Federal Judge Rules for EPA Guidelines for Everglades Restoration

According to U.S. District Judge Alan Gold, the Sate of Florida has not done enough to protect the threatened Everglades.  According to Judge Gold’s ruling on Tuesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must step in to enforce anti-pollution rules. 

His decision gives the EPA greater authority over water permits affecting discharges from sugar growers, farms and businesses, which are reported to be largely responsible for phosphorous-laden fertilizer runoff that is degrading the water quality of neighboring streams, rivers and the vast Everglades. The EPA last year proposed new cleanup measures that have been opposed by the state of Florida.

Various Everglades restoration projects have been the subject of court battles for 25 years.  Judge Gold said that protecting the area is too important to be derailed by complaints that cleanup is too costly or politically unfeasible. 

He also mentioned that “There is no possibility of reversing the damage that has been done to the Everglades, and there is only the chance to preserve what remains in its current state.”

This decision was highly critical of the state’s handling of the Everglades’ problems. Making note of Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s recent request that EPA drop numeric limits for nutrients such as phosphorous in Florida waterways.