Judge Slams Gov. Scott, Vows to Turn Over State Water Quality Enforcement to EPA
In a 117 page ruling today, Federal Judge Alan Gold blasted Governor Rick Scott for resisting water quality standards set by the EPA and said he intends to strip the state of its clean water enforcement duties and return them to the federal government.
"The primary purpose of this latest Order is to put into the hands of the EPA all the resources necessary to enforce its action plan and to implement its full power under the congressional Clean Water Act," wrote Gold.
"It is time now for this next significant step to occur. The EPA has represented that it wants to act. It must be given the opportunity to do so," he added.
"It is now, and has been for a while, time to take concrete and substantial progress toward preserving the Everglades before this national treasure is permanently destroyed to the extent of irreparable destruction," Gold said.
Gold's ruling is part of a 2004 lawsuit filed by Friends of the Everglades and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians.
—Jon Ullman, Sierra Club South Florida/Everglades Senior Organizer