Controversy surrounding a proposed 40-mile four-mile pipeline to reroute paper mill effluent from a small Palatka creek into the large St. Johns River shows no signs of dying down. A recently passed resolution by the Jacksonville City Council aims to delay the pipeline in order to further study its potential environmental effects.
A “no-swim” advisory has been issued at Jupiter’s Carlin Park Beach, over fears of high fecal bacteria levels. The advisory is in place until Mon., Sept. 26.
Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Ocala, has been playing defense lately. A recent water pollution hearing he sponsored in Orlando has been subject to scrutiny, mainly because he invited a slew of agriculture and industrial interests to testify, and only one environmental advocate (who was invited at the last minute). In a new op-ed, Stearns again defends himself against claims that the hearing was one-sided, writing that “no environmental groups contacted [his] office or the committee office seeking to testify until after it was final.”
A meeting of the National Academies’ National Research Council, which began this morning and will continue all day (and tomorrow), is highlighting major concerns over a set of federally mandated water pollution standards that target Florida.
U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, is proving successful in his effort to thwart the Federal Environmental Protection’s efforts to regulate water pollution. Yesterday, the United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 2018, a bill sponsored by Mica that would block the EPA from tightening water pollutant limits without a state’s consent.
Since launching its campaign against a pipeline that would reroute much of a Palatka paper mill’s effluent into the St. Johns River, the St. Johns Riverkeeper has continued to maintain a drumbeat around the issue.
In recent months, the Scott administration has cut $305 million from environmental land-buying projects in the state budget, all but ignored pleas to halt the construction of a Georgia-Pacific pipeline to funnel additional effluent into the St. Johns River and attempted to halt or delay the implementation of a set of criteria to govern water pollution in the state.The administration also made cuts to the state’s five water management districts, and sent out a memo asking them to “reexamine” how they do business. Now, new allegations that the administration hopes to begin privatizing camping in some state parks have surfaced.
John Cassani, a member of the Southwest Florida Watershed Council, is one of the few siding with the EPA in the debate over Florida’s water quality problem. In a recent op-ed published in The News-Press, Cassani argues that the EPA’s proposed “numeric nutrient criteria” (a set of standards to limit nitrogen and phosphorus in Florida waterways) are imperative for the health of Florida’s environment.
Nearly five months ago, the St. Johns Riverkeeper first launched its campaign against a pipeline that will reroute much of the waste from Georgia-Pacific’s Palatka paper mill into the St. Johns River, a project the Riverkeeper says is a disaster waiting to happen. Though the Riverkeeper has received no response from Gov. Rick Scott (despite a massive email campaign and the collection of thousands of signatures against the pipeline), there may be hope for their cause yet, from the Scott-appointed head of the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The St. Johns Riverkeeper will host a rally to protest Georgia-Pacific’s controversial proposed North Florida pipeline and “demand a more comprehensive analysis of this critical issue” on Thurs., June 9, at the Jacksonville offices of the state Department of Environmental Protection.
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