Ugh. More bad news from Florida about the status of our water: the state of Florida wants to lighten its restrictions on about two dozen cancer-causing chemicals that could be discharged into rivers, lakes, streams and coastal waters. As if things aren’t already bad enough.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is currently updating human-health criteria for 43 dangerous chemical compounds it currently regulates and adopting standards, for the first time, for another 39. And of the 82 various toxic substances, a large majority would have even lower standards than are currently recommended by the EPA. And further, of the 43 chemicals now regulated, a couple dozen would see their limits increased beyond what is currently allowed.
WHAT IS GOING ON?
Well, DEP officials say the new standards (which they base on risk and factors like seafood consumption) would let us Floridians safely eat Florida fish and drink our tap water; they say the concentration of pollutants in the water wouldn’t pose a significant risk to an average Floridian’s health. So then, what’s average? Surely they must have some measurable- something- in mind.
Not surprisingly, environmental groups and concerned doctors believe the new standards will increase people’s chances of getting sick or developing cancer from the contamination in seafood and the water.
From the article:
“The DEP should be pushing for even more stringent criteria than what we have now rather than trying to weaken them,” said Dr. Ron Saff, a Tallahassee allergist and immunologist. “Your job is to protect Floridians, not to poison us.”
More from the article:
“Linda Young, executive director of the Florida Clean Water Network, said Florida’s tourism economy could be destroyed if the state allows more and more pollution into its waters.
I can promise you that nobody takes a vacation to Love Canal,” she said, referring to the contaminated Superfund site in New York. “If you keep weakening Florida’s water quality standards, which you’ve been on a roll for a while now doing … the word’s going to get out that Florida’s waters are toxic.”
Officials said the proposed standards were developed using “EPA approved risk levels and methodologies and Florida specific data” in order to protect human health. However, under the proposal, the number of pollutants regulated by DEP would nearly double.
The proposal could go before the Florida Environmental Regulation Commission as soon as this fall.
The more we mess with the water in Florida, the most we threaten real-estate values, the seafood industry, and tourism economy- not to mention the environment. We will keep a close eye on this story and update you as we have additional information.
Source: Tallahassee Democrat
