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Everglades pollution bill alarms U.S. judge BY LESLEY CLARK AND CURTIS MORGAN [email protected] TALLAHASSEE -A push by Gov. Jeb Bush and the powerful sugar industry to loosen pollution standards in the Everglades could be challenged by a Miami federal judge, who said Wednesday the measure may threaten ongoing restoration efforts. In a strongly worded order, U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler demanded that the state appear in court to discuss the matter May 2, the same day the Legislature is scheduled to end its annual session. Citing Herald reports of the deal, Hoeveler said he views the proposal with ''considerable apprehension'' and twice noted in a four-paragraph order that he has no intention of abandoning a 1992 Everglades cleanup settlement agreement he orchestrated. ''I think we should immediately have a hearing on this subject and you should make every effort to attend before this legislation becomes effective,'' Hoeveler wrote. The politically connected sugar industry has angered environmentalists and members of Congress from both parties in recent weeks with its aggressive efforts to convince the Republican-led Legislature to soften water-quality standards in the Everglades. The legislation has moved swiftly through House and Senate committees with little objection from either party, guided by a battalion of sugar industry lobbyists. The measures would push back enforcement deadlines for cleaning up the Everglades by at least seven years -- and the House version would boost the acceptable amount of one key pollutant by 50 percent or more. WELCOME NEWS Environmentalists and members of Congress have decried the effort, saying it endangers an $8 billion federal-state Everglades restoration effort. On Wednesday, those same critics viewed Hoeveler's order as an injection of reason into the debate. ''I would hope the Legislature would put the brakes on this, realizing the federal courts are now concerned,'' said U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw, a Fort Lauderdale Republican who has urged his state counterparts to abandon the measure. The extent of the judge's legal authority to affect the legislation is unclear. The judge noted that the 1992 agreement extends only to federal land in the Everglades National Park and the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Palm Beach County. The state insists it will meet the pollution cleanup deadlines in those places. A spokeswoman for Bush said the governor remains committed to Everglades restoration. ''If this is going to become a legal issue, we're going to leave it up to the court,'' said Bush spokeswoman Alia Faraj. The state expected Hoeveler's interest and is prepared to defend the legislation, said a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. ''We are in compliance with the consent decree and expect to remain in compliance,'' DEP spokeswoman Deena Wells said. Her words were echoed by Robert Coker, the senior vice president for U.S. Sugar Corp. ''We are confident that at this hearing, facts will be presented showing that Everglades restoration is not only on schedule but substantially ahead of schedule,'' Coker said in a prepared statement. Charles Lee, vice president of Audubon of Florida, said the judge's surprise decision to schedule the hearing before the close of the legislative session sends a clear message to the sugar industry, lawmakers and the governor. The status hearing had originally been scheduled for June 10. 'I think the words for the day are, `Here comes the judge,' '' Lee said. ``He clearly has the authority to step in and we're glad to see him step in where the state's leaders have failed to.'' As the federal judge who heard the landmark 1988 lawsuit by the federal government that forced the state to clean up polluted storm water flowing into the Everglades, Hoeveler has retained considerable clout over state water-quality standards. As recently as September, he held hearings on the cleanup at the request of the Miccosukee Tribe, which argued the state was lagging well behind a December 2006 deadline to clean up the Everglades and would not meet a super-low standard for phosphorus, a nutrient used in fertilizer. Most scientists believe phosphorus levels above 10 parts per billion would create a biological ripple that could change the Everglades: First, tiny organisms like algae die, then exotic plants oust natives like sawgrass and, finally, the altered habitat changes the wildlife. `ON TRACK' But Hoeveler declined to step in at that time, after receiving an upbeat assessment from the state agencies managing the cleanup, the South Florida Water Management District and the state DEP. ''We are on track with complying with the settlement agreement performance measures,'' district attorney Ruth Clements told the judge then. Those agencies now predict it will take at least another 13 years to meet that standard throughout the entire Everglades, which is prompting the disputed legislation. The water district's governing board also had endorsed a push by the sugar industry to adopt a standard allowing up to 50 percent higher levels of phosphorus, or 15 parts per billion. Miccosukee attorney Dexter Lehtinen, who as U.S. attorney in Miami brought the original lawsuit against the state, said he was pleased with the judge's scrutiny. ''It's obvious he's going to pay careful attention to it,'' Lehtinen said. John Fumero, the water district's chief legal counsel, said the district looked forward to appearing before the judge and would prove it was in ''substantial compliance'' with the settlement. While he admitted it would take the state years to clean some other areas, Fumero said cleanup was on schedule in the areas that Hoeveler oversees -- the national parks. ''They have some of the cleanest water in the whole Everglades,'' he said.

Another reason why I hate the BUSHES .. as I once saw on a bumper cra "STAY AWAY FROM THE BUSHES"

IM so pissed!!!!! I don't know why he got re-elected!! .. and yes! Just to help his friends on the sugar industry, he has to go and mess around with the everglades!! IM MAAAAD!