Rule To Warn Public Of Pollution Emergencies Tossed Out By Florida Judge
By Peak Johnson
Last October, Florida Governor Rick Scott enacted a new rule that required that the public be made aware of pollution accidents. Now, however, that rule appears to be no more.
Implementation of the rule can be traced back to the sinkhole that was discovered by Mosaic Co. in late August at its fertilizer plant in Polk County, and reported to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) within 24 hours. However, neither the company nor the agency notified the public until weeks later.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that the “DEP had argued that state law did not require the agency or the company to notify the public about the pollution problem unless the contamination showed up beyond the borders of the company's property.”
The sinkhole opened up beneath a storage pond in Mulberry, where more than 200 million gallons of contaminated wastewater from a fertilizer plant leaked into one of the state’s main sources for drinking water.
According to a statement from the governor’s office then, Scott told DEP Secretary Jon Steverson to create an emergency rule that would require the “department, the public and local governments be notified within 24 hours of a pollution incident by the responsible parties.”
Within 48 hours, the public has to be notified of any potential public risks to their health, safety and overall welfare, reported WUFT.
On Dec. 31, The Tampa Bay Times reported that a judge had tossed out the rule. In a 19-page ruling on Dec. 30, “an administrative law judge said that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection had overstepped its authority in approving the new rule and that only the state Legislature can enact such a change in how the public is notified regarding pollution.”
Last week the administrative law judge who heard the challenge, “agreed that state law doesn't give the DEP the power to change the rule without the Legislature's approval. The law requires only that the DEP be notified, no one else.”
"There is no rulemaking authority for (the) proposed rule," The Tampa Bay Times reported Judge Bram D. E. Canter as saying.
The DEP has 30 days to decide whether to appeal the judge's ruling.
To read more about pollution issues visit Water Online’s Source Water Contamination Solutions Center.