Floridians for Clean Water Act of 1972 enforcement

Citizen Enforcement

The drafters of the Clean Water Act foresaw failures in 1972.
The CWA allows citizens to sue the EPA for not doing their own
work or making sure the states do theirs. If the state agency
is failing to stop water pollution and permit violations,
citizens can file an 118a complaint letter to the commissioner
of DEP or EPA reporting the violation. The commissioner is
obligated to look into the lack of enforcement and report.

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Trying to save a Coral Reef is an exciting move, and one that I face everyday. The problem is that we pollute too much of the Oceans Waters.

We could send 10,000 Eco-divers to remove the bad bacterium and algae from your Reef but without proper Water Quality Monitoring and Pollution Control it would be a huge waste of time. Sign the Declaration of Reef Rights and the Enforce the Federal Clean Water Act petition online. http://www.reefcheck.org/petition/petition.php http://apps.facebook.com/petitions/view?pid=139396069

In Florida a steady Black River of Death and Pollution stretch to the Gulfstream Atlantic everyday from every port.
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I met with the President/Founder of Reef Check Dr.Gregor Hodgson at the Green Living Expo in LA. and we talked Ocean Pollution.

As well at the Expo was Mary Luna the NGO coordinator for the International Year of the Reef 2008, we talked Ocean Pollution.

I met with the Executive Director of Perry Institute for Marine Science Dr. John Marr at my beach cleanup in Florida and we talked Ocean Pollution.

Then I drove over the Roosevelt Bridge that stretches over the St. Lucie River from Stuart to Jensen Beach and saw a Black River of Death and Pollution as far as eyes could see. This prompted me to (a) find out who is responsible and report the pollution (b) draft a petition to Enforce the Federal Clean Water Act (DEP) and (EPA). http://apps.facebook.com/petitions/view?pid=139396069 http://www.socialactions.com/node/36299

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/enforce-the-federal-clean-water-act

Many States have had success with inviting the EPA to Enforce their States disposition, not Florida, too much work, not enough staff....

Let the EPA know that you are concerned for the Future of our Oceans by investigating the Water Quality that exits to the Gulfstream Daily.

Sign this petition online, or download the Original.

Atlantic Water Quality Monitoring update

Hello Ocean Eco-Activists,

I wanted to give you an update regarding our Water Quality Monitoring program for Palm Beach County. (on hold for now)

As I previously mentioned, we were interested in finding out if the public would support a Non-profit/Non-funded Independent Water Quality Monitoring program with donations.

Pilot Phase 1 of the project would include: (collaboration not partnerships)
A) EarthRehab and Volunteers (possibly Jupiter High School Environment Club) to collect the Live water samples and obtain data like temperature, salinity, date, time, visibility, current tide status, and photography.
B) Samples would be delivered to Reef Rescue for fecal coliform bacterium testing.
C) Test results would be deciphered by SEFCRI, made public, and copies would be sent directly to the sponsors.

I submitted several news stories regarding my intentions and posted on-line in Forums and Message Boards including YourHub, Topix, Palm Beach Post, Orlando Sentinel, Sun-Sentinel and many others.
Unfortunately I could not find a pulse or get any response from the general public without the support of BIG media.

From December 14th up to our current date several Funds and Grants have been made available from EPA, and DEP (millions) to establish and maintain a WQM program.

We (EarthRehab) have invited the EPA and DEP to discuss the funding further and have approached the Dept. of Agriculture for appropriate legal direction.

I will continue to seek for the Media to announce our program and its mission.
‘An Independent WQM program for the Atlantic Ocean and Florida’s Future.’

Cordially,

William Djubin
Founder
EarthRehab
http://www.mygreenlicenseplate.com/

Noteworthy Water News for January 2008

2008 Noteworthy Water News facts links:

North and South Florida battle for drinking water from 2 rivers.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080114/D8U5K15G0.html- AP Press News Link.
Jacksonville and Orlando want water rights to the Ocklawaha and St. Johns River.
The Orlando district developed the proposal after determining that areas of Central Florida could reach their groundwater limits within five years, and that by 2025 it will need 200 million gallons of water a day from alternative sources.
Partly because of the fast growth of central Florida, half a billion gallons of water are being pumped out of the deep underground Floridan aquifer each day.

Los Angeles, Orange County, California will soon drink treated Sewage water.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-reclaim2jan02,0,7789563.story?coll=la-home-center - LA Times News Link
Public acceptance was also helped by the fact that since 1976 the county has been pumping about 15 million gallons of reclaimed sewer water a day into the groundwater basin to protect it from saltwater intrusion.
For decades, the aquifer has been plagued by saltwater that flows in as fresh water is pumped out of underground reservoirs along the coast. The condition can be checked and reduced by injecting treated water back into the ground to act as a shield.

Environmental Groups vs. SFWMD and regulations on Pollution and Sewage Dumping into Lake Okeechobee, Florida – ENS News service Link
http://www.nbc4.com/news/14967385/detail.html
Friends of the Everglades, Florida Wildlife Federation, and Fishermen Against Destruction of the Environment, all represented by Earthjustice - contend that millions of gallons of polluted water coming off of half a million acres of sugar cane fields and cities are pumped into Lake Okeechobee by the South Florida Water Management District.

South Florida’s tougher new water restrictions Begin January 15, 2008- Sun Sentinel
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1214214/south_floridas_tougher_new_water_restrictions_will_start_tuesday/index.html
"We have never seen water levels this low, this early in the dry season," said water district spokesman Jesus Rodriguez. "These (restrictions) are about the immediate water supply concerns."

Water Quality Monitoring for Coastal Palm Beach County- YourHub News link
http://tc.yourhub.com/Jupiter/Stories/News/About-Town/Story~415366.aspx While contemplating where to start with the Coral Reef Initiative, much research has led me to understand that Florida does not have an existing Water Quality Monitoring program for the Inlets and Beaches. No program- No Funding- No-reporting. What a shame. A recent DEP report shows that of 1 in 5 Inland Water Basins, 272 bodies of water in Florida are classified as Impaired. (X5 = >1000 bodies).

Water Quality Standards

Mentorship received a few years back:
A 2 time General manager of the Year at the #3 busiest restaurant in Orlando held a meeting with his Mgmt. team, I was a member and was present.
He asked for the current Assistant General Manager to leave the table and go into the kitchen and return with a cooking pan that meets our standards.
A short dispute arose on his return with a clean new pan; so the General Manger went to the kitchen and returned with a filthy, blackened from carbon, rusty Pan and exclaimed:

'No, this is our current standard for cookware, simply because we allow it to exist.'

We fixed the cookware issue immediately and also terminated the bottom 12 personnel on the Staff, mixed from different departments.
We raised our Standards by 40% quickly and consequentially increased our volume.

Reason for the short story:
Water quality standards should not be judged at their best, nor should they be judged vs. other bodies of water from other locations.If we (Florida) have 272 known bodies of water classified as Impaired, and that possibly over 1000 may exist, then Our Current Water Quality Standard is “Impaired.”