Clean Water Network Florida

Clean Water Network of Florida

Action Alerts

Get Adobe Reader Please note that some files may be Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files and require the use of the Acrobat Reader. You can download it free from Adobe.

Archived Alerts

These archived action alerts are no longer part of any of our current campaigns. To submit an action alert, please send an e-mail to Leah Ellington.

06/10/10: No More Lame Excuses, Governor Crist!

Send Gov. Crist a strong message that we expect him to take immediate action to protect Florida's coast from BP's oil.

Dear Governor Crist:

There is no excuse for the Florida DEP allowing BP's oil to enter Perdido Pass this week. The small booms that are scattered here and there, are actually doing more harm than good. There are larger booms widely available for purchase, which BP and the state have both refused to deploy in the Gulf in a meaningful way. There are absorbent booms and pads and skimmer devices that could be keeping the oil out, but are also not in use. There are virtually unlimited options available to entities who claim to be in charge, which are not being availed.

Whatever the lame excuse for not protecting our shores may be, it is unacceptable to all of us. We demand immediate action on the Gulf and for our inland waters. We expect you to either lead or step aside. You have wasted valuable weeks when you could have been preparing for the oil to arrive on Florida's shores. There is no more time to waste and if you don't protect our coasts, you will be held accountable.



06/10/10: No More Lame Excuses, Secretary Sole!

Send a strong message to DEP Secretary Mike Sole that will let him know we expect him to get busy and protect our state from BP's oil disaster.

Secretary Sole:

There is no excuse for the Florida DEP allowing BP's oil to enter Perdido Pass this week. The small booms that are scattered here and there, are actually doing more harm than good. There are larger booms widely available for purchase, which BP and the state have both refused to deploy in the Gulf in a meaningful way. There are absorbent booms and pads and skimmer devices that could be keeping the oil out, but are also not in use. There are virtually unlimited options available to entities who claim to be in charge, which are not being availed.

Whatever the lame excuse for not protecting our shores may be, it is unacceptable to all of us. We demand immediate action on the Gulf and for our inland waters. We expect you to either lead or step aside. You have wasted valuable weeks when you could have been preparing for the oil to arrive on Florida's shores. There is no more time to waste and if you don't protect our coasts, you will be held accountable.



10/27/09: Save fishing and swimming in Florida

URGENT !!! Please contact Governor Crist with this message.

Dear Governor - I am against your efforts to weaken Florida's water quality standards by creating new "designated uses" that are only "boatable" and "splashable" - instead of what they are now - which is "fishable" and "swimmable".

Polluted waters hurt our economy, reduce our property values and threaten our health. Your efforts will only help big polluters such as paper mills, chemical plants, sewage plants, power plants, phosphate companies, industrial sized dairies and chicken houses and other polluters that have refused to comply with the Clean Water Act. Your administration has done nothing to rein-in these polluters.

Stop fighting for polluters and take a stand for us - the taxpayers who have a right to clean water in our communities. Tell the Florida DEP (your agency) to stop its campaign to weaken protections for Florida's waters. DON'T CHANGE THE DESIGNATED USES of Florida's waters.



05/06/08: Tell Sole and Crist - NO permits for papermill pollution pipelines

Please contact Governor Crist and DEP Secretary Mike Sole to let them know how disappointed we are that they are helping International Paper Company circumvent the Clean Water Act and Florida laws.  After winning a huge court battle to stop IP from building a pollution pipe to Perdido Bay, Friends of Perdido Bay is now facing yet another administrative hearing to stop virtually the same permit again.  

Contact Governor Crist and Secretary Sole and let them know we want Florida's paper mills to clean up their pollution, stop using any chlorine-based bleaching methods (creates dioxin in the wastewater and air) and stop wasting our precious groundwater. 

Dear Governor Crist and Secretary Sole - I am so terribly disappointed that Florida (DEP and the Governor's office) is poised to give International Paper Company a permit to build a pollution pipe to Perdido Bay. This is an insult to our legal process and the many thousands of citizens who worked to get this outrageous pollution problem stopped. IP has been operating without a legitimate permit for many years now and they are the largest paper company in the world. They can afford to clean up their wastewater! There is no reason to let them keep breaking the law and killing our resources. Please do not move forward with a permit for IP. Make them remove all chlorine-based bleaching chemicals from their process and recycle their wastewater. This is the 21st Century - lets get with the program in Florida and stop reading off propaganda from the 1950's that still says, "Dilution is the solution to Pollution".



04/15/08: Tell Gov. Crist - Don't waste our money!!!

URGENT!!

Please Contact Governor Charlie Crist and your state Representative and State Senator and ask them to stop wasting our money on a new, unneeded airport in Panama City.

Dear Governor - As the Legislature takes its red pen to important social programs for sick people, children and orphans, you and your state agencies continue to push for money to be wasted on new construction at the Bay County Airport in Panama City. This is unbelievable that Florida would move forward to spend another $67 million to build the airport, plus $12 million to attract industry to the airport, when so many important responsibilities of the state are being set aside. What can you be thinking?

Please get your priorities straight and take care of the vulnerable people in Florida before you give St. Joe any more corporate welfare.



08/15/07: Let Sole know he did the right thing!

Please send an email to DEP Secretary Mike Sole to let him know you support the denial of a permit to International Paper Company.  This mill has ignored the law for decades and DEP has previously aided and abetted their unlawful pollution.  This is a big turn-around for DEP and for Florida.  

Dear Secretary Sole - I want to let you know that I support the decision to deny International Paper Co. a permit to pollute Perdido Bay, Perdido River and the wetlands and lakes near by. This mill has ignored the law for decades and it is heartening to see an administrative law judge and you both do the right thing in this case. There are two more mills in Florida that want to build pipelines to larger waters to dilute their pollution - Buckeye and Georgia Pacific. Dilution is not the solution to pollution. Make these mills clean up their dioxin-contaminated waste and retore our waters.

Thank you again for this important decision.



06/16/07: NO MORE CORPORATE WELFARE FOR JOE!

Please contact Governor Crist right away and ask him to stop FDOT from wasting anymore of our hard-earned tax dollars on a new airport for Bay County.  Here's 10 good reasons why:

  1. A local ballot question about whether or not a new airport should be built was overwhelmingly negative, with 56 to 44% of the voters saying they did not want a new airport.
  2. The airport will be built on 4,000 acres of which half are jurisdictional wetlands, including 400 acres of cypress ponds.
  3. The low-lying land for the airport site has numerous feeder creeks to the two main streams that provide 60% of the fresh water to West Bay.  All these creeks will be destroyed, filled and replaced with drainage canals and other mechanisms.  West Bay, the 6th most biologically diverse estuary in North America, will be destroyed forever.
  4. The airport land is lush with wildlife including bears, bob-cats, otter, turkeys, deer, and even panthers have been sited by numerous hunters and local nearby residents.
  5. An additional 9,000 acres of wetlands around the airport site will be destroyed for additional development.
  6. FAA has documented that there is no transportation need for a new airport.
  7. The current airport is unused and completely adequate for decades into the future.
  8. St. Joe and the Bay County Airport Authority claim that the airport is too short for transcontinental jets but this is not true. 
    1. there are not huge jumbo jets going to Panama City
    2. if the airport were required to accommodate larger planes in the future, an EMAS system could be used to provide extreme safety
  9. If the current airport is abandoned, the site will be sold to developers who plan to build a huge marina onsite which will kill many acres of grassbeds and degrade water quality in the bay.
  10. The FAA confirmed through a Benefit/Cost analysis that the real reason for the airport is the enhancement of real estate value for development.

 

Dear Governor Crist:

Your FDOT is wasting our money on a new airport for Bay County. A new airport is not needed and is not wanted by the majority of Bay County citizens. Please make FDOT stop the flow of money to this project which is nothing more than corporate welfare for the St. Joe Development Company.

The airport will be built in the headwaters of the pristine West Bay - one of the most biologically diverse estuaries in all of North America. This estuary is a nursery for the fish we all love to catch out in the Gulf of Mexico. As a fisherman, we know you understand the importance of having clean nursery areas for fish to grow up in before they head out to sea. West Bay is a treasure that must be protected!

We know that you are trying to stop wasteful spending in Florida and we truly appreciate your efforts. Please look into this terribly wasteful project and stop the flow of money to it.

Thank you!!!



05/20/07: Courageous Judge deserves your Support

In our newsclips section (see Champion/International Paper) you will see an editorial from Saturday's Pensacola News Journal regarding the DOAH's Judge Bram Canter's Recommended Denial of International Paper's permit to build a pipe to Perdido Bay. Here is the link to his full Recommended Order in case you would like to read it. http://www.doah.state.fl.us/ros/2005/05-1609.pdf.

We would like to draw your attention to two issues related to this matter.

  1. The judge's order and the PNJ opinion piece both do an excellent job of exposing the major disfunctions that have unfolded over the past 15 years or so at DEP. There have been many demonstrations of these problems over the years, but once again we have an opportunity to look at the hard cold facts and do something. There is no excuse for having a state agency being so completely driven by politics and money.
  2. If this judge's recommendation is to be upheld, there will need to be substantial public awareness and pressure on the Governor and DEP. ALL OF THE OTHER PAPER MILLS, ASSOCIATED INDUSTRIES, NUMEROUS LEGISLATORS AND MANY OTHER POWERFUL ENTITIES WILL BE PUTTING MASSIVE PRESSURE ON DEP AND THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE TO OVER-RIDE THE JUDGE'S RECOMMENDATIONS. We can't let this happen. Perdido Bay, once a beautiful and productive estuary is almost dead and cannot take IP's pollution for much longer. This order must be upheld in order to save Perdido Bay.

Also, Clean Water Network of Florida and some of our members are headed for an administrative hearing over the Buckeye pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico (Fenholloway estuary)later this year or early 2008. We have the same DOAH judge for that case. If he gets public support for his courageous stand, he will have even more reason to recommend denial of Buckeye's proposed permit (as the Buckeye case is far more agregious than IP's). If he gets over-ruled (and possibly even reprimanded), then he will surely not stick his neck out again. Georgia-Pacific's permit for a pipe to the St. Johns River is coming up again later this year (their application is in right now) and we will be going back to hearing over that permit again. If DEP is forced to follow the law and stop giving these huge discharges a pass around the Clean Water Act, then maybe these deadly mills will finally have to update their technology and clean up their messes.

Your help is immediately needed to let the Governor and DEP know that this judge's recommendations should be followed. DEP cannot be allowed to over-rule this judge. Perdido Bay cannot be allowed to die. If we could get Florida's paper mills cleaned up, it would have a huge impact on many Florida rivers and estuaries. Here's the list:

  1. IP - Pensacola, discharges into Perdido Bay and then the Gulf of Mexico; about 25 to 30 mgd
  2. Smurfit/Stone Container, Panama City discharges into St. Andrews Bay and then the Gulf of Mexico; about 35 mgd
  3. Buckeye Florida, Perry, discharges into the Fenholloway River and then the Gulf of Mexico; about 50 mgd
  4. Georgia Pacific, Palatka, discharges into Rice Creek and then the St. Johns River, about 25 to 30 mgd
  5. Rayoneer, Fernandina Beach, discharges into the Amelia River and then to the Atlantic Ocean,

Please send the email below or one of your own choosing to Governor Crist and Mike Sole. You can help make a big difference on the future of Florida's waters.

Dear Governor: DOAH Judge Bram Canter has recommended that DEP deny a permit to International Paper Company. I am sending this message to urge you to uphold Judge Canter's recommendation. IP has been violating state and federal laws for many decades and it is time that they clean up their mess. They are the largest paper company in for world and they can afford to have up to date technology that will eliminate any pollution to Eleven-mile Creek, Perdido Bay or the Perdido River.

Please get all of Florida's papermills updated and cleaned up. This is a good place to start. Take a stand, say no to 1950's technologies and 1940's thinking. Dilution is NOT the solution to pollution!

Governor - stand by your Judge. Say no to IP and their pollution plan. Tell them to clean it up right and stop passing their cost of doing business on to the rest of Florida and Alabama.



03/09/07: Join fight for Lee's voice on water board

Please contact Governor Crist immediately!

Dear Governor: The battle over Southwest Florida's seat on the powerful South Florida Water Management District board of directors is getting very intense, and coming down to a conclusion.

Lee County and Florida are best served if you appoint a Lee County resident to the seat who has a public-interest perspective, rather than a special-interest perspective.

We need someone who will fight hard to see that our estuaries and other natural systems are given the priority they deserve at the water management district, which has traditionally treated Southwest Florida like a poor relation.

We need a representative on that board who will be properly outraged when we suffer as we have when freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee flooded our estuary in recent years with nutrients that triggered devastating algae blooms. The results still clog the grassbeds of J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel, and litter our cherished beaches.

At least two excellent examples of such people, Wayne Daltry and Greg Rawl, are under consideration in Tallahassee. You could make a difference by contacting the governor's office and letting him know that you want someone on the board who will represent the people of Lee County and their social and environmental interests.
It matters because water has enormous impact both on the health of our environment and on the rate and direction of growth.

Environment and growth — huge factors when it comes to the quality of our lives. The water management district, with jurisdiction over most or all of 16 counties in southern Florida, is a 600-pound gorilla when it comes to these issues.

Daltry is currently Lee County's Smart Growth director and formerly served for 27 years as executive director of the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Commission for 27 years. Rawl, a highly regarded consultant for the county and other local governments in the area, has been a water resources professional for 26 years.
Both men have long records of public service, of passionate concern for the environment and for Lee County's interests, as well as deep local roots. They also have the support of the majority of county commissioners and several public interest groups.

Agriculture and development interests have always been well-represented on the board, and well-served by it. It's time for a new, fresh point of view, in our seat and the three others that you are due to fill very soon on the nine-member board.

Here's a great chance for you to break new ground by giving this powerful board a new spirit.



03/08/07: Your help is needed now!

On March 15 Governor Crist’s office will submit the Florida nomination for the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. (The Council works to manage the fisheries and protect the habitats in federal waters, 9 to 200 miles offshore – not an easy task.) Our incumbent, Julie Morris, of New College in Sarasota, has been doing a terrific job. The position is highly technical and requires great mediating skills to deal with some contentious issues. She excels at this and should be re-nominated, unfortunately there are other user-groups battling for this seat.

We need you to submit support letters for Julie. Please read the draft letter below and consider modifying it to make your own.

Submit letters via email to: mavis.knight@myflorida.com or print and fax to 850-921-0733. You can phone in and have your support registered at: 850-488-2183.

Also, please respond and let me know that you have sent a letter.

Thank you very much for what you do to ensure we have a healthy Gulf for the future!

Kristina Jackson
Gulf of Mexico Sustainable Fisheries Campaign - Sierra Club
Phone: 352-375-1441, Cell: 352-318-7536
kristina.jackson@sierraclub.org 

ATTENTION – APPOINTMENTS OFFICE, FLORIDA GOVERNOR CRIST

Honorable Governor Crist:

As an avid fisherman/diver/seafood eater and a Floridian, I would like to voice my support for the re-nomination of Julie Morris, of Sarasota, to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.

This federal management position has a built in limit of three terms, we should keep her on for her third term. Her six-years of experience on the Council enhances her ability to work in the technical and sometimes contentious atmosphere of fisheries management. She has shown herself to be considerate of all stakeholders and supportive of policy that will best protect the resource and fishermen for the long-term.

Her background in academics, at New College in Sarasota, and environmental policy has enhanced the Council’s discussions of science-based management and problem-solving. Ms. Morris is attuned to Florida concerns and well-networked with Florida user-groups as she served on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Governing Board before moving to this larger regional management post.

Thank you for your consideration of my enthusiastic support for Ms. Morris as Florida’s nominee to the Council.

Sincerely,



03/07/07: Biology and Legal Interns Wanted

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP SAVE A RIVER? Clean Water Network of Florida is accepting applications for summer interns right now. We need law students who have completed at least two years of law school and biology/ecology/oceanography grad students. You will have an opportunity to work with some of the best environmental attorneys and scientists in the country. This may be your best chance to save one of Florida's most precious waterways. If you would like an application or have questions email Linda Young at Clean Water Network of Florida at the llyoung2@earthlink.net.

Please send me an application for an internship. (Include any further comments you may have.)



Legacy Alerts

These archived alerts are legacy action alerts from the old Clean Water Network of Florida website located at cwn-se.org. Please keep an eye out for our new action alerts, which will feature an easy e-mail interface for our members!

Florida's Next Governor

Is there a true "clean water" leader in the line-up?
Send cards to the candidates: side one - side two.
Send a card back to us.

Northwest Florida Wetlands

Protect Panhandle wetlands: Listen to "Wyatt ERP."

Stop the pipeline to the St. Johns River!

Georgia-Pacific wants to install a 5-mile long pipe so the mill can pump its polluted wastewater directly into the St. Johns River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is poised to grant permission for installation of this pipe any day. Contact the Corps and tell them to deny the request for the pipe. Call 1-800-291-9405 and go through the recorded prompts until you get to Regulatory and Permitting.

Read more about the Proposed GP Pipeline.

Protect Florida's wetlands - call or write today!

Florida developers are pressuring our elected representatives in Washington to get the Corps to turn over wetlands permitting to the state DEP, so that the state can issue wetland destruction permits faster. This is a bad idea.

The Corps' rules protect 3 million more acres of Florida's wetlands than the state rules do and they consider the public interest of developing a wetland, whether a development will degrade water quality, and also if a project can be built elsewhere to avoid wetlands altogether. And the Corps can require an Environmental Assessment or Impact Statement before wetlands are destroyed. The Florida DEP has no authority to require developers to avoid wetlands or minimize impacts.

We shouldn't allow Congress to delegate another federal permitting program to the state - especially when our state's vanishing wetlands leave us vulnerable to the ocean's fury every summer. Take a minute and call or write to Bill Nelson, Mel Martinez, and your Representative in the US House. Tell them it's a bad idea to give wetlands permitting to the DEP. If you send anything in writing, please share it with us.

Call Senator Nelson Today!

The Bush administration in Washington is proposing changes to federal law that would weaken protections to fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. The legislation would roll back provisions that are supposed to both end overfishing and rebuild depleted fish populations in as short a time as possible. The new legislation would also undercut the public's ability to participate in decisions about the Gulf. The damaging language is part of a reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Florida Senator Bill Nelson can exercise leadership on this. Will you take a minute to call Bill Nelson at 202-224-5274, or send him a fax at 202-228-2183? Tell the senator to oppose any weakening of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, for the sake of Florida's economy, the health of the Gulf of Mexico and the future of the Gulf's rich fisheries.