Environment

DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard Cleared of EPA Violations Thanks to Statute of Limitations

By Kyle Swenson Thu., May 16 2013 at 8:56 AM
Categories: Environment

Hvinyard.jpeg
Environmental activists across Florida have been waiting more than two years for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to land a serious body blow against the state's enforcement branch. The question was whether Herschel Vinyard's place at the top of Florida's Department of Environmental Protection was a violation the Clean Water Act due to his past employment. Now, the federal agency has finally answered the complaint, and the response isn't exactly what Florida's green crowd was hoping for.

See also:
- DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard Says He Didn't Lie on Résumé; PEER Not Buying It
- EPA Wants to Know if Herschel Vinyard, Secretary of Florida's Department of Environmental Protection, Lied on His Resume

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Environment

Florida Sues BP and Halliburton Over 2010 Oil Spill

By Chris Joseph Mon., Apr. 22 2013 at 1:20 PM
Categories: Environment, Florida!
BP Oil spill suit.jpg

Florida got the Earth Day festivities kicked off early with some good old-fashioned litigation.

Over the weekend, Florida joined Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana in suing BP and Halliburton over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The suit, filed by State Attorney General Pam Bondi in U.S. District Court in Panama City, gets after BP for not changing the batteries on the oil rig's blowout preventer and points the proverbial finger at Halliburton for installing faulty cement barriers.

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Environment

DEP Proposes Allowing More Toxins in Water; Eating More Than Three Shrimp Per Week Dangerous, Critics Say

By Deirdra Funcheon Thu., Mar. 7 2013 at 7:28 AM
Categories: Environment
finny3.jpg
Tolomea via Flickr
"Pink slip Rick!"

The environment hasn't been a high priority for legislators at any level since Al Gore was wearing earth tones, but what's happening in Florida under Rick Scott is downright scary. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is in serious fox-guarding-henhouse mode. 

Its current secretary is Herschel Vinyard, whose background is in the shipbuilding industry. Watchdogs noted that in 2011, the DEP experienced a 28 percent drop in enforcement cases against polluters and that a high-level official had directed staff to work with businesses rather than punish them. In December, the DEP purged a bunch of its regulators, laying off 58 veteran employees. 

On February 5, the DEP held a public meeting to discuss new proposed standards for "human health-based water quality criteria." The agency is supposed to establish acceptable levels for carcinogens in water, so that humans do not get cancer via fish consumption or drinking water. But the agency's proposed changes would allow for more carcinogens than are currently allowed. 

If anyone objected? Oh, there would be a chance for public comment -- for a whopping eight hours!
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Environment

Mayan Beach Club Condo Complex Destroys Sand Dune in Fort Lauderdale Beach

By Chris Joseph Tue., Dec. 11 2012 at 1:29 PM
Categories: Environment
florida sea turtle.jpg
Environmentalists say the sand dune was a habitat for sea turtles like the one above

The Mayan Beach Club has obliterated a 176-foot-long sand dune on Fort Lauderdale's beach that helped prevent beach erosion and provided a nesting place for endangered green sea turtles, because the it blocked the view of the ocean.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection apparently made the beach club prove that the removal of the dune wouldn't cause beach erosion and wouldn't be detrimental to the area's protected vegetation, nesting turtles, or their baby turtles.

According to the condo's attorney, Mitchell Burnstein, their final analysis -- done by coastal engineers -- found the dune to be too isolated to stop storm surges or beach erosion.

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Ft. Lauderdale, Mayan Beach Condo
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Environment

Mayan Beach Sand Dune Bulldozed; Sea Turtles Left Without Nesting Ground

By Kyle Swenson Fri., Dec. 7 2012 at 10:06 AM
Categories: Environment
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Sad news today for South Florida environmentalists, sea turtles, and Mother Earth: After a circuitous and arguably shady legal battle, Fort Lauderdale's Mayan Beach Sand Dune was plowed over at some point in the past 48 hours.

Even though an August court decision sealed the dune's fate, the destruction blindsided supporters. Richard WhiteCloud, head of the Sea Turtle Oversight Protection Program, says his group had scouts watching the beach for heavy equipment that might signal the end was nigh.

But without any warning WhiteCloud got a call yesterday from a staff member that the dune had been 86'd.





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Department of Environmental Protection, Richard WhiteCloud, Sea Turtle Oversight Protection Program
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Environment

PEER Frets Over DEP Layoffs, Says More Cuts Likely

By Chris Sweeney Thu., Dec. 6 2012 at 8:13 AM
Categories: Environment
Hvinyard.jpeg
A recent round of job cuts at the Department of Environmental Protection has stoked the wrath of environmentalists. 

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility on Wednesday issued a statement blasting the DEP's decision to lay off 26 employees from the agency's Southwest District Office while eliminating 14 vacant positions. 

"These are nonmanagement employees," Jerry Phillips, Florida coordinator for PEER, tells New Times. "They're the ones inspecting facilities, reviewing permits, determining if facilities are in compliance. Essentially, they're the ones that make the organization run."

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Department of Environmental Protection, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
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Environment

Fort Lauderdale Beach Erosion Could Spell Trouble for Turtle Nesting

By Chris Sweeney Wed., Nov. 28 2012 at 6:00 AM
Categories: Environment
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Chris Sweeney

Several hundred yards before traffic cones wedge northbound traffic on Fort Lauderdale's scenic A1A into a single, slow-moving lane, a yellow sign alerts drivers and pedestrians that they're smack in the middle of a turtle nesting zone. 

But now that strong tides, rough seas, and severe erosion have decimated a four-block stretch of beach, leaving seawalls exposed and sidewalks collapsed, one expert is concerned that some turtle nesting grounds could be gone. 


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fort lauderdale, Sea Turtle Oversight Protection, turtles
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Environment

Petition to Save Mayan Beach Sand Dune Racks Up Signatures; Will DEP Take Notice?

By Chris Sweeney Tue., Oct. 30 2012 at 8:46 AM
Categories: Environment
dunepic.jpeg
In three days, more than 480 people have signed a petition to save the Mayan Beach Sand Dune in Fort Lauderdale from destruction.

Spearheaded by the Sea Turtle Oversight Protection, the petition is the latest development in a battle between developers and environmentalists that has stretched for more than a year.

"Private property owners want to demolish the dune because the view of the ocean is slightly obstructed by it," Richard WhiteCloud, founding director of STOP, tells New Times. The dune provides crucial protection for sea turtle nests and helps beat back floodwaters. "The storm we just had is a fresh reminder of what dune systems do, especially considering we had three feet of water on parts of A1A."

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Department of Environmental Protection, Richard WhiteCloud, Sea Turtle Oversight Protection
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Environment

Nova's Jose Lopez Needs $4,500 to Solve Marine Mystery: Why You Should Donate

By Chris Sweeney Wed., Oct. 17 2012 at 5:00 AM
Categories: Environment
josedive.jpg

Unless your last name is Cousteau or James Cameron has taken a personal interest in you, getting funding for marine biology research is tough. Just ask Jose Lopez, a professor at Nova Southeastern University who's on the verge of major research breakthrough. He just needs $4,500 to get over the hump.

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In May, local divers raised concern over a number of giant maroon sponges in nearby waters -- from Delray Ledge up to Breakers Reef, to be specific -- disintegrating. Within a few weeks, reports started rolling in that the disease had struck as far south as Key West and destroyed large swathes of the less-than-thrilling but important life form. 

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Jose Lopez, Nova Southeastern University
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Environment

Arctic Ice, Snow Melts at Alarming Rate; Romney Thinks Environment Is for Nerds

By Chris Sweeney Tue., Sep. 25 2012 at 5:00 AM
Categories: Environment
RomTan.jpeg
Who needs science when you got tans
Toward the end of Mitt Romney's speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa last month, the newly crowned candidate displayed in a single sentence his talent for sarcasm. "President Obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet," he said, then followed with a smirk that amounted to a giant middle finger to science and reason.

See also:
- If Climate Change Melts Greenland's Ice Sheet, Will South Florida Drown?
- How Climate Change Will Flood Broward

The conservative crowd chortled in delight, completely ignoring the fact that they were sitting in a state vulnerable to rising sea levels and climate change. Romney's arrogance seems all the more ludicrous following the release of a new study showing that sea ice in the Arctic melted to the lowest level ever recorded.

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Tags:

Climate Change, Global Warming, Mitt Romney
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