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Judge: EPA 'Avoided Duty' To Everglades

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 3, 2008

WEST PALM BEACH - The U.S Environmental Protection Agency has turned a "blind eye" to Florida's Everglades cleanup efforts, while the state is violating its own commitment to restore the vast ecosystem, a federal judge ruled last week.

In a stinging ruling from Miami, U.S. District Judge Alan Gold put to rest a 2004 lawsuit filed against the EPA, ordering the agency to review water pollution standards and timelines set by Florida for the Everglades.

Gold repeatedly accused EPA of acting "arbitrarily and capriciously" in its failure to adhere to the mandates of the Clean Water Act.

"Plaintiffs are correct," Gold wrote, "that EPA has once again avoided its duty to protect the Everglades."

The Miccosukee Indians, who live in the Everglades, and Friends of the Everglades sued the EPA in 2004. They claimed the agency violated the Clean Water Act by allowing Florida to change its water pollution requirements for the Everglades and delay its pollution compliance deadlines.

Gold agreed, adding that the Florida Legislature "violated its fundamental commitment and promise to protect the Everglades."

The case centered on a 2003 amendment to the state's 1994 Everglades Forever Act.

Florida was supposed to meet lower phosphorous levels in the Everglades by 2002. The 1994 act pushed that to 2006. The amendment changed that timeline, setting a date of 2016 at the earliest.

The entire wetlands once covered more than 6,250 square miles, but have shrunk by half. The Everglades has since lost 90 percent of its wading birds, and 68 threatened or endangered species face extreme peril.

The Associated Press

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