial development.”
President Reagan, a vigorous proponent of federalism who emphasized the states’ role, was clear in his belief that safeguarding our environment nevertheless requires a strong federal role. He said:
“Those concerns of a national character–such as air and water pollution that do not respect state boundaries…–must, of course, be handled on the national level.”
While Bachmann scapegoats EPA as a “job killing agency,” she offers no evidence to back up the claim. EPA has been busy during times of both boom and bust. Over the 40 years that EPA has been working to safeguard our air and water by enforcing the nation’s environmental laws, our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown by 200 percent while common pollutants have been reduced by 63 percent.
For anyone concerned about our nation’s future, particularly as it relates to clean air and water and energy security, it should be terrifying to think that any reasonably serious candidate for president—and Bachmann is not alone—can be so ill-informed about energy and so oblivious to our basic stewardship obligations.
It is hard to see anything truly conservative in allowing a rigid ideology or political posture to close one’s mind, cloud judgment, and trump basic facts.
Another Republican, Theodore Roosevelt, warned his fellow Americans against following those leaders who may be well-intentioned “but whose eyes are a little too wild to make it really safe to trust them.”
In the coming months, Republican voters would do well to consider good ole TR’s advice.

110906-b
EPA rules will inflict heavy toll on people
TBO.com – Opinion by A. Samson
September 06, 2011
The essence of the argument put forward by the Environmental Protection Agency and EarthJustice at the recent Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing in Orlando was not that Florida's total maximum daily loads (TMDL) process is flawed. The argument for EPA to set numeric nutrient criteria (NNC) is that it will make things happen more quickly. The sad reality is that it will also make severe hardship and hunger happen more quickly.
Unfortunately, many of the discussions of NNC costs are sanitized, completely ignoring that right now there are people facing impossible choices between paying for housing, utilities, gasoline or food. It's a moot point to a family already without food money whether municipal sewage plant upgrades will cost the consumer $40 a year or $700 a year. They don't have either amount.
In fact, most of the counties identified as targets for NNC are in areas where the unemployment and poverty rates are some of the highest in the state, averaging an overall poverty rate of more than 22 percent and child poverty rate of 30 percent.
Florida poverty statistics for 2009 published by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report that 620,882 poverty-level, renter households pay more than half their monthly cash income ($1,083) for housing. After paying utilities, these households typically have about $133 to pay for other necessities. Sixty-six percent of these low-income renters are elderly, disabled or families with children. Today's unemployment numbers are at least 2 percent to 4 percent higher than in 2009. Poverty figures for 2011 are likely higher as well.
In the numerous meetings held to date, little or no attention is given to the price that schools, hospitals, landlords, nursing homes, day care facilities and businesses will have to pay to cover the capital and operational costs of municipal plant upgrades.
It's both undeniable and inevitable that all these increased costs will be borne by Florida's residents in the form of property tax increases and higher rents, food prices and health care costs. It will send families on the cusp of poverty into financial chaos. Those already living in poverty will simply be without options.
It's disconcerting that the EPA has no mandate to consider the cost of the rules it adopts. It's especially alarming that everything presented so far by EPA and EarthJustice addresses the health and well-being of endangered plant and animal species, but nothing addresses the corresponding and consequential danger to human health and well-being.
All the more reason why Florida needs to handle its own water quality issues — so necessary improvements can be implemented in a judicious time frame. Given the current human misery factor, accelerating the cost should be unthinkable.
Andrea Samson is the president of the TRI-County Association Health Environment Legislation Policies, the voice for issues and legislation involving septic systems.

110906-c
Federal budget cuts in Florida likely to hurt
Sun Sentinel - by Mark K. Matthews, Washington Bureau
September 6, 2011
WASHINGTON — With hopes dimming that a congressional "super committee" can devise a plan to fix the federal deficit, Florida officials already are bracing for $1.2 trillion in budget cuts that automatically would go into effect if policymakers can't reach an agreement by year's end.
What gets cut, and who is affected, is largely undecided. But there is growing concern that the cuts could lead to lost jobs in the defense industry, further contractions at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and delays or worse for projects such as beach restoration and Everglades preservation.
"The only thing certain about this is the uncertainty," said Marcia Howard, executive director of Federal Funds Information for States, which tracks federal spending to states.
Early clues suggest retirees in Weston would fare better than military contractors in Orlando, and low-income and senior "safety-net" programs will be protected. That's a major reason why Florida would be hurt less than most states.
Still, even Gov. Rick Scott — elected on a wave of tea-party support for smaller government — admits the consequences will be painful for some.
"We know it [the new federal budget] is going to have a significant impact … on our state, but the cost of doing nothing and not reining in spending would be greater," Scott spokesman Lane Wright said.
The biggest uncertainty is whether a so-called "super committee" — created by the debt-ceiling deal that won approval amid partisan rancor this summer — can come up with a plan that will slash the deficit by $1.5 trillion during 10 years and win the approval of Congress and the White House. A dozen lawmakers, six from each party, have until Thanksgiving to try.
But because Republicans and Democrats can't seem to agree on much these days, the safe bet is that the panel won't succeed. If that happens, federal spending automatically would be cut by $1.2 trillion during 10 years, starting in 2013.
Half these cuts would come from the Pentagon; the other half would hit domestic spending — everything from NASA to beach restoration.
However, several large federal programs are exempt, which is why Florida may fare better than many states. Among the exempt: Medicaid, Social Security, veterans' benefits, children's health insurance and food stamps.
Florida relies heavily on these safety-net programs — more than most states — because of its large numbers of poor and elderly. This year, the federal government will pay more than $13 billion for Medicaid coverage of about 3 million low-income adults and children in Florida. An additional $47 billion went to about 3.7 million Social Security recipients.
Similarly, most Medicare spending — about $25 billion in Florida in 2009 — is off the table. That means the state's roughly 3.4 million seniors who are Medicare beneficiaries won't have to worry about increased copays for services, though they'll likely see higher costs for so-called Medicare Advantage programs as subsidies to private insurers are decreased.
Seniors may see a decrease in access to health care, however, because of a likely 2 percent across-the-board reduction in payments to providers, such as doctors and hospitals. Nationally, that could cost hospitals an estimated $45 billion during nine years, with a significant chunk — likely more than $1 billion — coming from Florida.
"Obviously, we oppose that," said Bill Bell of the Florida Hospital Association, saying such cuts could ultimately force the state's 200 general hospitals to reduce services, such as trauma centers or cancer wards.
"As those resources dry up, you have to make tough decisions. And there are resources you won't be able to provide to keep the hospitals going," Bell said.
Most vulnerable to the looming cuts are the defense budget — and domestic agencies and the programs that they fund. And though that's a lot of money — in 2009, the most recent year available, the state and its local governments received nearly $22.7 billion in grants from Washington to pay for a variety of programs and services, from housing to bulletproof vests — Florida ranked 48th of the 50 states in per-capita receipts.
That doesn't mean Florida won't feel any pain.
Most worrisome to Florida business leaders are any defense cuts.
With about two dozen major bases and command centers, Florida receives about $30 billion in defense dollars annually with an total economic footprint nearing $60 billion.
"Defense has a huge impact on the economic health of Florida," said Joe Marino, president of Florida League of Defense Contractors.

110906-d
Florida agriculture/EPA clash over water cleanup continues
SouthEast Farm Press – by David Bennett
September 6, 2011
The story of the EPA’s involvement in cleaning up and maintaining Florida’s waters is a tangled mess. And that mess may be coming to your state next.
Early in 2009, the EPA informed the state of Florida that it had failed to provide adequate protection of its water quality and must adopt “numeric nutrient criteria”
(http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/nutrients/strategy/status.cfm).
With that announcement, the EPA put the state — which had actually been developing such criteria for years — on notice that, under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Water_Act), it was prepared to institute its own regulations intended to reduce pollution in Florida’s flowing waters.
Late in 2010, the EPA did adopt stringent nutrient criteria for Florida’s inland waters (now set to be implemented in early 2012). However, months before that, the agency entered into a consent agreement with environmentalists who had sued it in 2008.
If, as many charge, the environmentalist suit was brought with the aim of goosing the EPA into CWA-related action in Florida, mission accomplished.
However, with the consent agreement acting as a thumb in their collective eye, opponents of the EPA’s move said the agency’s chief purpose for the new regulations may not have been to clean up Florida’s waters so much as to settle the suit. This charge — that the EPA is willing to set policy and regulations in order to more easily dispense with lawsuits brought against it — has been repeated in recent congressional hearings.
An example is a March 10 exchange between Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson during a House Agriculture Committee hearing.
Peterson: “I’m interested in how the EPA handles legal action brought against it. What factors do you use to determine whether, or not, to settle with a litigant or petitioner?”
Jackson: “EPA makes a case-by-case judgment and we must look at several factors — the requirements of the law, most importantly. Legal risk is always a big factor in determining whether to continue litigation or to settle a case.”
Jackson went on to testify that the EPA is “frequently sued by environmental and other organizations under statutes claiming that EPA has failed to take action in a timely manner, or that we’ve been unreasonably delayed. In many cases, the remedy demanded under that lawsuit is to undertake rule-making…”
An irritated Peterson interrupted, “What about if it isn’t litigated and you just settle? Then, all of the sudden, you’re doing settlement that requires you to do rule-making? And (Congress) didn’t authorize it or probably agree with it.”
Jackson: “We look at what the law requires us to do. One of the questions is whether (the EPA) would lose if we went to court and whether we’d be best served by settling early and agree on a schedule for rule-making. Oftentimes, that rule-making is overdue but (is something) we can live with rather than have the courts impose one on us. And we’d still have to pay court fees that would be much higher (if EPA) is on the losing end of a lawsuit.”
(For more, see http://deltafarmpress.com/government/epa-slammed-house-hearing)
Regardless, aggrieved Floridians, who have mounted their own legal challenge against the EPA, have been warning other states of the EPA’s overreach. And considering the potential financial consequences of implementing the EPA plan, the warning is justified.
During an August 12 hearing of the U. S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Richard Budell testified that the EPA plan would far exceed the agency’s projected implementation costs.
Budell, Director of the Office of Agricultural Water Policy with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), said the “EPA estimated the range of total costs to implement the Florida nutrient criteria at between $135 million and $236 million annually. The (FDACS), working in cooperation with The University of Florida Agricultural Resource Economics Department, estimated the implementation costs just for agricultural land uses at between $900 million and $1.6 billion annually and could result in the loss of over 14,000 jobs.”
Further, said Budell, “from an agricultural perspective, I can tell you without question that virtually no sector of Florida agriculture can comply with the final EPA nutrient criteria without the implementation of costly edge-of-farm water detention and treatment.
Construction of these facilities takes land out of production and requires ongoing operation and maintenance. None of these costs can be passed on by the producer. Few growers can afford to implement this kind of practice without the support of farm bill or state-derived cost-share program payments.”
(See Budell’s full statement at http://www.freshfromflorida.com/press/pdf/USHOUSE_Oversight_and_Investigations_Subcommittee_Budell_August_9_2011_WRITTEN_%20FINAL.PDF)
In mid-August, Farm Press spoke with Mary Hartney, president of the Florida Fertilizer and Agrichemical Association, about the EPA’s regulatory approach, how Florida agriculture has responded and why the fight-back against the EPA has been so strong. Among her comments:
On where things currently stand…
“First of all, we all support the need for clean water. But we need to prioritize and do things in the most cost-effective, scientifically-valid, technologically-feasible and economically-doable way we can.
“The Florida state scientists at the Department of Environmental Protection had been working on this for a decade (prior to the EPA coming in.) The FDEP put their rule on hold because of what EPA did – they were in the midst of completing the rule-making process.
“Essentially, the FDEP was going to do the same thing the EPA hopes to achieve with its actions. But Florida would be able to finesse the approach as opposed to EPA’s approach. Because of the criteria they established, EPA’s rules would result in the clean-up of waters that don’t need cleaning.
“In other words, because the EPA doesn’t link their numbers to an assessment of the biological health of a water body, in some cases Florida would have to clean up waters to a degree that are below natural background levels — make it cleaner than it would be naturally.
“The missing piece of the EPA approach is tying (rules) back to a biological health assessment. Where’s the tipping point? When is the NMP (Nutrient Management Plan  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutrient_management_plan) too much versus creating an arbitrary NMP number that it needs to meet?
What this would mean for Florida farmers…
“There’s no way they could comply without having to put in place expensive, edge-of-farm water detention and treatment.
“To meet the proposed EPA standards, the Florida Farm Bureau estimates that 10 percent of the productive cropland would have to be taken out of production to create these on-site treatment areas for water. There may be a handful of growers in the state that are large enough to be able to afford that. It would devastate our agriculture.”
Has the environmental group that sued EPA been joined by others since?
“I call them ‘activist’ groups, not ‘environmentalist.’ They have compadres in the regulation-by-litigation approach. Yes, they’ve been joined by other activist groups.
“Their point of contention was that Florida had taken too long to get (clean water rules) right. My contention is: it’s better to take the time to get it right than to rush and do it wrong.”
On the legal challenge against the EPA plan...
“It’s moved forward with the compilation of additional support documentation. The judge has been looking at all of it. I believe close to a dozen lawsuits have been filed over this, maybe more. We expect any resolution to come long-term, in years.”
Any indication the EPA will back down on this?
“The fertilizer industry continues to pursue federal legislative direction for the EPA to reevaluate and reassess their position on this. Absent congressional direction, the EPA appears to be moving forward.”
On the response by the Florida agriculture community…
“The EPA’s direction on this has been repudiated by the business and agricultural communities as well as local and state government (see a partial list here http://www.donttaxflorida.com/docs/congressletter.pdf). The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has intervened and asked the EPA to reconsider.
The counties and cities, storm-water utility wastewater treatment facilities, and a long list of affiliated businesses, entities and associations have, across the board, opposed the implementation of EPA’s numeric nutrient criteria in the state.
“The wastewater treatment facilities and storm-water association ran numbers that show (EPA’s regulations) would add $700 annually to the average homeowner’s utility bill. That’s extraordinary.”
On how the EPA’s actions could impact the rest of the country…
“It sets a precedent. Imagine if the EPA had decided to tackle this through the Mississippi River Basin and all the states that would have been affected.
“Activist groups have already indicated they’re seeking to pursue similar lawsuits in Kansas and other parts of the nation. Across the United States, there are hotbeds of activists suing to achieve regulations when they’ve been unsuccessful legislatively.”
Anything else?
“The Florida Department of Agriculture and the University of Florida did an economic analysis of the EPA plan. The implementation costs to agriculture are estimated at between $900 million and $1.6 billion per year.
“The EPA’s numbers were nowhere close to those estimates. Because of those discrepancies, Congress directed EPA to have a National Academy of Sciences review (see overview here http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/projectview.aspx?key=49374) of the economic impact. That’s currently underway and should be complete (early in 2012).”

110906-e
Lake 'O' water levels on the rise; buoy for boats and tourism
CBS12.com
September 6, 2011
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been identifying important prairies, forests and wetlands in parts of a larger watershed that extends south from Orlando to Lake Okeechobee and ultimately through the Everglades to Florida Bay.
Agency officials want to buy 50,000 acres of those ecosystems in Osceola, Polk, Okeechobee and Highlands counties, and want to secure partial ownership of an additional 100,000 acres. Officials on Wednesday will release a map showing these possible acquisitions, which would form the foundation for a proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is also making big purchases: 26,255 acres since December and nearly that much acreage planned in months to come. The USDA's goal is to repair wetlands in the Everglades' headwaters that were impaired by ditches dug to keep rangeland drained.
"We realized that everybody had been looking at the same landscape and coming up with the same conclusions," said Charlie Pelizza, the Fish and Wildlife Service coordinator for the project. "We were looking at the headwaters of the Everglades, and we saw threatened or endangered species everywhere — everything from Florida panthers to Everglades snail kites to little grasshopper sparrows."
The federal agencies' land-buying goals stem from shifts in how conservationists view efforts to restore the fragile Everglades and a deteriorating Lake Okeechobee.
Conventional wisdom historically underplayed the importance of waters coming from the 100-mile stretch of Florida interior that includes the Kissimmee River and the Tohopekaliga lakes in Osceola County, which airline passengers often glimpse just before landing atOrlando International Airport.
Increasingly, however, even these uppermost headwaters of the Everglades are getting attention.
Last week, for example, Orlando officials agreed to participate in a multigovernment study of cleaning up Lake Tohopekaliga, which receives drainage from nearly 40 percent of the city's 111 square miles. That includes runoff from places such as Mall at Millenia's parking lots and MetroWest's neighborhood lawns.
"It's all part of the same system," said Tommy Strowd, director of operations at theSouth Florida Water Management District.
The Fish and Wildlife Service and the USDA, meanwhile, are focused on less-developed terrain. Those agencies want to preserve portions of ranches that, although notched with ditches and canals to keep their pastures drained, still thrive with native plants and wildlife.
According to photographer Carlton Ward Jr., defender of ranch lands and natural environments and author of "Florida Cowboys: Keepers of the Last Frontier," protecting the wetlands, woods and open range between Kissimmee and Lake Okeechobee is essential to the Everglades' future.
He said someone hiking 75 miles from the suburbs of Kissimmee toward the Everglades would have a very rural adventure.
"If you point yourself kind of south, southeast, you could truly walk all the way to Okeechobee without encountering more than a two-lane road," said Ward, who in January will embark on a 100-day trek from the Everglades north to the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia to encourage public support for wildlife corridors.

110904-
Developers helped GOP gut Florida's growth act, records show
Orlando Sentinel - by Aaron Deslatte, Tallahassee Bureau Chief (adeslatte@tribune.com)
September 4, 2011

PART 1       (Part 2: continued Sep.10, 2011)
TALLAHASSEE — After Florida's business lobby poured tens of millions in campaign cash into electing Republican supermajorities to the Legislature last year, its top wish was clear: dismantling state oversight of the once-massive development industry.
More than a month before Billy Buzzett took over as Florida's top growth cop in January, lobbyists for some of the state's biggest developers already had outlined a game plan to make it easier for large-scale projects to spread across the rural and exurban landscape, according to public records released by Gov. Rick Scott's office seven months after the Orlando Sentinel requested them.
"Beyond removing some of the regulatory impediments, is there a planning function that will promote the efforts to make our state more attractive to businesses?" one of the lobbyists wrote to Buzzett, a former developer with the St. Joe Co., on Nov. 24.
And the emails show those lobbyists largely wrote the bill lawmakers wound up passing in May: a 190-page dismantling of Florida's growth-management act that dramatically limits the state's role in overseeing growth and makes it harder for citizens to challenge future development plans.
In one fell swoop, Florida shifted gears from development cop to corporate salesman.
"They were very persuasive," says Buzzett of the lobbyists.
In the
 months since the growth rewrite passed, outside consultants have labeled it "the most far-reaching reorganization of state agencies in more than two decades."
The Florida Department of Community Affairs, the agency tasked with settling disputes over sprawl and environmental degradation, will go away Oct. 1.
Half its 60 urban planners will be laid off, and the other half shunted into the governor's new job-creating Department of Economic Opportunity — where they will be renamed the Community Development division and have little power to intervene in growth-management fights.
Already, the new law has forced the state to drop out of eight lawsuits over contested growth plans, from a mining operation in Lee County to the massive, 23,000-home Farmton project planned for Volusia and Brevard, and Orange County's 6,343-home Innovation Way East development, which includes 2.2 million square feet of research, office and retail space.
"We don't believe the state should be dictating to local governments whether to put a gas station on a corner or not," said Doug Darling, who will helm the new state agency, adding: "The governor's vision is not to go hog-wild on development. The governor's vision is for regulatory certainty."
Ironically, the architects of the growth-policy sea change were two lobbyists nicknamed the "Thelma and Louise" of growth management, who each had helped usher in Florida's once-heralded era of comprehensive growth planning three decades ago.
Nancy Linnan, a former assistant DCA secretary under Gov. Bob Graham, now lobbies for the St. Joe Co. and the developers of The Villages. In January and February, emails show, she helped lead a group of lobbyists called the "growth leadership team" for the Florida Chamber — which sank $5.5 million into last year's elections — that conceived and wrote the bulk of the language that House staff ultimately grafted into the bill in early March.
"It's still a pretty scary new day, but you had to let local government grow up," Linnan said. "Now you don't have DCA to kind of hide behind anymore."
Her partner was fellow land-use lawyer and Associated Industries of Florida adviser Linda Loomis Shelley, who had been DCA secretary under Gov. Lawton Chiles and general counsel to Graham when Florida's growth act was passed in 1985.
In January, they presented their plan to House Speaker Dean Cannon, a Winter Park Republican and former land-use lawyer who had frequently quarreled with the agency. He called it "spectacular" and put the weight of his office behind it. Although some Democrats and environmental groups objected, Republican supermajorities in both chambers steamrolled the opposition.
"This Legislature did not need a consensus. And the train was leaving the station," Shelley said. "Either you got on board with your ideas and got them onto the train, or you waved goodbye as it left."
That "train" was powered by a confluence of earth-shifting developments in recent years.
Florida's business lobby had invested millions of dollars to defeat Hometown Democracy — an amendment on the November 2010 ballot that would have required voters to approve changes to land-use plans — and wanted to prevent local governments from putting growth-plan changes to public votes in the future. The new law does that.
At the same time, large landholders and Republican lawmakers were furious with DCA and its former secretary under Gov. Charlie Crist, Tom Pelham.
Though Pelham's agency had approved 94 percent of all new plan amendments that had come in the door since 2007 — giving the OK to 1 million new homes and 2.7 billion square feet of new commercial space — he also put the brakes on several large projects, such as Farmton.
Shelley is a lawyer for Miami Corp., which owns the 59,000 acres of timber and wetlands west of Interstate 95 in Volusia County where developers hope to build Farmton, a new city of 50,000 people, during the next five decades. A hearing will be held this month in a 2-year-old challenge to the project by the Sierra Club and local environmentalists; Pelham is expected to testify.
In the future, DCA will be allowed to step in only if "important state resources or facilities" — a phrase Shelley and Linnan wrote — are affected, although the law does not define what those are. Instead, it will be up to courts, administrators and ultimately the governor and Cabinet to decide on a case-by-case basis.
During last year's campaign, Scott lambasted the agency for "killing jobs," and Republican lawmakers — joining developers to oppose the Hometown Democracy amendment also on the ballot — used equally harsh language.
"Sensing an historic opportunity," Pelham wrote this summer in an American Bar Association article, "the development lobby in the state capital went to work."
The developers' legislation "rolled through the legislature like a tsunami, with little deliberation, few changes, and virtually no concessions to other stakeholder groups," he wrote. "When the storm subsided, the damage was almost incalculable."
The reform's House sponsor, Rep. Ritch Workman, a Melbourne Republican and mortgage broker, called that characterization insulting because the House held three workshops and more committee hearings on the bill, which was amended considerably.
"I dedicated hours to this bill," Workman said. "From Sierra Club to Linda Shelley's group, the Florida Chamber … no single group was completely happy with this bill."
But the plan moved so fast, lobbyists for the Florida Association of Counties complained to Cannon's office in early April that they couldn't keep up. Local governments had wanted the ability to let smaller and poorer local governments opt for more-stringent state review, but the changes never made it into the bill.
"Evidently, in committee last week we had 16 late-filed amendments that were a surprise to [the counties]. The amendments did not include a local option provision for small counties," FAC lobbyist John Wayne Smith wrote to Cannon's chief of staff on April 4. "FAC is not opposed to growth management reform and I will be getting with Chair [Ritch] Workman to discuss what happened or what broke down in our communications."
When passed in 1985, Florida's growth law was the toughest in the nation. It required cities and counties to create long-range "comprehensive" growth plans to fight sprawl and environmental destruction, including requiring developers to help pay for roads and schools that would be needed to serve their projects.
But through the years, developers argued the law became an employment act for planners, engineers and land-use lawyers while losing focus on results. Twenty-six years after the reform, many local governments had built up their own professional staffs to evaluate growth plans and didn't need state review.
But critics say the sweeping changes were fueled by misinformation and outright lies about the law. And, they say, it's now anyone's guess how Florida's eventual growth will take shape.
"The whole premise to attack DCA was a canard," said Charles Lee, with Audubon of Florida. "If it was related to the need to do this for new jobs and economic activity, the numbers show conclusively it was a big lie."
Next Sunday: How the new growth law is changing Florida's landscape.

110904-a
Bachmann not backing down from Everglades drilling comment
Colorado Independent - by Virginia Chamlee
September 4, 2011
Though it received an intense amount of scrutiny and was branded as an “incredible faux pas,” Michele Bachmann’s remark that she wouldn’t be opposed to drilling for oil in the Everglades isn’t going away. In fact, the GOP presidential candidate is going even further with her claims, arguing that only “radical environmentalists” would oppose drilling in the Everglades.
During a visit to Sarasota last weekend, Bachmann caused a stir with her comment that she would support using the Everglades as an energy resource. ”The United States needs to be less dependent on foreign sources of energy and more dependent upon American resourcefulness,” she told the Associated Press. “Whether that is in the Everglades … we need to go where the energy is. Of course it needs to be done responsibly. If we can’t responsibly access energy in the Everglades then we shouldn’t do it.”
Yesterday, Tampa Bay’s News 10 published new footage of Bachmann in Miami, in which she elaborated on the comment. “Let’s access this wonderful treasure trove of energy that God has given us in this country,” she said. “Let’s access it responsibly.”
Those who oppose the idea, she says, are likely just “radical environmentalists.” ”The radical environmentalists put up one road block after another to prevent accessing American energy,” she said.
But it isn’t just radical environmentalists who oppose drilling in the Everglades — in fact, many have noted that there isn’t any viable oil in the area to begin with. Even members of Bachmann’s own party, like Rep. Allen West, R-Fort Lauderdale, have reprimanded the Minnesota congresswoman for her comment. Earlier this week, West promised to “straighten her out” for what he called an “incredible faux pas.”
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., also spoke out against Bachmann’s claims this week, saying: “To go in the middle of the Everglades and to spoil the river of grass just because somebody wants to, that’s not a wise thing to do.”

110904-b
Feds step up push to preserve Everglades headwaters in Central Florida
Orlando Sentinel - by Kevin Spear
September 4, 2011
Between Central and South Florida are landscapes that, while not unpopulated or unexplored, have largely remained remote or lost to most Floridians who aren't cowboys.
This week, federal officials will unveil a strategy and a wish list for protecting those lands — which lie mostly within vast cattle ranches — along with their waters and wildlife.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been identifying important prairies, forests and wetlands in parts of a larger watershed that extends south from Orlando to Lake Okeechobee and ultimately through the Everglades to Florida Bay.
Agency officials want to buy 50,000 acres of those ecosystems in Osceola, Polk, Okeechobee and Highlands counties, and want to secure partial ownership of an additional 100,000 acres. Officials on Wednesday will release a map showing these possible acquisitions, which would form the foundation for a proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is also making big purchases: 26,255 acres since December and nearly that much acreage planned in months to come. The USDA's goal is to repair wetlands in the Everglades' headwaters that were impaired by ditches dug to keep rangeland drained.
"We realized that everybody had been looking at the same landscape and coming up with the same conclusions," said Charlie Pelizza, the Fish and Wildlife Service coordinator for the project. "We were looking at the headwaters of the Everglades, and we saw threatened or endangered species everywhere — everything from Florida panthers to Everglades snail kites to little grasshopper sparrows."
The federal agencies' land-buying goals stem from shifts in how conservationists view efforts to restore the fragile Everglades and a deteriorating Lake Okeechobee.
Conventional wisdom historically underplayed the importance of waters coming from the 100-mile stretch of Florida interior that includes the Kissimmee River and the Tohopekaliga lakes in Osceola County, which airline passengers often glimpse just before landing atOrlando International Airport.
Increasingly, however, even these uppermost headwaters of the Everglades are getting attention.
Last week, for example, Orlando officials agreed to participate in a multigovernment study of cleaning up Lake Tohopekaliga, which receives drainage from nearly 40 percent of the city's 111 square miles. That includes runoff from places such as Mall at Millenia's parking lots and MetroWest's neighborhood lawns.
"It's all part of the same system," said Tommy Strowd, director of operations at theSouth Florida Water Management District.
The Fish and Wildlife Service and the USDA, meanwhile, are focused on less-developed terrain. Those agencies want to preserve portions of ranches that, although notched with ditches and canals to keep their pastures drained, still thrive with native plants and wildlife.
According to photographer Carlton Ward Jr., defender of ranch lands and natural environments and author of "Florida Cowboys: Keepers of the Last Frontier," protecting the wetlands, woods and open range between Kissimmee and Lake Okeechobee is essential to the Everglades' future.
He said someone hiking 75 miles from the suburbs of Kissimmee toward the Everglades would have a very rural adventure.
"If you point yourself kind of south, southeast, you could truly walk all the way to Okeechobee without encountering more than a two-lane road," said Ward, who in January will embark on a 100-day trek from the Everglades north to the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia to encourage public support for wildlife corridors.

110904-c
State environmental chief, Gov. Rick Scott shaking up water management districts
St Petersburg Times - by Craig Pittman, Staff Writer
September 4, 2011
Six months ago, Gov. Rick Scott's newly appointed Department of Environmental Protection secretary, Herschel Vinyard, sat down for lunch at Tallahassee's Governor's Club with four of his predecessors. They offered to answer any questions about the job.
Vinyard, a Jacksonville shipbuilding executive, made it clear he didn't know much about the state's environmental agency, but he did have one thing on his mind: the state's water management districts, which are nominally under the DEP but have long functioned independently of Tallahassee.
"He talked about the water districts, that that was something he wanted to take a hard look at," recalled Jake Varn, who served as the state's top environmental regulator from 1979 to 1981 under then-Gov. Bob Graham, a Democrat.
"It was his first week in Tallahassee, and he was talking about all their money and their taxing authority," agreed Victoria Tschinkel, who headed the environmental agency for the remaining six years of Graham's term.
Now Scott and Vinyard have shaken up the water districts — cutting millions from their budgets, capping executive salaries, pushing for layoffs and freezing land buying — and Scott says that's only his first step.
The goal seems clear to Tschinkel: "The governor wants control over the water supply in Florida."
Actually, according to Scott press secretary Lane Wright, "Gov. Scott's goal is to make sure water management districts stick to the core mission with which they were created — plain and simple."
But when asked specifically whether Scott thinks the best way to do that is by centralizing control of water management decisions, Wright replied, "I'm not even sure what that means." He did not respond to followup questions.
Vinyard, 47, acknowledges his keen interest in the districts, but says there is no move afoot to create a water czar for Florida, dictating who gets how much water and when.
"Early on, I was very focused on water and water policy, because water is so important to the state's future," he said. "I view the water management districts as key partners in implementing our strategy." As for the czar idea, "I haven't heard that."
The idea of centralizing the state's water supply decisions has been around for years. In 2003 the Council of 100, a group of the state's business leaders, came up with a plan to create a state water commission that could route water from sleepy North Florida to fuel development in South Florida. But the plan proved so controversial that Gov. Jeb Bush scuttled it.
Still, the idea of centralizing water policy decisions is in keeping with what Scott's own transition team called for.
The subcommittee on regulatory reform, led by Tampa water-use lawyer Doug Manson, told Scott "the greatest need right now that will produce the fastest results is to change the culture and the leadership at the DEP and the water management districts" in order to "create an environment of customer service to help citizens and small businesses succeed while ensuring sound growth."
Doing that would require Scott to "create consistent water policy from the governor's office through DEP to each WMD," the transition team wrote. Manson did not respond to a request for comment.
Although the members of each water district governing board are appointed by the governor, they have frequently pursued their own policies and practices. They contend they alone know how to meet the needs of their region, but the lack of uniformity has aggravated developers and others seeking permits.
The oldest is also the largest: the South Florida Water Management District, created in 1949 to oversee the drainage of the Everglades, and now in charge of restoring it.
The one overseeing the Tampa Bay region, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, followed in 1961 after monstrous flooding.
Then in 1972 the Legislature created the rest: the St. Johns River Water Management District, the Suwannee River Water Management District and the Northwest Florida Water Management District.
Their boundaries are not based on county lines but on where surface water runoff goes. Each has the power to levy property taxes to finance water supply projects — such as Tampa Bay Water's reservoir and desalination plant — and protecting land important to maintaining a clean water supply. Each one is also in charge of issuing permits for tapping into the aquifer and altering wetlands.
Scott is not the first governor to try to get the water districts singing from the same hymnal, noted Colleen Castille, who headed the DEP under Gov. Bush. She held quarterly meetings with the executive directors of the five districts to discuss policy issues and "try to get a consensus."
But the districts, by virtue of their taxing authority and their access to local legislators, could usually thwart any attempt by a governor or DEP secretary to make them do something they didn't want to, Varn said.
So when Vinyard mentioned the water districts to his predecessors, Varn said, "we told him they're a force to be reckoned with. They've got more money than God, they pay their staff better and if you get a good person working at DEP, they can hire them away."
But now Scott and the Legislature have forced the districts to slash their tax rates and budgets, forcing the layoff of hundreds of employees, including some senior Everglades experts at the South Florida district. But Vinyard insisted that the districts still have plenty of cash for building new water supply projects.
Meanwhile, he's ordered the districts to stop buying environmentally sensitive land until he tells them to start again.
"This is a timeout," Vinyard said, explaining, "I haven't been able to find a written policy on what land we should buy and why." His staff is trying to draw up a policy, which he said may take a while.
All in all, though, Vinyard said he's interested only in saving the taxpayers money through greater efficiency, not seizing control of the water supply. "I'm not a conspiracy theorist," he said

110903-a
Big Sugar recruits former regional Water District scientists
Palm Beach Post - by Christine Stapleton
September 3, 2011
A few days after the South Florida Water Management District laid off 134 workers last month, word got out that Florida Crystals was looking for scientists.
The news spread fast. Apparently, the human resources director at the sugar corporation sent an email to someone at the district, asking for the resumes of the 20 scientists the district had just let go.
"The key for us – we're looking for some kind of agriculture background or training, research and development on ag issues," said Gaston Cantens, spokesman for the company. Cantens did not know how many positions were open.
"How do I get my resume to him?" Allison Murphy, who worked in the regulatory division at the district, asked on the wall of the Facebook group called SFWMD Alumni — a once-stagnant social network of district has-beens that has become a lively, virtual coffee klatsch where former employees of the district can offer condolences, resume tips and job prospects. On Friday, the group had 218 members, including some current employees.
The group was created in October 2009 by Bob Brown III, who retired as the acting director of information technology after a 35-year-career at the district. For a year Brown and a few other retirees posted occasionally on the group's wall. But by October 2010, the posts had petered out.
In February, when Gov. Rick Scott announced plans to cut the retirement benefits of state workers and slashed the district's ability to collect property taxes — setting in motion a major reduction in staff — Brown began posting again. With the hiring of a new executive director in May and the departure of 123 workers who took buyouts in June, the group's membership grew.
On Aug. 10, the day the district began three days of layoffs, nervous workers used the group's Facebook wall to post updates on who had been laid off and vent about how they were axed without a chance to say goodbye.
"It was a horrible day @ district today," Diana Umpierre, a senior geographer, posted on Aug. 12 in the midst of layoffs. "I couldn't stop crying as word got around on those let go, over 50 today. My prayers r w u. No words 2 describe the sadness & tears poured today."
Membership is open only to current and former employees of the district. However, their posts are public. Dozens of job postings now flood the site along with articles and editorials from newspapers throughout the state about cuts to the state's five water management districts. There is an occasional swipe at the district's new management and more frequent jabs at the governor but most of the wall is covered with encouraging words and contact information.
"Thanks Bob Brown for starting the SFWMD Alumni Group on Facebook," Hedy Marshall, a former administrative assistant. "I really believe that this board has a healing power; whereas it lets ex-employees express their emotions and get responses and encouragement from our colleagues and friends. Very important step in our recovery; I would encourage others to join this forum!!"

110903-b
Wall of saltwater snaking up South Florida’s coast
Miami Herald - by Marina Giovannelli
September 3, 2011
Saltwater intrusion is an issue along South Florida’s coast — and it’s moving west.
South Florida’s lakes, marshes and rivers pump fresh, crystal clear water across the state like veins carry blood through the body.
But cities along South Florida’s coast are running out of water as drinking wells are taken over by the sea.
Hallandale Beach has abandoned six of its eight drinking water wells because saltwater has advanced underground across two-thirds of the city.
“The saltwater line is moving west and there’s very little that can be done about it,” said Keith London, a city commissioner for Hallandale Beach, who has worked on water conservation and reuse for the last decade.
A wall of saltwater is inching inland into the Biscayne Aquifer — the primary source of drinking water for 4.5 million people in South Florida.
A hundred years ago, saltwater intrusion was not a problem in the area. The Everglades seemed to hold more freshwater than residents could ever use.
But then swaths of the “River of Grass” were drained through canals to clear farmland and build single family homes. Utilities have been trying to keep saltwater at bay since the 1930’s. But saltwater has crept in to replace freshwater that drained out to sea.
Now, commissioner London and Hallandale Beach city staff need to secure a new source of drinking water. They are working on a deal to dig wells in West Park, another South Broward city about three miles inland. Hallandale would then pipe the fresh water back east.
The project will cost an estimated $10 million, says Earl King, Deputy Director of Hallandale Beach Utilities and Engineering. Residents will eventually pay those capital costs.
New drinking water wells are likely the cheapest alternative, London said. The city could build a reverse osmosis plant to filter out the salt, but the construction and maintenance costs would be astronomical.
“The energy needed to remove the salt would have made water cost 10 times, 100 times more than what we are paying now,” London said.
As the salt front crept inland, municipalities and agencies have restricted water use.
Gulfstream Park racetrack in Hallandale Beach, for example, was prohibited from pulling water from the Biscayne Aquifer in 2005. Gulfstream needs roughly 300,000 gallons every day for their 23-acres of pristine Celebration Bermuda turf.
Gulfstream managers opted to spend $1.5 million on a reverse osmosis filtration system. They pull water from 1,200 feet underground from the Floridan aquifer, a deep, highly-saline section of the aquifer.
The wall of seawater snakes up South Florida’s coast.
In one area in Broward County, the saltwater front is as far as five miles inland. In Miami-Dade, the saltwater reaches the eastern edge of the airport.
“The saltwater is slowly creeping west in cities like Dania Beach, Lake Worth and portions of Fort Lauderdale,” said Scott Prinos a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Fort Lauderdale.
Prinos has tracked saltwater intrusion in South Florida for decades and he regularly tests the saltiness of a well dug in the heart of Hallandale Beach in 2005.
“This well, when it was first installed was fairly fresh and it’s become saltier as we’ve been monitoring it,’’ Prinos said.
He lowers a long hose into a narrow well, pumps water to the surface and sends it back to his lab.

110902-a
Budget cuts could slow development of new water supplies
Palm Beach Post -by Eric Draper, Executive Director, Audubon of Florida
September 2, 2011
Last week, The Palm Beach Post reported that after Florida's water management districts' budgets were cut by about 40 percent, Gov. Scott urged more cuts. While we understand Gov. Scott's zeal for cutting taxes, the impacts need to be examined closely.
After all, the Legislature created and voters approved the taxes we pay so that Florida's five water management districts can prevent floods, manage water supply and protect the environment. The cuts will save the average Florida homeowner enough money each month to buy a couple of bottles of drinking water. Without the money, many of the projects that once were planned to store and clean up water are being postponed, though state officials say that some of those projects are moving ahead - at least until cash reserves run out.
Gov. Scott and his agency leaders are committed to the core goals of water management. Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel Vineyard stated as much when he said: "We've got to get the water right. Water quality and water quantity is essential for Florida's future."
Mr. Vineyard is right. This year's record-setting drought, which nearly left parts of Palm Beach County without tap water, proves his point. And the endless debate about cleaning out pollution from fertilizer and runoff in our rivers and lakes drives home his point.
Yet the governor may not have grasped the essential truth of Florida's water resources. Because our state is naturally flood-prone but receives little rain half the year, it needs massive water infrastructure. And that costs a bit more than a few bottles of agua. Moreover, most people are willing to pay for reliable water supply.
There is a plan for guaranteeing the water supplies of South Florida. It is called Everglades restoration. The South Florida Water Management District works with federal agencies to design and build a series of projects to store and clean water. The plan provides people and the environment shared benefits of a well-managed water supply.
The plan costs money. It cost money under Gov. Bush, it cost money under Gov. Crist and if it moves forward, it will cost money under Gov. Scott.
When conservationists say that it is smart to invest in Everglades restoration as a way to guarantee South Florida's water supplies we mean that money should be spent to build water storage projects and stormwater treatment areas. The water storage projects will store the flood water from the rainy season and the treatment areas will clean it so it can be part of our water supply and natural systems.
It is not likely that there is enough tax money coming into the water management district to pay for those projects. This is why conservation leaders, including myself, have cast doubt on the budget cuts.
It was Gov. Bush who proposed using low-cost loans to finance Everglades restoration and thereby protect South Florida water supplies. At that time, the water district had a solid credit rating. Recent tax cuts led Standard & Poor's to lower the South Florida Water Management District's credit rating from AAA to AA+. This could increase the costs of borrowing money to build projects.
As our state grows, so does our dependence on clean and abundant water. Legislative leaders already are second-guessing the deep cuts to the water management district budgets. Let them know that investing in our water supplies and natural systems is vital for Florida's future.

110902-b
Despite state spending cuts, Everglades restoration continues
News-Press.com – Guest opinion by Melissa Meeker, Executive Director of the South Florida Water Management District
September 2, 2011
Contrary to the unsubstantiated cries of a handful of environmentalists, reducing spending at the South Florida Water Management District is not bringing Everglades restoration to a grinding halt.
Reducing taxes by more than 30 percent, the district is streamlining operations, eliminating unnecessary expenses and getting back to its core mission of flood control, water supply and ecosystem restoration. In doing so, we are saving South Floridians $128 million, the majority of which has been realized by cutting excessive overhead and building a leaner, more efficient agency.
Even with these changes, the district still employs a dynamic 1,647 employees, close to half of whom are dedicated to operating South Florida’s massive flood control system. More than 25 percent of our workforce hold Ph.D. or master’s degrees, and we have more than 150 certified professional engineers and geologists. This highly qualified, capable and competent workforce is focused on effectively achieving the agency’s water management responsibilities.
As for funding our core mission, more than 70 percent of the agency’s $557 million budget this year will go toward flood control and protecting the environment. With an investment of more than $850 million in 2011 and 2012 combined, we will bring a half dozen restoration projects to construction completion this year. It is important to note that agency reductions were not made at the expense of restoration.
In fact, over the next five years, the district will use reserves to invest another $350 million primarily to improve water storage and water quality in the northern and southern Everglades, Lake Okeechobee and the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee watersheds. These efforts will engage our federal partners — and those constituents with an interest in being a part of the solution — in achieving our shared restoration objectives.
Just like most businesses, governments and households today, the district is cutting back on excess spending and focusing its resources on priorities. Despite the invalid complaints of a vocal few, prudent fiscal planning and a streamlined operation are allowing the district to both lower taxes and press ahead with important projects that will protect the environmental and economic interests of South Florida.

110902-c
Michele Bachmann: Drill for Oil in Everglades … or Maybe Not
Politics365.com - by Bill Edmonds
September 2, 2011
Michele Bachmann likely didn’t know how the people of Florida would react when she spoke in favor of drilling for oil and gas in the Florida Everglades, but she knows now.
Drilling in the Everglades is not a popular notion in the Sunshine State.
Bachmann left many puzzled when, while campaigning in Florida for the Republican nomination for president, she ventured her ideas on energy and the Everglades.
“The United States needs to be less dependent on foreign sources of energy and more dependent upon American resourcefulness,” she said Sunday in Sarasota, in Southwest Florida, as reported by the Associated Press. “Whether that is in the Everglades, or whether that is in the eastern Gulf region or whether that’s in North Dakota, we need to go where the energy is.”
Bachmann got a few “Drill, baby, drill!” chants in response — the Minnesota congresswoman tends to draw from the most conservative corners of the Republican Party, where conservation often is seen as a weakness, not good policy.
But the state of Florida has spent many millions in an effort to restore portions of the Everglades to its original glory, and the vast area figures prominently in Florida’s sense of self. Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is one thing — the state’s Republican leaders have pushed for drilling just a few miles off Florida’s beaches — but sinking wells in the Everglades is something not previously considered.
“NRA card-carrying hunters, fishermen, water fowlers and other outdoors enthusiasts do not want to see oil drilling in their Everglades wildlife paradise,” said Jerry Karnas, communications director for the Everglades Foundation. “In addition, the Everglades is the source of fresh, clean drinking water for more than 7 million Floridians. Congresswoman Bachmann needs to understand that oil and drinking water do not mix.”
Bachmann, in later stops on her Florida visit, took a few steps back from her original endorsement. “Actually, what I have spoken about is the fact that God has so blessed the United States with natural energy resources,” she said. “I haven’t said specifically that we should be accessing energy there. The American people are saying: Let’s access this wonderful treasure trove of energy that God has given to us in this country. Let’s access it responsibly. That’s the answer. If we can access energy responsibly, we do it. If we can’t, we don’t. It’s that simple.”
Bachmann, however, also proposed eliminating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She called the EPA “a job-killer” — the right wing’s all-purpose criticism in this presidential campaign — and said state environmental agencies could ensure any drilling was handled with appropriate care. “No one wants to hurt or contaminate the Earth,” she said.
In Florida, however, Gov. Rick Scott has taken steps to limit the scope of the Department of Environmental Protection, which would shoulder the burden of the oversight Bachmann envisions, and named a shipbuilding executive to run the agency, an atypical appointment for an office charged with guarding sensitive lands. Scott himself is a strong advocate for rolling back environment regulations and laws.
The federal government, under President George W. Bush, purchased all drilling rights in the Everglades at a cost of $120 million. That was an effort to protect the natural area and the Everglades National Park within it. But now Bachmann sees federal ownership of those rights as an opportunity for quick approval of oil and gas exploration.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who represents a district in South Florida, saw in all this a different opportunity — a chance to mock one of the Tea Party’s favorites and criticize the pro-drill, anti-conservation position of the GOP.
“Michele Bachmann and the rest of the Republican field may think that if we give Big Oil a few more giveaways and take a few risks, we can drill ourselves to energy independence,” said Wasserman Schultz, who is chair of the Democratic National Committee. “Well, the Republicans couldn’t be more wrong.”

110902-d
Michele Bachmann Sticks By Crazy Everglades Oil Drilling Plan
MiamiNewsTimes.com - by Kyle Munzenrieder
September 2 2011
While passing through Florida last week, Tea Party queen and Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann made waves by suggesting she'd be open to drilling for oil in the Everglades. Never mind the fact that scientists claim there's very little oil lying under river of gross, and even fellow Tea Partier Allen West said it was a "faux pas." Bachmann is undeterred, and says only " radical environmentalists" would be opposed to drilling in a national park that is a critical source of drinking water for millions of people.
Bachmann has since walked back on her remarks, but hasn't abandoned them all together.
"I haven't said specifically that we should be accessing energy [in the Everglades]," she said while in Miami earlier this week. "The American people are saying: Let's access this wonderful treasure trove of energy that God has given to us in this country. Let's access it responsibly. That's the answer. If we can access energy responsibly, we do it. If we can't, we don't. It's that simple."
Well, we know for certain that God has given us a major resource in the Everglades, but is there actually oil lurking around?
"There is no known evidence that there is a significant hydrocarbon deposit beneath the Everglades," USF Geologist Dr. Albert Hine told WTSP.
Though, facts like that seem to be nothing but roadblocks to Bachmann.
"The radical environmentalists put up one road block after another to prevent accessing American energy," she told the station. "We also have oil in the Eastern Gulf region."
Southwest Florida is a huge Republican stronghold. We'll have to see come the Florida primary how they feel about the possibility of living in between two potential oil drilling sites in the Gulf of Mexico and Everglades.

110902-e
Targeting the water districts
TBO.com – Editorial
September 02, 2011
Gov. Rick Scott's administration says slashing the state's five water districts' budgets by $700 million won't harm the environment. Don't buy it.
To be sure, all state agencies, including the districts, must do some serious belt-tightening during these tough times. And the governor is right to insist the districts focus on their core purpose — water-conservation.
But Scott's reckless and arbitrary cuts will compromise the districts' ability to prevent flooding and protect water resources. The administration will virtually halt the land acquisitions that have allowed districts to keep development from harming key water sources or creating flooding threats.
Moreover, Scott, who rightly criticizes Washington for its imperial mandates, takes a federal-like approach, micromanaging from Tallahassee rather than allowing the districts to respond creatively to regional needs.
Scott chastised the districts for maintaining large reserves. He applauded the South Florida Water Management District for using $350 million of its reserves to continue water quality work in the Everglades and elsewhere, in the face of the funding cuts, which included a legislatively mandated 30 percent reduction in ad valorem taxes.
Yet robust reserves are necessary to ensure the districts can cope with hurricanes and other disasters. Relying on reserves to fund ongoing wetlands restoration, water storage and other tasks almost surely will force districts to eliminate environmental work as the reserves erode.
The mandated property tax cut imposed on the districts resulted in Standard & Poor's downgrading the South Florida Water Management District's bond rating, which will increase borrowing costs. The governor says the district should make do with funds at hand and not borrow, a short-sighted stance. While borrowing should be done cautiously, it often is smart to issue bonds and buy property when prices are low. And land is a bargain now.
Delaying acquisition can sting taxpayers — or cause the public to forever lose a chance to acquire tracts needed for flood prevention, resource protection and recreation. The districts' governing boards should be able to make that call based on each district's needs and finances.
Scott also doesn't seem to appreciate the differences among the districts. For instance, the governor imposed a $165,000 salary cap for all five district directors. This would allow, as Audubon's Charles Lee points out, an inflated salary for the director of Northwest Florida Water Management District, which has 120 employees in the sparsely populated Panhandle, where water challenges are modest.
But the pay may not be sufficient to attract the best and brightest to the South Florida district, which stretches from Orlando to the Florida Keys and includes nearly 8 million residents. It oversees a complex flood-control system that includes hundreds of miles of canals. It is overseeing the restoration of the Everglades, Lake Okeechobee, the Kissimmee River and numerous other critical environmental projects. The district has 1,600 employees.
Similarly, the Southwest district, which stretches from Levy to Charlotte County and includes the Tampa Bay area, serves nearly 5 million people and deals with severe water shortages, salt water intrusion and conflicts between agriculture operations and residents. The district this week hired Blake Guillory, an engineer with private sector experience, as executive director. Dave Moore, the previous director who had done an admirable job, resigned in May.
We don't blame the governor for wanting to rein in government salaries, but to treat all the districts the same, regardless of size or responsibilities, is something that would never be done in the private sector, where superior leaders command higher pay. Indeed, if Scott wants bold and innovative leadership, he would allow the governing boards more flexibility with pay but ensure salaries were linked to results.
The governor has demonstrated little regard for Florida's natural resources, which underpin its appeal and quality of life. We don't fault him for ordering budget cuts. But stewardship should be a priority, and thoughtless, blanket cuts are likely to jeopardize our water sources and economic prospects.

110902-f
Toxic mess north of downtown Orlando getting cleaned up
Orlando Sentinel – by Kevin Spear
September 4, 2011
Thousands of gallons of molasses are being pumped into the ground just north of downtown Orlando in the long-awaited start of a complex strategy to clean up a toxic mess that almost landed the city on a list of the nation's most hazardous places.
The molasses serves as a kind of food to activate subterranean bacteria that is then expected to feast on cancer-causing trichloroethene — TCE — a solvent that a long-defunct aerospace company dumped on its lot along Brookhaven Drive in the 1960s.
As the "City Beautiful," Orlando ultimately agreed to pay for cleaning up the contamination, rejecting the alternative of having the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pay for the work by adding the hazardous site to the agency's infamous list of Superfund projects.
The chemical has spread underground beneath more than 40 acres in an area owned largely by the city.
"It's feed-grade molasses, not for human consumption, but they feed cattle with it," said Chad Hanna, environmental specialist at ARCADIS U.S. Inc., which is performing a nearly $13 million cleanup of the TCE for the city. "We've gotten five tankfuls into the ground already."
That's more than 30,000 gallons of the sweetener, and that's just the start of a multifaceted cleanup process.
Getting rid of the TCE, which experts stress is buried deep underground and not a health risk for people, will also entail the not-so-common method of cooking it and the more standard technique of breaking it down with injections of an oxidizing chemical.
Yet a fourth approach involves doing little more than monitoring TCE levels as natural elements attack the solvent, breaking it down to concentrations below the drinking-water standard of 3 parts per billion.
The biggest worry about the heavier-than-water chemical is that, having moved easily through the "surficial" aquifer, it eventually could penetrate layers of clay and enter the deeper Floridan Aquifer, which provides Central Florida with most of its drinking water.
"It has been so long, since 1996, trying to get a cleanup, and we almost had to have the EPA put their foot down and scream at our local leaders to get it cleaned up now or it goes on the Superfund list," said Cathy Kerns, president of the Park Lake/Highland Neighborhood Association. "We were highly critical when they first did their presentations. But we're really glad they've started the cleanup."
Much of the molasses-injection system is on 16 acres bought in recent years from the city of Orlando and Orlando Utilities Commission by Lake Highland Preparatory School and developed as a sport complex of ballfields, tennis courts and a wrestling facility.
The pipes and an array of injection wells are buried and visible only through hatchways to underground vaults.
"It's a win-win for everyone," said Warren Hudson, the private school's president. "The environment gets cleaned up, the neighbors don't have a Superfund site, we have a beautiful sports complex for our teams, and part of the land is put back on the tax rolls."
The contract with ARCADIS guarantees a cleanup for the fixed price of $12.9 million. That provides incentive for the company to get the job done as quickly as possible. But how long it will actually take remains to be seen.
"We put a lot of pipe underground, about 3 miles of it. And there's been a lot of permitting involved. So we just started in late July with injections," said Patrick Shirley, ARCADIS' project manager. "Believe me, we've been wanting to do that."
Up next is further construction that will include the insertion of 90 metal rods as deep as 50 feet that, when fed an electric current, will heat up to the temperature of boiling water.
That is designed to convert highly concentrated, liquid TCE into a vapor that will be captured through wells and trapped in activated-charcoal filters.
While such an aggressive treatment is expected to work well, an unknown factor is what the neighborhood will experience while the underground rods consume an enormous amount of electricity — ultimately as much as tens of thousands of homes would use in a month.
EPA project manager Bill Denman in Atlanta said nobody can say for sure how long the cleanup will last.
"As I've said, it's easy to contaminate an aquifer but very difficult to clean one up," Denman said. "I'm really hesitant to predict how many years it will take, but it will definitely be many years."

110901-a







Little Carlos Candelario
was born without arms
and legs. His mother
had been exposed to a
cocktail of toxic
pesticides whilst
harvesting tomatoes.

110901-a
Chemical warfare: the horrific birth defects linked to tomato pesticides
The Ecologist – by Barry Estabrook
September 1, 2011
The 'Immokalee babies' were born with severe deformities after their mothers were each exposed to pesticides whilst harvesting tomatoes. Barry Estabrook reports on the case that shocked the US.
Tower Cabins is a labour camp consisting of about thirty drab wooden shacks and a few deteriorating trailers crammed together behind an unpainted wooden fence just south of Immokalee, a city in the heart of southwest Florida’s tomato-growing region.
The community of poor migrant labourers is dreary at the best of times, but just before Christmas a few years ago, there were reasons for joy. Three women, all neighbours, were expecting children within seven weeks of each other. But in the lives of tomato workers, there is a fine line between hope and tragedy.
The first baby, the son of twenty-year-old Abraham Candelario and his nineteen-year-old wife, Francisca Herrera, arrived on December 17. They named the child Carlos. Carlitos, as they called him, was born with an extremely rare condition called tetra-amelia syndrome, which left him with neither arms nor legs.
About six weeks later, a few cabins away, Jesus Navarrete was born to Sostenes Maceda. Jesus had Pierre Robin Sequence, a deformity of the lower jaw. As a result, his tongue was in constant danger of falling back into his throat, putting him at risk of choking to death. The baby had to be fed through a plastic tube.
Two days after Jesus was born, Maria Meza gave birth to Jorge. He had one ear, no nose, a cleft palate, one kidney, no anus, and no visible sexual organs. A couple hours later, following a detailed examination, the doctors determined that Jorge was in fact a girl. Her parents renamed her Violeta. Her birth defects were so severe that she survived for only three days.
In addition to living within one hundred yards of each other, Herrera, Maceda, and Meza had one other thing in common. They all worked for the same company, Ag-Mart Produce, Inc., and in the same vast tomato field. Consumers know Ag-Mart mainly through its trademarked UglyRipe heirloom-style tomatoes and Santa Sweets grape tomatoes, sold in plastic clamshell containers adorned with three smiling, dancing tomato characters named Tom, Matt, and Otto. 'Kids love to snack on this nutritious treat,' says the company’s advertising.
From the rows of tomatoes where the women were working during the time they became pregnant, the view was not so cheery. A sign at the entry warned that the field had been sprayed by no fewer than thirty-one different chemicals during the growing season. Many of them were rated 'highly toxic,' and at least three, the herbicide metribuzin, the fungicide mancozeb, and the insecticide avermectin, are known to be 'developmental and reproductive toxins,' according to Pesticide Action Network. They are teratogenic, meaning they can cause birth defects.
Safety violations
If they are used, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandates 'restricted-entry intervals' (REIs in the jargon of chemical agriculture), the time that must elapse between when pesticides are applied and when workers can go into the fields. In all three cases, the women said they were ordered to pick the fruit in violation of REI regulations.
'When you work on the plants, you smell the chemicals,' said Herrera, the mother of limbless Carlitos. Subsequent investigations showed that Herrera worked in fields that recently had been sprayed with mancozeb twenty-four to thirty-six days after conception, the stages where a child begins to develop neurologically and physically.
Meza recalled: 'It has happened to me many times that when you are working and the chemical has dried and turned to dust that you breathe it.' Although regulations require that handlers of many of these pesticides use protective eyewear, chemical-resistant gloves, rubber aprons, and vapour respirators, the three pregnant women said they had not been warned of the possible dangers of being exposed to the chemicals. They wore no protective gear, unless you count their futile attempts to avoid inhalation by covering their mouths with bandanas.
Herrera said she felt sick the entire time she worked in the field. She described being coated in pesticides and suffering from dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and lightheadedness. Her eyes and nose felt as though they were burning. She developed rashes and open sores.
Giving up work was not an option. Herrera said that her boss, a subcontractor to Ag-Mart, told her if she did not work, she would be kicked out of the room that he was providing. Ironically, the impending arrival of her first child made it all the more important for her and her husband to have a place to live. She worked in the fields from preconception, through the early stages of gestation, right up until her seventh month of pregnancy, only a few weeks before Carlitos’s slightly premature arrival. Even after quitting the fields, she continued to hand wash the chemical-soaked clothes of her husband and her brother, Epifanio.
Jesus’s jaw deformity proved not to be as dangerous as first thought, and doctors told his mother that the baby’s condition would likely improve as he grew older. Violetta’s parents had to mourn the death of their child. But after the birth of Carlitos, Herrera and Candelario’s problems intensified. The end of the winter picking season in Florida was approaching, and the family would have to migrate north to find work. But Carlitos needed constant medical attention, which he was receiving through a local agency, the Children’s Medical Services of Lee County. Even though he was an American citizen by birth, his parents were Mexican and had no documentation. Deportation was a real possibility.
Things took a turn for the worse when at three months of age the baby developed respiratory problems that made it difficult for him to breathe. He had to be flown from a hospital near Immokalee to Miami Children’s Hospital. Lacking a car, Herrera and Candelario had to rely on rides from social workers to make the journey across the state, trips that took two and a half hours one way and could be undertaken only on days when Candelario was not required in the fields, where he still had to work to pay the rent. 'There was nothing we could do for our little boy,' said Candelario.
Legal help
One of the social workers helping Carlitos’s parents realised that the family faced an insurmountable financial burden and needed legal help. The social worker contacted a local lawyer, who confessed that he would have been completely over his head with such a complex case. He did, however, have a colleague who specialised in catastrophic personal injury, product liability, and medical malpractice litigation.
He picked up the telephone and put in a call to Andrew Yaffa, a partner in the firm Grossman Roth, which has offices in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Sarasota, and Key West. Although they had no way of knowing it, Abraham Candelario, Francisca Herrera, and Carlitos had just caught what might have been the first break they had ever received in their hardscrabble lives. If you are injured in a car accident, hurt on the job, or the victim of a negligent physician, you could do no better than getting Andrew Yaffa to represent you.
As soon as I met him, I understood why Andrew Yaffa became such a successful lawyer. The day I visited, he was working out of the boardroom in his firm’s Boca Raton office. 'I live out of a FedEx box,' he said. 'I serve every office we have.' That afternoon he had taken over the conference room table. File folders were strewn here and there. His laptop was open. His expensive suit coat was folded over the back of a chair, and his tie was loose. Every few minutes when a cell phone on the table warbled, he glanced at its caller ID and replaced it without missing a conversational beat.
In his early forties at the time of Carlitos’s birth in 2004, Yaffa is widely recognised as one of the top lawyers in the state. He has won many multimillion dollar settlements in cases tried before some of Florida’s toughest judges. One of Yaffa’s competitors in Florida described him to me in an e-mail as 'a great lawyer...solid person...integrity...partner in a fabulous law firm...creative...innovative...bright...ethical...the works!'
Yaffa is tall and has the sort of telegenic good looks that would make him a shoo-in to play the role of the leading man if someone ever does a movie version of his life as a crusading attorney. His short dark hair is brushed back and moussed neatly in place, and I caught the merest whiff of cologne. His handsome face is tempered by a kind of Midwestern earnestness. (He’s actually a Virginia native.)
Yaffa establishes an instant rapport, speaking with a soft, unwavering voice. When I asked him why he chose to take on such a long shot case as that of Carlitos Candelario, he eyed me the way he might stare at an uncooperative witness and said, 'I see a lot in my work. But when I see a child or a family that has been harmed and in distress, I don’t need a whole lot more motivation than that.'
Initially, Yaffa could hardly believe what his friend had told him. He needed to see for himself and to talk to the child’s parents. Were they people who would come across as credible? Would a jury relate to them? Would they even want his help? Leaving behind his usual car, a new BMW, to avoid drawing attention to himself, he got in the road-weary Chevy Suburban reserved for weekend fishing outings and trips to the beach with his kids and drove from his Miami office across miles of uninhabited saw grass prairies in the Everglades to the shabby two-bedroom trailer that the young couple and their tragically deformed child shared with seven other migrants.
When Yaffa knocked on the door, Herrera answered. He was struck by the fact that the petite, round-faced woman was barely older than a child herself. All the men who lived in the trailer were in the fields. Carlitos was propped up in a baby seat. Strips of drying meat hung from a clothesline stretched across the living room, and the humid air was rank and pungent. Flies buzzed everywhere. When Carlitos began fussing, Herrera took the six-month-old baby out of the seat and laid him on the floor. An orphaned puppy that the trailer’s residents had adopted came bouncing around, and the child watched it, smiling and cooing.
'No arms, no legs'
The puppy yipped, pounced, and started nipping at the baby. Carlitos began to scream, and Herrera rushed to pick him up. Yaffa was powerfully affected. The child, who did not even have the ability to flick away a fly or push back against a puppy, faced a lifetime of need. 'The pesticides got into her system and affected this child that was forming and lo and behold, he ends up being born with no arms and no legs,' he told me.
Speaking in Spanish, he tried to draw out Herrera, who spoke very little Spanish herself. As is the case of many migrant farmworkers, her first language and the one she was most comfortable communicating in was a native Indian dialect. Yaffa explained that a social worker had contacted him, and he was there for one reason—to help her. He told Herrera that there was no pressure for her to work with him. As is the norm for lawyers in his field, he would bear all the legal expenses himself and be paid only by taking a percentage of anything they won.
When Herrera finally nodded her head, Yaffa vowed that he would do everything in his power to help his new client. But even a lawyer of his track record and courtroom acumen had his work cut out for him. Because of all the nearly infinite variables—heredity, exposure to chemicals at other job sites, possible smoking or drug abuse, environmental factors—cases linking pesticide exposure to birth defects are notoriously hard to prove.
Instead of pursuing the conventional approach by trying to determine the chemical that caused the damage and suing the company that made it, Yaffa decided to do something he had never done: He would try to get compensation from the corporate farm where Herrera had worked. In essence, he would try the entire modern agricultural industry and the chemical-based philosophy on which it is founded.
Exclusively extracted from the ‘Chemical Warfare’ chapter in Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit by Barry Estabrook, published by Andrews McMeel Publishing

110901-b

110901-b
Florida Neverglades
Press-Register - by J.D. Crowe
September 1, 2011
Michele Bachmann's campaign must be in pretty good shape if it doesn't need Florida. 
Not many presidential candidates go into Florida and suggest the Everglades could be opened up for oil and natural gas drilling. 
The Florida Everglades is arguably the nation's most unique and valuable national park/tourist attraction/ecosystems, a sportsman's paradise,  home to dozens of endangered species, and a major source of Florida's drinking water.
The Everglades is one of the few places on earth where environmentalists, scientists, economists, NRA conservatives, liberals and rednecks can all agree: Let's don't mess it up. 
So, let's scrap all that and put in a few oil rigs. Who cares if there's not much oil there? We're a thirsty nation. We'll gulp whatever we can get. The Everglades will be gone forever, but who cares? It's ours to get. Right, Michele?
Let's turn the River of Grass into a River of Gas.
Gas is something Bachmann's campaign's has plenty of, apparently.

110901-c








Presidential nominee
candidate (R)
Bachmann in Florida

110901-
Florida Republicans reject Bachmann’s call for Everglades drilling
Yahoo!news.com - by Chris Moody, The Ticket
September 1, 2011
If Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann wants to drill for oil in the Florida Everglades, as she suggested at a recent presidential campaign stop, environmental groups won't be the only ones standing in her way. She'll have to go through members of her own party first.
Both of the Florida Republicans running to defeat Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012 adamantly oppose energy exploration in the national park. So does Florida Rep. Allen West, a member of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus, which Bachmann founded.
"There is no current plan to drill in the Everglades and nor should there be," former Florida Rep. Adam Hasner told The Ticket when asked about Bachmann's proposal. Hasner is currently running against former Sen. George LeMieux for the Republican nomination to unseat Nelson. LeMieux also opposes drilling in the park, his campaign spokesman said, but both support energy exploration off-shore.
Bachmann made the comments about drilling in the Florida national park during a rally in Sarasota last weekend, but added that it must be done "responsibly."
"The United States needs to be less dependent on foreign sources of energy and more dependent upon American resourcefulness. Whether that is in the Everglades, or whether that is in the eastern Gulf region, or whether that's in North Dakota, we need to go where the energy is," Bachmann said. "Of course it needs to be done responsibly. If we can't responsibly access energy in the Everglades, then we shouldn't do it."
At a town hall meeting in Palm Beach Gardens this week, West said that Bachmann had made "an incredible faux pas," when she voiced support for energy exploration in the park.
"When I see her next week, I'll straighten her out about that," West said, according to a report in the Palm Beach Post.
Everglades National Park is the largest sub-tropical wilderness area in the country, covering more than 1.5 million acres in South Florida. A company that had formerly owned land in the Big Cypress National Preserve section of the park before it became a national park now conducts limited drilling there.

110901-d







Melissa MEEKER,
Executive Director
SFWMD

110901-d
Melissa Meeker: South Florida Water Management District streamlining, not curtailing Everglades restoration efforts
TCPalm – by Melissa Meeker, executive director of the SFWMD
September 1, 2011
Contrary to the unsubstantiated cries of a handful of environmentalists, reducing spending at the South Florida Water Management District is not bringing Everglades restoration to a grinding halt.
Reducing taxes by more than 30 percent, the district is streamlining operations, eliminating unnecessary expenses and getting back to its core mission of flood control, water supply and ecosystem restoration.
In doing so, we are saving South Floridians $128 million, the majority of which has been realized by cutting excessive overhead and building a leaner, more efficient agency.
Even with these changes, the district still employs a dynamic 1,647 employees, close to half of which are dedicated to operating South Florida's massive flood control system.
More than 25 percent of our workforce hold Ph.D. or master degrees, and we have more than 150 certified professional engineers and geologists. This highly qualified, capable and competent workforce is focused on effectively achieving the agency's water management responsibilities.
As for funding our core mission, more than 70 percent of the agency's $557 million budget this year will go toward flood control and protecting the environment.
With an investment of more than $850 million in 2011 and 2012 combined, we will bring a half dozen restoration projects to construction completion this year.
It is important to note that agency reductions were not made at the expense of restoration. In fact, over the next five years, the district will use reserves to invest an additional $350 million primarily to improve water storage and water quality in the northern and southern Everglades, Lake Okeechobee and the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee watersheds.
These efforts will engage our federal partners — and those constituents with an interest in being a part of the solution — in achieving our shared restoration objectives.
Just like most businesses, governments and households today, the district is cutting back on excess spending and focusing its resources on priorities.
Despite the invalid complaints of a vocal few, prudent fiscal planning and a streamlined operation is allowing the district to both lower taxes and press ahead with important projects that will protect the environmental and economic interests of South Florida

110901-e







Melaleuca quinquenervia
water thirsty invasive
tree to eradicate

110901-
Record droughts in Florida fuel spread of invasive plant Melaleuca
MNN.com – by John Platt
September 1, 2011
The Australian plant Melaleuca quinquenervia is choking out native species, but it also has medical qualities worth exploiting.
Chief among the threatening invasive species is Melaleuca quinquenervia, also known as punk trees or paperbark tea trees. Native to Australia, the trees can live in both dry and wet areas and produce "huge quantities of seeds" which can grow into "almost impenetrable monocultures," according to the Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants at the University of Florida. In places such as the Everglades, melaleuca has almost taken over, eliminating all other vegetation in many spots. This chokes out not only native plants but the wildlife that evolved to depend upon native Florida vegetation.
Melaleuca is listed as a federal noxious weed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It was first brought to the U.S. in the early 1900s for use as ornamentation or for erosion control, according to the Department's National Invasive Species Information Center.
According to the Current-Argus, the period from October 2010 to June 2011 was the driest on record, which resulted in much of the Everglades trying out. The Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge at the northern portion of the Everglades was 95 percent dry at one point, the paper reports.
Not only did this allow invasive species to spread, it also cut off airboat access to many areas. Contractors hired to eliminate invasive species normally use airboats to access many swampy areas, but could not do so due to the drought.
The problem in the Everglades has been growing for years. According to a 2004 report from Environmental News Network, melaleuca was, at the time, taking over 14 to 15 acres of the Everglades ecosystem every day.
When controlled, melaleuca has many uses. In addition to stabilizing soil near lakes and other bodies of water, it forms excellent mulch, according to the Miami Herald. It was traditionally brewed as a tea by indigenous Australians to treat coughs, colds, headaches and other ills. Its bark, which sheds in like paper, can be used for wrapping food or even building shelters. Its flowers produce a strongly flavored honey, and are themselves useful for Florida's beekeeping industry, according to a report from the National Forest Service. In addition, tree oil made from a different species of melaleuca, Melaleuca alternifolia, can fight yeast infections that cause thrush.
Clearing melaleuca is an essential and expensive task for preserving Florida's wild and open spaces. The Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast almost had to pass on a recent 190-acre land acquisition because it was having trouble raising the $229,000 needed to eliminate melaleuca and Brazilian peppers from the area, according to a report from the Pine Island Eagle. Last minute donations brought in the necessary funds and the foundation will be able to move forward in preserving the land, which is home to several threatened species and provides critical habitat for others.

110901-f
Surprise Coral Killer Hits Florida: Extreme Cold
Ouramazingplanet.com – by Andrea Mustain
September 1, 2011
Temperature extremes and the destruction they cause have been big news this year, with large swaths of the southern United States in the grip of record-breaking heat waves that devastated flora and fauna.  Yet temperature extremes also take a toll on life that dwells in the ocean, where the results are far less accessible to TV news crews than the bone-dry landscapes and wildfires on display in Texas this year.
Last year in Florida, it was the unusual cold that wreaked havoc. Researchers have begun to unravel the effects of the frigid weather on some of the Sunshine State's most vulnerable inhabitants. The damage apparently included one of the worst coral die-offs ever recorded in the United States.
Frigid waters
In January 2010, Florida was hit with the coldest 12-day period since 1940, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures hovered around the freezing point, destroying millions of dollars of crops; at least two people in the state died from cold exposure.
Beneath the waves off the coast, Florida's coral reefs, some of the largest in the United States, were hit especially hard by water temperatures that, in some areas, plunged to 51 degrees Fahrenheit (11 degrees Celsius). [Weirdo Weather: 7 Rare Weather Events]
Overall, some of the largest reef-building species suffered a 40 percent death rate. At some specific reefs, that number was 100 percent.
"It looked more dramatic than anything we'd seen in the past," said coastal ecologist Diego Lirman, an associate professor at the University of Miami and lead author of a study published this month in PLoS One.
Lirman, joined by an army of colleagues and volunteers, spent four weeks during and immediately after the severe weather surveying the aftermath along the Florida Reef Tract, a dotted line of reefs that curves for 160 miles (260 kilometers) from Miami to the Dry Tortugas.
Lirman said the dive teams were met with eerie scenes. "We saw dead corals all around, dead sponges, soft corals that were either completely dead or on their way out," he said. Although the study didn't include them in the count, Lirman said that even fish, which make the reefs their home, were far more sparse than usual.
"It really looked like a major bleaching event had just happened, but the water was cold," Lirman told OurAmazingPlanet.
Coral stress, coral death
Bleaching, a phenomenon generally associated with overly warm water, is the term used to describe what happens to stressed corals that eject the symbiotic algae that dwell within them. In normal conditions, the two organisms share a cozy life together. The algae get a nice, safe place to live and photosynthesize; in return, they provide life-giving sugars to their coral hosts and infuse them with color. [Colorful Creations: Incredible Coral Photos]
However, when corals feel environmental stress, whether from temperature extremes or ocean acidification, the algae are expelled. Without the algae, the coral begins to starve. The tissue turns transparent, allowing the bone-white skeleton beneath to show through.
Bleaching is not always fatal. "Bleaching is not death," Lirman said, "bleaching is the stress response." However, Florida's coral reefs weren't able to recover.
"This went from quickly bleaching to mortality within days. I'd say within less than a week," Lirman said, adding that the event was far more deadly than past warm-water bleaching events in the region.
Lirman's study documented the magnitude and scale of the damage; temperature gauges in place since 2005, coupled with satellite data, confirmed that the cold waters were associated with the high coral death rates. Another study, published in the August edition of the journal Global Change Biology, took a look at the physiological effects of the cold temperatures.
Hot 'n' cold coral
Researchers at the University of Georgia, armed with the temperature data from the Florida cold spell, put three different coral species through the rigors of cold-water living in lab conditions that mirrored the chilly temperature changes that unfolded along the Florida reefs in early 2010.
"We found the response to be very similar to warm-water bleaching," said Dustin Kemp, a coral eco-physiologist and post-doctoral research associate who led the research.
Below 55.5 F (12 C), none of the corals could photosynthesize, Kemp said.
As to whether hot- or cold-water bleaching is more deadly for coral reefs, Kemp said it's all a matter of scale.
"One degree Celsius [1.8 F] above the normal summer temperatures will cause bleaching; usually the temperature goes back down and that's when recovery occurs," Kemp told OurAmazingPlanet.
In contrast, the Florida waters were a full 14 degrees F (8 C) below normal. If summer temperatures veered so far above the warmest norm, "I'm sure it would be catastrophic as well," Kemp said.
Ancient ocean giants
Some of the corals hardest hit in the die-off were from the genus Montastraea — large, boulder-size corals. Many colonies were centuries old, and, having survived past hurricanes and bleaching events, formed the hardy backbones of the reef ecosystem.
"These Montastraea grow really, really slowly," said Nancy Knowlton, a coral reef biologist at the Smithsonian Institution, who was not associated with the studies. "They're kind of like the redwoods of the coral reef. So something that kills large numbers of these large colonies of major reef builders is very bad."
Although Knowlton said warming, not cold, is a far bigger concern for coral reefs, she said the mass die-off is a big problem. Climate change is expected to bring more weather extremes of all types, though, which includes cold snaps.
"Reefs are in such a precarious position around the world, so anything this bad is bad —there's no room for additional sources of mortality," Knowlton told OurAmazingPlanet.
Florida's coral reefs have already suffered steep declines in recent years. The square footage of the state's coral reefs dropped 44 percent between 1996 and 2005, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
And concern over the decline of coral reefs in Florida isn't merely a question of underwater aesthetics. According to the Florida DEP, most of Florida's sport fish species and many other marine animals spend significant parts of their lives around coral reefs.
"Large, live corals provide the foundation of the entire coral reef ecosystem. Fish, shrimp, lobsters — all those animals succeed where there is lots of live coral," Kemp said.
While there is no immediate way to avoid cold snaps or scalding temperatures, Kemp and Lirman said there are ways to lessen the magnitude of their effects.
Keeping oceans pollutant-free and making sure fisheries don't rid reefs of key predators and grazers are two of several strategies available to protect reefs from further decline, they said.
"We can manage that," Kemp said. "So if we reduce some of the local stressors, that can allow the reef to be more resilient to potential weather and climatic stressors in the future."

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Debbie WASSERMAN SCHULTZ ,
Congresswoman (D) for Florida

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West, Wasserman Schultz Agree: No Everglades Drilling
Newsmax Wires
September 1, 2011
Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz recently had an intense public feud. But the tea party stalwart West and fellow Florida Rep. Wasserman have found something they agree on: opposition to oil and gas drilling in Florida’s Everglades, The Hill reports.
West called Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann's proposal last weekend that the U.S. consider drilling in the Everglades "an incredible faux pas" at a town hall meeting in Florida Tuesday.
Raising the idea of drilling in the Everglades is "a horrible thing to say. The Everglades is one of the natural wonders of the world," The Palm Beach Post quotes West as saying. "That's an incredible ecosystem. It's a wetland that is natural and pristine, and that's something we have to preserve for our future generations."
Wasserman Schultz decried Minnesota Rep. Bachmann’s idea as "unthinkable, reckless and irresponsible."

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