{"id":638,"date":"2012-07-21T20:59:25","date_gmt":"2012-07-22T00:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/?p=638"},"modified":"2021-05-19T06:45:01","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T10:45:01","slug":"sierra-club-florida-news-national-environmental-ceos-ask-epa-to-reject-floridas-nutrient-standards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/2012\/07\/21\/sierra-club-florida-news-national-environmental-ceos-ask-epa-to-reject-floridas-nutrient-standards\/","title":{"rendered":"Sierra Club Florida News: National Environmental CEO’s Ask EPA to Reject Florida’s Nutrient Standards"},"content":{"rendered":"
A<\/strong>me<\/strong>ri<\/strong>can Rivers \u25cf Clean Water Action \u25cf Earthjustice \u25cf Environment America \u25cf Friends of the Earth \u25cf Izaak Walton League of America \u25cf League of Conservation Voters \u25cf National Parks Conservation Association \u25cf National Wildlife Federation \u25cf Natural Resources Defense Council \u25cf Physicians for Social Responsibility \u25cf Sierra Club<\/strong><\/div>\n
July 19, 2012<\/div>\n
The Honorable Lisa Jackson, Administrator\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The Honorable Nancy Sutley, Chair<\/div>\n
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 White House Council on Environmental Quality<\/div>\n
Ariel Rios, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0722 Jackson Place N.W.<\/div>\n
Washington, DC 20004\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Washington, DC 20506<\/wbr><\/div>\n
Dear Administrator Jackson and Chair Sutley,<\/div>\n
As leaders of the nation\u2019s largest environmental organizations concerned with public health and clean water, we write you on behalf of our millions of members and supporters to urge you to protect Florida\u2019s waters from toxic algae outbreaks and disapprove Florida\u2019s proposed standards that fail to achieve that goal. This is both a regional and national imperative, as nitrogen and phosphorous pollution from sewage treatment plants, fertilizer and manure runoff, and other sources foul not only Florida\u2019s waters but also rivers, streams, lakes, and beaches across the country.<\/div>\n
Passage of the Clean Water Act forty years ago was one of the most important and popular environmental achievements in our history, creating a legacy of cleaner water in the United States. The growing numbers of toxic algae outbreaks in Florida and beyond demonstrates that the job of ending the pollution of the nation\u2019s waters is still far from complete. \u00a0In Florida, 70 percent of freshwater springs have nutrient concentrations at least 500 percent higher than historic background concentrations.\u00a0 \u00a0Just last month, Northern Florida\u2019s Santa Fe River experienced it\u2019s first ever massive algae bloom along the most popular canoeing section of the river. Last month, Glades, Hendy, and Lee counties all issued public health advisories warning the public to stay out of the algae infested waters of the Caloosahatchee River in the southwest part of the state.<\/div>\n
Reducing nutrient pollution is a critically important issue for the environmental community in Florida and it has been a long fought battle with polluting industries and their friends in state government to address it. EPA must act to protect Florida\u2019s waters from toxic algae outbreaks to avoid economic impacts in addition to the environmental ones. Tourism at Florida\u2019s famous beaches is vulnerable if swimming means risking respiratory distress from red tide toxins. Waterfront property owners are faced with \u201cAlgae Alert\u201d signs warning people not to swim in, drink, or eat fish from those waters, or even let their pets near the water. People who swam, fished, and went boating in these lakes, rivers, and streams as children are shocked by their current condition.<\/div>\n
At issue today is whether EPA will approve Florida\u2019s state standards. Governor Scott\u2019s administration is asking EPA to approve state rules written for the polluting industries. \u00a0While the state claims to have adopted EPA-approvable rules, it has not.<\/div>\n
We understand that a great deal of lobbying pressure is being applied to get EPA to approve Florida\u2019s standards.\u00a0 We urge that you do not. At a minimum, EPA must look carefully at whether the state\u2019s rules will meet acceptable pollution limits and protect Florida\u2019s waters.<\/div>\n
As the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act approaches, EPA is asking the public \u201cWater, Is It Worth It?\u201d\u00a0 We believe the answer in Florida and across the country is a resounding \u201cYes.\u201d \u00a0EPA can demonstrate its commitment to clean water by ending toxic algae pollution in Florida.\u00a0 \u00a0We urge you to protect America\u2019s legacy of clean water so that future generations may benefit fromthese important resources.\u00a0 .<\/p>\n
Thank you for your continued commitment to protecting our nation\u2019s waters.<\/div>\n
\n
Respectfully,<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Trip Van Noppen<\/div>\n
President<\/div>\n
Earthjustice<\/div>\n
Wm. Robert Irvin<\/div>\n
President and CEO<\/div>\n
American Rivers<\/div>\n
Margie Alt<\/div>\n
Executive Director<\/div>\n
Environment America<\/div>\n
Michael Brune<\/div>\n
Executive Director<\/div>\n
Sierra Club<\/div>\n
Robert Wendelgass<\/div>\n
President and CEO<\/div>\n
Clean Water Action<\/div>\n
Erich Pica<\/div>\n
President<\/div>\n
Friends of the Earth<\/div>\n
Frances Beinecke<\/div>\n
President<\/div>\n
Natural Resources Defense Council<\/div>\n
Catherine Thomasson, MD<\/div>\n
Executive Director<\/div>\n
Physicians for Social Responsibility<\/div>\n
Thomas C. Kiernan<\/div>\n
President<\/div>\n
National Parks Conservation Association<\/div>\n
Larry J. Schweiger<\/div>\n
President and CEO<\/div>\n
National Wildlife Federation<\/div>\n
David W. Hoskins<\/div>\n
Executive Director<\/div>\n
Izaak Walton League of America<\/div>\n
Gene Karpinski<\/div>\n
President<\/div>\n
League of Conservation Voters<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American Rivers \u25cf Clean Water Action \u25cf Earthjustice \u25cf Environment America \u25cf Friends of the Earth \u25cf Izaak Walton League of America \u25cf League of Conservation Voters \u25cf National Parks Conservation Association \u25cf National Wildlife Federation \u25cf Natural Resources Defense Council \u25cf Physicians for Social Responsibility \u25cf Sierra Club July 19, 2012 The Honorable Lisa … Continue reading Sierra Club Florida News: National Environmental CEO’s Ask EPA to Reject Florida’s Nutrient Standards<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-posts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1055,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638\/revisions\/1055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}