Birds

Gulf Barrier-island loss dealing blow to birds
Remote and shrinking, the Isles Dernieres barrier islands that lay dozens of miles off Terrebonne’s coast are most often discussed as sandy speed bumps for storm surges.
But for thousands of sea birds, the islands are a vital, yet disappearing, link to life.The islands have shrunk in size and number since the 2008 storms, as have the birds who reproduce there.
The islands, far away from the coast and predators that threaten their young, serve as a nesting place for terns, black skimmers, brown pelicans and others.
Read the article

Wealth of species travels by sea, air off our coast Each spring, many of Florida's winter migrants -- including American robins, goldfinches and a stream of motor homes -- head north. So do rare North Atlantic right whales.
But the whales are only one of many species that participate in a vast and complex trans-Atlantic migration that never ceases. Driven by the need to eat and reproduce, and influenced by the deep, warm current of the Gulf Stream, seasonal water temperature fluctuations and other factors scientists don't fully understand, an amazing variety of creatures circulates past Volusia and Flagler counties.Those include seabirds, whales, sharks, rays, fish, sea turtles and eels…

Hundreds of pelicans stranded in California & Oregon
What caused the recent mass stranding of Brown pelicans in California & Oregon?March 2010. The California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) is reporting that the primary causes of the recent Brown Pelican mass stranding (involving varying degrees of incapacitation of hundreds of birds) along the Oregon and California Coast are related to shortages of preferred prey items, such as anchovies and sardines, and rough winter weather, probably as a result of the current El Niño event.

CDFG, the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center, Sea World San Diego and the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) pooled their efforts to determine the causes for the bird deaths and stranding, and ruled out infectious disease and marine toxins as major contributory factors. Some pelicans have had waterproofing problems with their feathers, possibly related to storm runoff from recent heavy coastal rains.

More than 300 birds are being rehabilitated at the IBRRC facilities in San Pedro and Cordelia, California. CDFG has been donating frozen trout to organizations conducting the rescue feeding. Rehabilitation has been taking one to two weeks and rescued birds are said to be responding well to treatment. Birds first became stranded around the middle of January but the numbers being recovered each day have greatly diminished in recent days.

Swallow-tailed kites are back - help with sightings
Citizen Science for Swallow-tailed Kite databaseThe 2010 Citizen Science database is up and running. Please promote useof the database by posting announcements on local and regional birders'listserves, announcements and newsletters, or inter-agency notices.
The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey will be administering this program across theSwallow Tailed Kite breeding range in North America again this year. Jennifer McCarthy will be your contact for questions about the database.

You may contact her via e-mail stki@avianconservationcenter.org or by telephone(703.967.1231). To view the 2010 online report form, go to: http://www.thecenterforbirdsofprey.org/ The link to entering data is: http://www.thecenterforbirdsofprey.org/swallowtail-kite.php

Spring means sharing the beach with shorebirds
As Florida’s residents and visitors venture out to the beaches to enjoy warmer weather after a hard, long winter, so do the state’s abundant and unique shorebirds. But there’s a big difference between the two beachcombers in Florida.

Shorebirds depend on those narrow stretches of sand to survive, not only in the short term, but to survive as a species. Without the proper nesting sites and feeding habitat, the number of shorebird species may decline. Some species’ numbers are already stressed, so accidentally disturbing their nesting sites would be particularly harmful.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) urges all beachgoers to be on the lookout for nesting shorebirds and give them plenty of space to perpetuate their species.

“In the next few weeks, our biologists and volunteers will be posting signs and putting up temporary fencing on Florida’s beaches to help protect shorebirds,” said Nancy Douglass, an FWC nongame biologist. “Beachgoers can do their part by staying out of the posted areas and either leaving dogs at home or keeping them on leashes away from those posted areas. And please don’t let dogs chase the birds.”

Any disturbance by people, pets or vehicles can result in shorebirds abandoning their nests and the death of young birds. Many of Florida’s shorebirds are either threatened or endangered, and it is a violation of state and federal laws to harass or take any endangered or threatened birds, their eggs or young.

Feds Put Politics over Science against Southwest Eagle (Again) In the continuing saga of politically tainted decisions threatening one of Arizona's most endangered but least acknowledged birds, the Center for Biological Diversity has just obtained documents indicating that the feds shunned science-- again -- in deciding not to protect Arizona's desert nesting bald eagle. An August 2009 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service memo, which summarizes bald eagle experts' consensus position from the past 30 years, states that the unique Southwest population of bald eagle is "discrete and significant" to the national bald eagle population. In a December 2009 response, a political superior dismissed the experts' opinion, declaring that Service staff would "work with" the memo-writing scientist on a "revised version of the finding." Then, on February 25, the Fish and Wildlife Service removed Endangered Species Act protection from the desert nesting bald eagle. The situation mirrors the Service's attempts in 2006 and 2007 to withhold special federal safeguards for the desert eagles -- attempts that were thwarted by a federal judge's order to continue protection, resulting from Center lawsuits.

Only about 160 individuals and 60 breeding pairs of this population survive, all threatened by increasing development, dams, grazing, and other threats. The Center submitted a scientific petition to increase protection for the desert eagle in 2004; we've been working to save the population since 1989.
Check out our press release and learn more about the desert nesting bald eagle.

Invasive species

Pythons
HB 709 by Rep. Trudi Williams (R-Ft. Myers) and Rep. Ralph Poppell (R-Titusville) passed its final committee stop this week and will now head to the House floor. It will prohibit anyone in Florida from keeping, possessing, importing into the state, selling, bartering, or trading Burmese pythons and six other species of invasive exotic reptiles. Exceptions are provided for current permitted owners of these animals to retain them for the life of the animal and for certain educational and research uses of the species.

Audubon supports this legislation as one half of the important equation of source control and eradication that will be needed to meet the challenge Burmese pythons and other exotic invasives pose to Florida's wildlife and wildlands.

Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge Receives Funding to Remove Invasives
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded a $1.25 million contract for removal of invasive plants at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The ARRA contract, awarded to Aquatic Vegetation Control, Inc., of West Palm Beach, Fla., will be used to remove invasive plant species from about 9,000 acres of the refuge, including Melaleuca, Old World climbing fern, Brazilian pepper and Australian pine. "These non-native plants pose a serious threat to the delicate ecological balance of the Everglades and their removal will greater enhance this precious national treasure,” Secretary Salazar said. "In addition, the ARRA funding will provide employment for several dozen skilled workers who will be executing this project throughout much of 2010.”
Read More

Florida Panthers

Information Key to FL Panther Survival
There are only some 100 Florida panthers left in the state, and public awareness may be the key to their long-term survival. Organizations dedicated to saving Florida's official animal say public information concerning the Florida panther is an important element in protecting them. Toward that end, Defenders of Wildlife, Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge and other conservation partners are teaming up for a series of events called "Save the Florida Panther Month."

Elizabeth Fleming, Florida representative of Defenders of Wildlife, says car and truck accidents alone have really taken a toll on the panther population."The total population is estimated to be about 100 animals. So, if you lose 17, that's a tremendous, tremendous blow to the population there."Fleming says educating the public to slow down in panther areas and stop development that cuts the panther off from its natural habitat are keys to the animal's survival in Florida.

Lisa Ostberg, president of the group Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge, says the vehicle crashes and an increase in panthers killing other panthers both have roots in the same problem."It's a symptom of not having enough habitat that the vehicle collisions happen and the intraspecific aggression happens.

"Ostberg says Florida has let development in wild areas get out of hand over the past 50 years and it's time to correct that."It needs to go back to being everglades, in the middle at least, so panthers and other wildlife can survive and thrive."Ostberg says the panther is an umbrella species, meaning when we protect the panther, we also protect all the other animals that call their habitat home.

Everglades and Water Quality Issues

One child under the age of five dies every 20 seconds from water-related diseases. According to a report released by the United Nations last week, more people die from drinking unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war. Ninety percent of wastewater discharged daily is untreated and kills approximately 2.2 million people a year. The report also stated that close to 900 million people around the world do not have access to clean water, while 2.7 billion others lack sanitation facilities. The UN Environment Program (UNEP) believes that better protection, investment in new technologies and sustainable management could help to reduce pollution and lift families out of extreme poverty.READ MORE.

Contaminated drinking water
Sharyn Cunningham and her family moved to the Lincoln Park area just outside Canon City, CO in 1994 to enjoy the good life near the Arkansas River and the Royal Gorge. Instead, they were unwittingly poisoning themselves, and ended up in the fight of their life against a uranium company.

She and her family had been drinking water poisoned with toxic metals, including uranium, for eight years.

While it's incredibly difficult to prove that toxic pollution is the root cause of health impacts, one thing is certain: Sharyn and her family never would have drunk the water if they had known there was uranium pollution in it!

We need to stand up to the polluters to hold them accountable: The Cotter Corporation's uranium mill has polluted more than 1.3 billion gallons of water in the area near Sharyn's neighborhood. That's enough to cover more than 4,000 football fields with a foot of water or to provide water to more than 8,000 households in one year.

Despite the known contamination, Cotter doesn't have to tell residents about the threat, and in 2008, another seven families were found using contaminated well water. Cotter's groundwater pollution has persisted for decades and even increased in some areas.

Colorado is poised to advance a new law to address this: The Colorado House of Representatives is set to vote soon on House Bill 1348, the Uranium Processing Accountability Act.
We can help to make sure uranium companies clean up their mess and inform residents about contaminated groundwater. Please ask your state representative to take action today!
Click here to help

Inland Port under scrutiny again
Florida Crystals Corp. has begun talks with state officials about relocating or tailoring its plan for an "inland port" industrial development in the Glades, which environmentalists and state regulators fear could disrupt Everglades restoration efforts.

The powerful sugar company, owned by the Fanjuls of Palm Beach, was chosen by the Port of Palm Beach to plan an industrial, warehousing and distribution center south of Lake Okeechobee, as an off-site expansion of South Florida's three seaports.
Proponents say an inland shipping center would help Florida capture some of the projected growth in mega-freighter traffic coming from Asia to the eastern U.S. via a soon-to-be-enlarged Panama Canal.

State environmental and growth management officials have rejected the Crystals plans, however, raising concern that an increase in truck traffic, gas stations and other spin-off developments could pollute nearby land slated for Everglades restoration.
Read the Article

Strained Floridan aquifer requires a look at other sources.
State water managers and utilities, some offering determined resistance, are drafting long-term plans for taking drinking water from Northeast Florida’s rivers.

Specifically, they are targeting Black Creek in Clay County, the St. Mary’s River on the Georgia border and the Ocklawaha River in Putnam County. Together, they could yield 164 million gallons a day for utilities that rely on the increasingly strained Floridan aquifer.

The plans may never be used, and just discussing them is stirring strong reactions from both sides, environmentalists and utilities.
But the St. Johns River Water Management District is saying there are no more easy alternatives. Within two decades, the state agency says, communities from Jacksonville to Gainesville are forecast to want 91 million gallons of water per day more than the aquifer can reasonably provide.

JEA alone is expected to want 180 million gallons daily by 2030 — about 46 million gallons too much to get from groundwater. Trying to take that from the aquifer would cause environmental harm, the management district says, drying up some land too much for native plants to live and lowering lake and spring levels.

Judge to hold hearing on Everglades cleanup
Eighteen months ago, the federal judge overseeing Everglades cleanup progress endorsed the state's effort to buy vast tracts of sugar farms, calling the opportunity to ``buy out the polluters'' the most logical solution to resolving long-standing problems.

Chief U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno has scheduled a status hearing Tuesday that could impact the controversial land deal's already uncertain future. Pending before the judge are two motions from the Miccosukee Tribe, which has filed multiple lawsuits and motions in an effort to block the $536 million land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. One would order South Florida Water Management District administrators to restart construction of a stalled $700 million reservoir, and another would block the cancellation of a project intended to improve the performance of the district's pollution-cleaning marshes.

In addition, the water district and federal agencies are negotiating a settlement over water quality violations in a Palm Beach County national wildlife refuge.

In August 2008, the judge denied a request by the tribe to order work resumed on a massive, partially completed basin once considered a key to Everglades restoration plans. Water managers and conservation groups had told the judge that continuing that project could threaten something more promising for the Glades.

But Moreno also warned that if the land acquisition didn't happen in a ``reasonable amount of time,'' he would revisit the tribe's request.

The land deal has been downsized twice since. Last week, water managers extended a contract deadline by six months, to September.

New permanent water restrictions implemented
New water restrictions for our area started March 22 and are permanent instead of temporary.
In Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie Counties, you will be able to water your lawn three days a week. In Okeechobee and Broward Counties, you can only irrigate two days a week. Exceptions are made for new landscaping.

Rock miners, Palm Beach County discuss reservoir deal
Two Palm Beach County commissioners were jailed for corruption for their involvement in mining company Palm Beach Aggregates' 2003 sale of rock pits as reservoirs to the state.
Miner Enrique Tomeu would later describe the whole episode as an ordeal.
"I want to stick to my core business until it is over," he said in 2007.
Now Aggregates wants back in the reservoir business.

Despite a steep drop in demand for the sand and rock they mine, Aggregates officials have asked Palm Beach County for permission to mine another 2,300 acres of their sprawling, dusty property along Southern Boulevard, 15 miles west of West Palm Beach . A group of Palm Beach County and Broward County water utilities has expressed interest in buying a pit there for a reservoir, even though the South Florida Water Management District, which bought the first pits, swore off any future such deals with Aggregates because of the scandal.

Intent to go it alone, without the district, if necessary, the utilities commissioned a study that concluded another stadium-size rock pit could be exactly what is needed to meet some of South Florida's future water needs, said Tom Miller, legislative affairs manager for Palm Beach County's water utility.

"We're now at a point where we're trying to bring forward a project," Miller said.

A dual purpose
Palm Beach County's zoning commission will consider the mining petition on April 1. The county commission will consider it on April 22. Even with the county's approval, the new mine would require state and federal permits to go forward.

Aggregates officials, who have partnered with powerful sugar producer Florida Crystals Corp. in a joint venture, are ready to start blasting and digging at full speed to deliver a reservoir quickly, consultant Ernie Cox said.

"We could do it in five or six years," he said. Aggregates and utility officials say this proposed C-51 reservoir, as it is labeled in conceptual plans, would serve a dual purpose.

It would catch some of the billions of gallons of regional runoff that the C-51, or West Palm Beach Canal, now flushes into the Lake Worth Lagoon every time it rains. At the same time, the water could be diverted into the new rock pit and piped to utilities.

Utility officials estimate it would meet all of Palm Beach County 's present and future water needs. "It's a huge amount of water," Miller said.

Scientists have raised numerous questions about mining in and around the Everglades and are not convinced.

The South Florida Water Management District purchased the existing pits — collectively called the L-8 reservoir — to store water that could be later fed into the Loxahatchee River and Estuary as a component of a $12 billion state-federal Everglades restoration plan approved in 2000. Digging the pits, however, released ancient seawater sealed in the underground rock formation, resulting in a reservoir full of water today that is too high in chlorides, or salts, to be released into the environment undiluted.

Proponents of using the rock pits as reservoirs say the pits need only be "exercised," or flushed out several times, for the saltiness to wash away.

"You've got this higher chloride water that's trapped out there," said Ken Todd, Palm Beach County’s water resources manager. "Over a period of time, as it gets flushed out, it goes away."
But Tom Van Lent, senior scientist with the Everglades Foundation, disagrees.
Whether flushing the pits will permanently scrub them of high chlorides "remains an open question," he said.

The danger, scientists say, is that mining can mix groundwater with surface water, releasing chlorides, sulfates and other potentially harmful substances.

Sierra Club’s Jonathan Ullman: U.S. Sugar purchase still best solution for water resources
The U.S. Sugar Corporation land acquisition leaves many readers questioning the validity of such a purchase during these challenging economic times. We expect water managers to fight for the best interests of taxpayers. But make no mistake; we will all lose if this deal collapses.

Acquiring land within the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA), the vast land on sugar farms south of Lake Okeechobee is vital to restoring the Everglades. Scientists say extensive tracts of land will be needed for the storage and cleaning of water flowing into the Everglades. Without this land, the Caloosahatchee River will continue to suffer degradation due to discharges from Lake Okeechobee. The health of the Everglades will erode.

If Florida fails to acquire this land when it is offered by a willing seller, it may never be available again. If we don’t seize the moment, U.S. Sugar could sell key land parcels to other buyers like rock miners or developers. The opportunity for strategic tracts of land would be lost permanently.

To ensure that Florida has sufficient water supply for generations to come and to protect the Everglades, it is necessary to acquire land while it is available. This purchase is the first step in accomplishing long term objectives. By securing tracts of land in a phased approach, the expenditures are affordable while providing the option to acquire future land purchases as our economy recovers and Florida’s finances improve.

Some See Clean Water Act Settlement Opening New Path to GHG Curbs US EPA has settled a lawsuit by agreeing to use the Clean Water Act to address ocean acidification, a move that some see as opening a side door to federal curbs on greenhouse gases that scientists link to problems in the marine environment.

The settlement, with the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, directly addresses EPA's failure to require Washington state to list its marine waters as impaired by rising acidity. The deal requires EPA to begin a rulemaking aimed at helping states identify and address acidic coastal waters.

The effort could lead to the first Clean Water Act effort to protect acidifying marine waters -- a move the center sees leading to restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions, just as the water law led to regulation of air emissions of mercury and pollution that causes acid rain.

Oceans absorb about a third of the carbon dioxide produced by human activities and are becoming more acidic as they absorb more carbon, said Miyoko Sakashita, a senior attorney at the center's San Francisco office.

Ocean acidification, Sakashita said, is "global warming's evil twin." Scientists estimate that ocean water is 30 percent more acidic than it was before factories, cars, planes and other users of fossil fuels became widespread.

Rising acidity threatens marine life, scientists say. Several studies have suggested that shifting ocean chemistry is particularly dangerous for shellfish, corals and other animals that grow calcium carbonate shells. If water becomes too acidic, it can dissolve those shells, sometimes faster than creatures can rebuild them.

States have taken steps to address rising acidity in lakes and streams, but the settlement represents the first time EPA has agreed to take on ocean acidity. The center's legal complaint started in Washington State, but the group has petitioned every coastal state to address the issue, Sakashita said.

Read the whole article

Water War brewing in California
California continues to face serious water supply issues, in which agricultural uses must compete with environmental uses and the demands of a growing population. On one side, farmers are in arms over water shortages and state-mandated conservation. On the other, environmentalists and fishermen, who point to devastating losses of salmon stocks, and wetland and river habitat due to dams and diversions.

$200 million Palm Beach reservoir is brackish
About 15 miles west of the shoreline, a cluster of man-made holes 60 feet deep, covering a thousand-acre expanse, ripples with dirty water.Intended to be the solution to the region's water supply needs, they are looking more and more like the problem. It will likely be at least a decade before the government gets around to tapping the rock pits that mining company Palm Beach Aggregates sold as reservoirs to the state in 2003 for a quarter-billion dollars, a federal official says.

Meanwhile a top state water manager told the Palm Beach County Commission this week that there is environmental "risk and uncertainty" associated with feeding water from the pits — originally advertised as a supplement source of drinking water — into Grassy Waters Preserve, the 20-square-mile wetland used to recharge West Palm Beach's drinking water supply.

None of these bureaucratic delays or environmental questions were raised seven years ago, when the water management district was eyeballing the pits. At the time, everyone from county commissioners — two of whom have since been jailed for their dealings with Aggregates — to water managers trumpeted the reservoirs as potentially invaluable sources of water for both drinking and Everglades restoration.

Today the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is considering a way to "reroute" the water that exits the pits and into the Loxahatchee River, so that the water supply wetlands are "adequately protected" from the reservoir water, agency spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller said in a statement.

[Salt water pockets that were formed in limestone during the period when Florida was underwater, have been opened by blasting and exposure in the rock mining process, thus tainting the groundwater that has filled the remaining pits. This is only one among several reasons that the water in rock pits is unfit for humans and wildlife.]

Dumping of Mining Waste into America's Waters
Current loopholes in the Clean Water Act are letting mining companies get away with polluting water in the open pit gold mines of Alaska, opening the door for companies to dump mining waste in bodies of water across America.Lower Slate Lake in Alaska has already been polluted by arsenic, manganese, and cadmium, as well as acid mine tailings leaching into the lake. This endangers the fish species that live just downstream, including Coho, pink and chum salmon, char, and cutthroat trout.

Water Legislation
Virtually every important aspect of water in Florida, from tap to toilet and from storm runoff to bubbling spring, has a place in sweeping legislation unveiled Wednesday by state Sen. Lee Constantine.

The Altamonte Springs Republican, engaged in many pivotal environmental issues during a decade in office that is drawing to a close because of term limits, takes aim at controversial federal water regulations looming over the state, at pollution spoiling Florida's springs and rivers, and at the procedures agencies use to decide who gets water and how much.

"You can say it's a paradigm shift that will put us further along than any other state in water protection," Constantine said. "We know there are things in the bill that people are going to be concerned with, and we're trying to say: ‘Work with us.' "The legislation — to be labeled Senate Bill 550 once it's formally introduced — was presented in Tallahassee during a workshop of the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee.

It drew minimal initial comment during step one of what Constantine acknowledged would be a long route toward passage by the Legislature."When you said, ‘Bold,' I think you said it exactly right," said Jay Liles of the Florida Wildlife Federation, who added, "We stand ready to help."Much of the bill's language is based on remarks made at six public hearings staged by Constantine across the state from December to February and on bills filed during the current legislative session by other senators.

Not yet part of the nearly 200-page bill is a major provision, still being written, that would open the way for local governments to create authorities responsible for the inspection and maintenance of septic tanks.State officials estimate that, of the more than 2.3 million septic tanks in Florida, more than half are at least 30 years old and as many as 345,000 are failing and potentially discharging poorly treated sewage into state waters.The local authorities, to be funded by monthly fees collected from homeowners, would inspect, maintain and, when necessary, replace septic tanks without additional charge to the property owners.

Constantine said such an approach is needed to reduce the sewage-related pollution of Florida's springs, rivers and lakes. His staff calculated that the monthly fee in Central Florida's Wekiva River area — where septic tanks are thought to already be harming the river and its springs — might amount to $10 a resident."We think that would be a reasonable price, but we are not going to tell local governments what to do," he said. "We're trying to keep it as flexible as possible."

EPA delays pollution standards/seeks review
Bowing to criticism of federal water pollution standards from state environmental officials, and business and farming industries, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will delay implementing some of the most contentious aspects of the proposal and seek a third party review of the science behind it.

In a letter to Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mike Sole, the EPA said that the agency had decided to delay until 2011 the portions of the numeric limits on the amount of pollution in state bodies of water containing the chemicals phosphorous and nitrogen, related to streams. The agency also pledged to bring in a third party arbiter to navigate the differences between their scientific analysis and Florida’s.

EPA Assistant Administrator Peter Silva attributed the decision to public hearings the agency has held across the state, which has been dominated by complaints from farmers and business owners about the cost of complying with the increased requirements.

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appreciates the continued feedback and perspectives expressed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), and the comments and concerns expressed to us by Florida citizens at the recent public hearings with regard to the January proposed Water Quality Standards Rule for nutrients in Florida's lakes and flowing waters,” Silva wrote to Sole Wednesday. http://www.eco-voice.org/node/3050

We Need Your Help – Please help us take a stand for clean water in Florida
We urgently need people to come on April 13th (Fort Myers) and 14th (Tampa) to speak in favor of the numeric nutrient standards being proposed by the EPA to control pollution control. April 13, 2010: Fort Myers, Harborside Event Center1375 Monroe Street, Fort Myers, FL 3390112:00 noon to 4:00 pm (Conservancy Shuttle provided)6:00 pm to 9:00 pm April 14, 2010: Tampa, Hilton Tampa Airport2225 North Lois Avenue, Tampa, FL 3360712:00 noon to 4:00 pm (Conservancy Shuttle provided) 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm If you are unable to appear in person, please take action through http://capwiz.com/conservancy/issues/alert/?alertid=14798961 and/or submit your comments to EPA “Docket Id. No. EPA-HQ-OW-2009-0596” on
http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#submitComment?R=0900006480aa7c72.

Comments Needed: Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands
Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands Project Implementation Report and Environmental Impact Statement
The Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands Draft Integrated Project Implementation Report and Environmental Impact Statement is available for download and public review and comment.
The 45 day public comment period ends May 2, 2010.Submit Comments by E-mail:BBCWDPIRComments@evergladesplan.org

Contaminated drinking water
Sharyn Cunningham and her family moved to the Lincoln Park area just outside Canon City, CO in 1994 to enjoy the good life near the Arkansas River and the Royal Gorge. Instead, they were unwittingly poisoning themselves, and ended up in the fight of their life against a uranium company.

She and her family had been drinking water poisoned with toxic metals, including uranium, for eight years.

While it's incredibly difficult to prove that toxic pollution is the root cause of health impacts, one thing is certain: Sharyn and her family never would have drunk the water if they had known there was uranium pollution in it!

We need to stand up to the polluters to hold them accountable: The Cotter Corporation's uranium mill has polluted more than 1.3 billion gallons of water in the area near Sharyn's neighborhood. That's enough to cover more than 4,000 football fields with a foot of water or to provide water to more than 8,000 households in one year.

Despite the known contamination, Cotter doesn't have to tell residents about the threat, and in 2008, another seven families were found using contaminated well water. Cotter's groundwater pollution has persisted for decades and even increased in some areas.

Colorado is poised to advance a new law to address this: The Colorado House of Representatives is set to vote soon on House Bill 1348, the Uranium Processing Accountability Act.
We can help to make sure uranium companies clean up their mess and inform residents about contaminated groundwater. Please ask your state representative to take action today!
Click here to help

Tap water or bottled?
Why do Americans buy half a billion bottles of water a week, when most everyone can get it for free from the tap in their kitchen? That's exactly what "The Story of Bottled Water" attempts to explain. Created by Annie Leonard, the film explores the bottled water industry's attacks on tap water and its use of seductive, environmental-themed advertising to cover up the mountains of plastic waste it produces. Once you've watched this, head over to our Rise Above Plastics page and take the pledge to never use a single use plastic water bottle again.

CHECK IT OUT!

Wildlife and Habitat

Homosassa Springs Receives Four Manatees for Continued Rehabilitation
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, in coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) Manatee Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release Program (Rehab Program) partners, recently received four manatees from Miami Seaquarium and Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo for continued rehabilitation. As a partner in the Rehab Program, Homosassa Springs is part of a network of facilities committed to the preservation of this special endangered species.

"Homosassa Springs is proud to be working with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the rescue, rehabilitation and release of these manatees," said DEP Deputy Secretary for Land and Recreation Bob Ballard. "By having these manatees at the park, visitors are able to learn more about these gentle creatures."

Aerial wolf killing in Alaska
First spotters from airplanes circle known wolf territory to sight their prey. Then the helicopter swoops in, with marksmen firing high-powered rifles to gun down the defenseless animals from above.At least 200 wolves near the Yukon-Charlie Rivers National Preserve -- two thirds of the wolves in the area -- are now in the crosshairs of Alaska’s aerial gunners.And we’ve just received the sad news that the first eight of these magnificent animals have already been slain.

Working with our sister organization, Defenders of Wildlife, we have mounted a court case that could end needless killings like those taking place near the Yukon-Charlie Rivers National Preserve -- challenging the very constitutionality of Alaska’s wolf-killing programs in the state’s Supreme Court.

The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund is also leading the fight to pass federal legislation to stop Alaska’s cruel, unscientific and unnecessary aerial wolf-killing. We already have 130 cosponsors in the House and 7 cosponsors in the Senate.

And we’re helping Defenders of Wildlife mobilize public opposition to prevent a permitted wolf killer from being appointed to the state’s powerful Board of Game: a Fairbanks trapper, who owns a fur tannery and the company that manufactures the Alaska Wolf Trap and has also held a permit to shoot wolves from aircraft under the state’s aerial wolf-killing program.

Tongass troubles continue
The future of America's Rainforest lies between two stark choices: the transfer of some of the most biologically productive lands to a for-profit native corporation, or the forest held in trust for future generations of Americans.

In Congress this week, representatives of the Obama Administration expressed concerns over legislation that would transfer Forest Service lands out of public ownership. Jay Jensen, speaking for the Department of Agriculture, envisioned a sustainable future for the Tongass involving "restoration, recreation, bioenergy, subsistence, and timber production," a plan that The Wilderness Society and other local stakeholders are advocating for. The Wilderness Society is working at all levels to ensure this plan is implemented.

Thanks to the WildAlert community, more than 150,000 letters were sent to Congress opposing this legislation. At the hearing this week, no action took place, but the House and Senate bills (HR. 2099 and S. 881) could move at any time.

We are also working within communities in southeast Alaska and with the Obama Administration to ensure that the future of America's Rainforest includes a sustainable ecosystem and economic benefits for future generations.

Proposed ban on tuna fishing
A proposal to ban the trade of Atlantic bluefin tuna has been overturned at a UN meeting, in a decision that has outraged conservationists.Environmentalists suffered a devastating loss last week as delegates at a United Nations conference on endangered species defeated an American-backed proposal to ban international trade in bluefin tuna. With stocks of Atlantic bluefin tuna down 75%, the defeat of the proposal was a stunning setback for the Americans, Europeans and their conservationist allies who had hoped the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, would protect the fish. Japan, which imports 80% of the tuna, had lobbied delegates hard to kill the proposal. It even held a reception on Wednesday night for undecided delegates that included plenty of bluefin sushi.

Biologists ask public to report spawning horseshoe crabs.
This spring, biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Fish and Wildlife Research Institute need help from the public to identify horseshoe crab spawning beaches throughout the state.

The best time to find spawning horseshoe crabs is around high tide, just before, during or after a full moon. The full moon conditions around March 30 and April 28 will create good conditions for viewing the spawning behavior of horseshoe crabs.

The FWC asks beachgoers to report the number of horseshoe crabs they see and whether the horseshoe crabs are mating. Mating crabs “pair up,” with the smaller male on top of the larger female. Other male crabs may be present around the couple. Biologists also want to know the date, time, location, habitat type and environmental conditions, such as tides and moon phase. If possible, specify roughly how many are coupled and how many are juveniles (4 inches wide or smaller).

People can report sightings through one of several convenient options. Go to http://research.MyFWC.com/horseshoe_crab and fill out an online survey; e-mail findings to horseshoe@MyFWC.com; or call the FWC at 866-252-9326.
Read more

Global Warming and Climate Change

NASA: “It is nearly certain that a new record 12-month global temperature will be set in 2010
"We conclude that global temperature continued to rise rapidly in the past decade" and "that there has been no reduction in the global warming trend of 0.15-0.20°C/decade that began in the late 1970s."
http://www.eco-voice.org/node/3067

New Moore Island Is No More; experts blame Global Warming
For over 30 years, both India and Bangladesh have argued over the control of a small uninhabited island in the Bay of Bengal called New Moore Island. The issue recently resolved itself when the island was claimed by the ocean. This marks a rare instance where suspected climate change may have contributed to the easing of a conflict.

Rising sea levels in the area have already claimed a neighboring island named Lochachara and it is believed at least ten other islands are at risk.
READ MORE

Offshore, Oil & Ocean

Offshore drilling debate heats up
The opposition already counts at least 55 cities, counties and Chambers of Commerce on its side, according to the organization, Progress Florida. You can see who is opposed to the measure based on this map, designed by the group.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/florida_beaches/2010/03/offshore-drilling-debate-heats-up.html

Contact your representatives to tell them we don’t want offshore drilling
Click here

Coral Reefs Face Extinction within the Century
According to a recently released report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) coral reefs are slowly becoming extinct and could disappear entirely within the next century. The organization estimates that roughly 19% of existing coral reefs have already disappeared and an additional 15% could be gone within the next two decades. Should the species continue to decline, the results could be catastrophic.

Coral reefs provide food and shelter to a significant portion of the oceanic fish population, which in turn provide a food or income source for an estimated one-billion people around the world.
READ MORE.

EPA Agrees to Crack Down on Ocean Acidification
Settling a Center for Biological Diversity lawsuit, last week the Environmental Protection Agency agreed to consider how states can curb ocean acidification -- "global warming's evil twin" -- under the Clean Water Act. Ocean acidification happens when the ocean absorbs too much CO2 from the atmosphere, which increases the acidity of the ocean and inhibits the ability of marine animals to build protective shells and skeletons -- with effects rippling up and down the ocean food chain. Nearly every marine animal studied to date has been harmed in some way by ocean acidification.

According to the settlement, the EPA will start a public process to develop guidance on how states can identify waters in their jurisdictions threatened or impaired by too much CO2 absorption -- the first step toward curbing that CO2 absorption and saving our oceans and the life they contain.

Read more in the New York Times.

Trash litters Britain’s beaches
About 3,000 items of litter are strewn across every mile of U.K. beach at any given time, according to a study released by the Marine Conservation Society. MCS Beachwatch Big Weekend 2009 results were collected by 4,655 volunteers who went to their favorite beach in late 2009 and not only removed the litter, but also recorded what they found. The haul included 7,393 plastic bags, 16,243 plastic bottles, 17,712 fishing nets and 70,546 small plastic pieces.
Read More

4,400 Acres Saved From Oil and Gas Hydrofracking
In a victory for clean air, safe climate, wilderness, and wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity and allies have stopped a 4,400-acre oil and gas drilling plan on West Virginia's Monongahela National Forest. The plan would have trashed a proposed wilderness area, threatened brook trout, and put additional pressure on a nearby population of endangered bats suffering from white-nose syndrome.

The plan might well have allowed the use of hydrofracking -- also known as hydraulic fracturing -- which cracks deep underground rocks with high-pressure water pumps, threatening to pollute streams and aquifers.

Read more in the Charleston Gazette.

10 Senate Democrats oppose climate bill if it expands coastal drilling
Ten Senate Democrats from coastal states warned in a letter released Thursday that they won't support a climate and energy bill if it permits a big expansion of drilling for offshore oil and natural gas.

The 10 generally are viewed as inclined to vote for a bill to cut the heat-trapping emissions from the use of coal, gas and oil.

Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, are trying to draft bipartisan legislation that is capable of getting the 60 votes needed in the Senate to overcome a filibuster, but they haven't unveiled it.

The letter, sent Tuesday to Kerry, Graham and Lieberman, is the latest example of how some of the compromises expected in the legislation trouble supporters of environmental protection. Expanded oil and gas drilling is part of the Republican energy platform and essentially has been endorsed by President Barack Obama.

The 10 senators warned that expanded offshore drilling could put their states at risk from oil spills, threatening fisheries, tourism and a "national treasure that needs to be protected for generations to come."
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/25/1547655/10-senate-democrats-oppose-climate.html#ixzz0jIST7Bz8

Project “Our Oceans”
Today, HuffPost Green kicked off a project called "Our Oceans," where contributors will be providing in-depth coverage on challenges and threats facing our oceans. This two week feature will focus on the dangers that are threatening our oceans, as well as educate people how they can help to protect our waters. To kick off the project, HuffPost Green assembled a slideshow of nine of the biggest issues that threaten our oceans - check it out and let them know what you think is the most important issue, or if they left something off the list.

Miscellaneous

DEP Expands public access to contaminated site information
As Sunshine Week kicks-off this week the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is announcing exciting enhancements to the Contamination Locator Map (CLM) Web tool which will make DEP’s work more transparent http://epic229.dep.state.fl.us/DepClnup/welcome.do

The tool first launched in July 2009. Users who want to be notified on the cleanup progress of a specific site can receive e-mails from DEP. Initially available for petroleum contaminated sites only, the e-mail subscription service is now available for all of DEP’s cleanup sites.

“CLM is an online tool that enables the public to search for waste cleanup sites near their homes, neighborhoods, or any identified location on a Florida map,” said Mary Jean Yon, Director of DEP’s Division of Waste Management. “In the spirit of Sunshine Week, it has facilitated a more open and transparent system of environmental protection regarding contaminated sites.”

Led by the American Society of News Editors, Sunshine Week is a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Sunshine Week, designated as March 14-20 this year, seeks to enlighten and empower people to play an active role in their government at all levels.

CLM includes locational information for nearly 17,000 contaminated sites including 13,527 petroleum sites, 101 Brownfield sites, 44 Superfund sites, and 3,256 other waste cleanup sites such as dry-cleaning, hazardous waste and state-owned lands. Search results in the vicinity of the specified location are depicted on a map with site name, address, facility identification number, site type and cleanup status (active or pending).

Since CLM was released on DEP’s Web site in the summer of 2009, it has been well received by the public because of its transparency and convenience. The Web tool had 1,000 hits the first week it went live on July 22, 2009. Since then, it has been visited more than 10,200 times, and 538 users have registered for the subscription service to be notified of cleanup milestones.
In September 2009 the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) recognized DEP with an ECOS State Program Innovation Award for creating and implementing this public access Web tool. DEP was one of three states to receive awards for outstanding innovation. ECOS is a national non-profit, non-partisan association of state environmental agency leaders.

Visit the CLM site at www.dep.state.fl.us/mainpage/programs/waste.htm

At Jacksonville Superfund site, Nelson calls for tax shift to pay for cleanups
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson visited a long-vacant Superfund site on Jacksonville's Talleyrand riverfront Monday to say he will try to reinstate taxes on the oil and chemical industries to pay for environmental cleanups at the country's most contaminated places.

"Sites like this can be so important to JaxPort; they have to be cleaned up," said Nelson, D-Fla., outside the old fenced site of a Kerr-McGee fertilizer plant. "It ought to be cleaned up with money from the polluters."

The 31-acre site at Talleyrand Avenue and Seventh Street belongs to a company that went bankrupt under the weight of debts for contaminated sites nationwide. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency added the Jacksonville site to its National Priorities List this month, putting the federal government in charge of managing and paying for the cleanup. One cleanup plan drafted in 2008 was estimated then to cost $18.6 million.

Tests have found benzene, DDT, toxaphene, arsenic, lead and other pollutants at the site, where pesticides, fertilizers and other chemical products were made from the 1890s until 1978. The Florida Department of Health reported in 2003 that people could get sick quickly if they lived on the property.

When Congress created the Superfund in 1980 to pay for cleanups, it set new taxes on oil and chemical businesses to finance the fund, on the premise that those industries were responsible for many toxic waste sites.

Those taxes ended in 1995, and now EPA uses its general revenues - collected from all taxpayers - to pay for cleanups.

Drilling report's conclusions disappoint both sides.
With its chief proponent saying he is in no hurry, the push to open Florida waters to oil and gas drilling inched past another milestone Monday when a House panel was briefed on a report by a Florida think tank.

House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, said he was pleased with the report, which was prepared by the Collins Center and the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida.
"It was fascinating how much of it jibed with what we've been hearing in testimony from the experts," Cannon said.

The report made no recommendations about lifting Florida's two-decade ban on drilling in state waters from the coast to 10.3 miles in the Gulf of Mexico. But it did reach conclusions that would disappoint proponents and critics alike.

Supporters call for drilling in the name of energy independence and job creation, but the report concludes that Florida waters would probably provide less than a week's worth of oil and gas for the nation and have no discernable effect on prices at the pump or on the nation's dependence on foreign supplies.

South Florida gets a month of rain in 36 hours
Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast got a month's worth of rain in 36 hours.It flooded roads, washed out sporting events, canceled flights, and jangled nerves as forecasters scrambled to issue watches and warnings before fast-moving systems voided them.

The heaviest rainfall, according to the South Florida Water Management District and the National Weather Service, was in a swath from around Clewiston to West Palm Beach. (Caloosahatchee basin got more than 6".) Palm Beach International Airport reported 9 inches from 9 p.m. Thursday to 4 p.m. today. By midday today, PBIA already had recorded 4.1 inches for the day, smashing the old March 12 record of 2.44 inches, set in 1958.

The culprit was a front that stalled over the peninsula, according to Chuck Caracozza, meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Miami office.

Like the machines at the Hershey's Kiss factory, thunderstorms moved over neighborhoods, dumped rain, and then moved on, with the next one right behind.As if in sympathy, the weather gods are giving South Florida a pleasant weekend, with partly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-70s, Caracozza said.

Editor's note: More than 13,000 acre feet of fresh water was dumped to tide from the Franklin locks on the Caloosahatchee.

Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Air Pollution Case
The Supreme Court sided with community advocates by refusing to review a decision (09-495) by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that closed a gaping air pollution loophole. The loophole, known as the "startup, shutdown and malfunction" exemption effectively allowed major industrial polluters to exceed emissions standards whenever they claimed that their equipment "malfunctioned."

The community groups, represented by Earthjustice in this case against the Bush-era U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, had succeeded in closing the loophole with a win in federal court in December 2008. Following the D.C. Circuit's decision, EPA did not seek Supreme Court review, but American Chemistry Council and other major industry groups, which had intervened in the case, did.

"We're pleased that the court has finally put an end to this litigation," said Earthjustice attorney Jim Pew. "This air pollution exemption has caused terrible suffering in thousands of communities. No one disputes that it's illegal. Under the Obama administration, EPA has already committed to rethink this loophole, and we look forward to working with the agency to bring relief to overburdened communities as soon as possible."

http://www.earthjustice.org/news/press/2010/supreme-court-refuses-to-hear-air-pollution-case.html

FWC names Rich Wilcox its Officer of the Year
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) law enforcement officers are an elite group. They hold positions many can only dream about. In fact, only a few prospects make the cut to protect the state’s fish and wildlife resources.

To be named the top cop among this select group is an honor even fewer have known. Officer Richard “Rich” Wilcox, of the agency’s Northeast Region, joined this elite group when the FWC named him Law Enforcement Officer of the Year for 2010.

Wilcox, 40, is a five-year veteran of the FWC, with a reputation as a tenacious, skilled officer whom outlaws prefer to avoid. One landowner in Wilcox’s patrol area described him this way:
“If he is on your trail, you might as well give up, because he won’t quit until he catches you.”

EPA sets scope for mining study
Calling the Peace River watershed an "important and environmentally sensitive mining region," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency again called for a comprehensive regional impact study on phosphate strip mining within the watershed this week.

The EPA has long advocated an Area-Wide Environmental Impact Study for the Bone Valley phosphate reserve, but Mosaic Fertilizer's request for a 21-year permit to strip mine its 11,000-acre South Fort Meade Extension triggered the agency to renew that call, wrote Thomas Welborn, chief of the EPA's wetlands, coastal and oceans branch.

His March 10 letter was written to Col. Alfred A. Pantano Jr., district engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which grants permits for wetland impacts.The EPA and dozens of environmental groups, political leaders, local governments and residents have been requesting the study for more than a decade. But to date, the corps has repeatedly denied the requests.

More on Florida Forever
The Florida Chamber of Commerce has joined the Florida Forever Coalition in support of funding for the state land conservation initiative. On March 10, the Alliance of Florida Land Trusts, representing twenty-one land trusts in the state, sent legislators a letter calling for continued support of the Florida Forever program and emphasizing the economic benefits of land conservation. To learn more about the Florida Forever Coalition go to: http://www.supportfloridaforever.org/.

Other budget matters
In other budget matters, we learned this week that the Legislature is considering eliminating staff of the Office of Greenways and Trails (OGT). This is the staff that oversees much of the trail system in Florida by providing technical support and assistance to local governments for planning and development of statewide trails. A reduction in OGT staff could also threaten approximately $12 million of federally funded projects which OGT staff oversees. Unless managed expeditiously, these funds will either be returned to the federal government or used on other shovel-ready projects.

State seeks input on rare butterfly plan
The state is asking the public's opinion on its plan to save one of the Florida Keys' most critically endangered species, the Miami blue butterfly. The thumbnail-sized butterfly once fluttered from the Keys to as far north as Hillsborough and Volusia counties. After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, scientists believed the butterfly was gone forever. However, the blue, as rare as it is, can still be spotted in a small area of nickerbean vines near the bridge at Bahia Honda State Park north of Big Pine Key.

The butterfly is struggling to survive there, as it is competing with voracious iguanas for habitat. While the butterflies use the nickerbean as the host plant for their larvae, it is a favorite food of iguanas. Whole thickets in the park have been wiped out by them.

Constantine’s recycling bill would boost reuse of solid waste to 75% by 2020
State Sen. Lee Constantine's longtime goal of dramatically boosting the recycling of Florida's 32 million tons a year of trash is gaining momentum.The Altamonte Springs Republican's legislation, Senate Bill 570, calls for a statewide recycling rate of 40 percent by 2012, 50 percent by 2014, 60 percent by 2016, 70 percent by 2018 and 75 percent by 2020. The state already has difficulty meeting its current goal of recycling 30 percent of the debris and trashes that otherwise wind up in landfills.

"We are woefully behind other states," Constantine said Wednesday during a Tallahassee workshop of the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee, which approved the bill after it drew generally favorable support from industry, environmental and government representatives at the gathering.

Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club have been enthusiastic about the senator's push for more aggressive recycling, an effort he began in 2007 as part of a broader quest for energy conservation. But Dwight Adams, who wasn't at the workshop but is chairman of Sierra's Waste Minimization Campaign, said the bill "doesn't have what it takes to get there," including not enough emphasis on composting food scraps and yard waste.

Associated Industries of Florida supports a recycling bill "that moves Florida into the next era," association lobbyist Keyna Cory said in a phone interview. Her business group backs provisions that would boost the market for recycled goods, though it is concerned that a mandatory reporting requirement for businesses with 25 or more employees would be too much of a burden.Debbie Sponsler of Orange County's Solid Waste Division said she is worried about whether there will be sufficient demand for recycled items because "I want stuff leaving here and not piling up.

"The bill filed by Constantine, chairman of the environmental committee, also calls for mandatory recycling at businesses, apartments and condominiums that open after the bill becomes law; creation of a Recycling Business Assistance Center to encourage markets for recycled goods; and mandatory recycling of construction and demolition debris.

Giant Carnivorous Plants Dine On Shrew Poo
Recent research shows that the giant montane pitcher plant of Borneo -- the largest carnivorous plant in the world -- is designed to eat not small animals, but small-animal droppings. Usually, pitcher plants use their elaborate structures to entice and capture tiny creatures like insects, which are ingested by the plants for their nitrogen and phosphorus. Borneo's humongous Nepenthes raja has long been reputed to prey on local rodents -- but after finding tree-shrew excrement inside the plants, botanists discovered that the plant is actually perfectly evolved to be a tree-shrew toilet.

We think this discovery could've been made long ago -- heck, with their fluid-filled bowls and jutting "lids," the plants even look like toilets. The wonders of nature never cease to amaze.

Tip Helps DEP Solve Illegal Waste Tire Crime
Law enforcement agents with DEP recently arrested John Michael Morris, 51, for improperly disposing more than 15,000 waste tires on his property in Bay County. Morris is charged with violating the Florida Litter Law, a third degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine up to $5,000, as well as Failure to Obtain a Waste Tire Permit, a first degree misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a fine up to $10,000.

“Environmental crimes, such as illegal dumping, degrade our quality of life and will not be tolerated," said DEP Division of Law Enforcement Director Henry Barnet. “The public health hazard posed by unlawfully dumped waste tires is significant, since they serve as ideal areas in which mosquitoes can breed and threaten nearby neighborhoods and communities as potential carriers of harmful diseases. With the assistance of the DEP Northwest Regulatory District office, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, the Bay County Code Enforcement office, the Bay County Animal Control office, and the Florida Highway Patrol, DEP’s agents were able to solve this environmental crime preventing further degradation to the environment.”

The four month investigation began when DEP law enforcement received a request for assistance from the DEP Northwest Regulatory District office, in reference to an anonymous complaint they received in which the suspect was observed dumping waste tires on his property, located at 6822 Davis Road in Panama City. The investigation revealed that Morris dumped approximately 15,000 to 20,000 waste tires on his property, a portion of which are designated wetlands. Morris was transported and booked at the Bay County Jail on March 11, 2010.

Environmental crimes are violations of state or federal environmental laws that could impact public health and the environment, such as illegal dumping or improper disposal of used oil. Signs that an environmental crime has taken place could include corroded, leaking or abandoned waste containers; fish kills; illegal debris dumping in a natural area; or foul smelling or unsightly discharges or visible sheens on the ground or water body.

Illegal solid and hazardous waste disposal is a primary focus of DEP’s Division of Law Enforcement as illegal dumping can adversely affect underlying aquifers, which are the source for more than 90 percent of the state’s drinking water supply.

DEP Agents Arrest Business Owner for Violating Waste Dumping Laws
DEP law enforcement agents recently arrested Herdeypal Bhatti, 35, former owner of the Ramada Inn Bayview in Pensacola, for improperly storing/disposing solid waste from his business.

“The improper disposal of solid waste can harm the health of humans, wildlife and the environment,” said DEP Division of Law Enforcement Director Henry Barnet. “Thanks to the timely notification and assistance in investigating this crime by Escambia County Code Enforcement officers, DEP law enforcement agents were able to solve this environmental crime.”
Bhatti is charged with violating the Florida Litter Law, a third degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine up to $5,000. He was also charged with Disposal of Waste at Other Than a Permitted Solid Waste Management Facility, a first degree misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a fine up to $10,000.

Bhatti ran the Ramada Inn Bayview in Pensacola from September 2007 through September 2009 and directed his employees to dispose debris such as mattresses, box springs, furniture and other business-related items on an adjacent piece of private property located at 7501 Scenic Highway. The private property was accessed from the motel property, without the property owner’s permission. Bhatti was transported and booked at the Escambia County Jail on March 16, 2010, and was released on $10,000 bond.

Former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall dies at 90
Former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, who sowed the seeds of the modern environmental movement as secretary during the 1960s, has died at his home in Santa Fe. He was 90.
His family says that after a fall last week, Udall was confined to his bed. The family says he had been in failing health and died Saturday of natural causes.

Under Udall's leadership from 1961 through 1968, the Interior Department aggressively promoted an expansion of public lands and helped win enactment of major environmental laws, including ones to protect endangered species.Udall is the father of Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and uncle of Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo.

Senate committee votes to tax bottle water and use the money to clean up litter
In a Legislature averse to raising taxes this election year, one item might not be off limits: bottled water. The state would tax the product for the first time under legislation given initial approval Wednesday by a Senate committee.

The bill would impose a 6 percent tax on all bottled water and direct the revenue to programs that clean up discarded plastic bottles. It is expected to generate $42 million next year.

"It's a surcharge to save the environment," said Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, who said water company stocks are "through the roof."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/senate-committee-votes-to-tax-bottle-water-and-use-the-money-to-clean-up/1082562