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On Earth Day, Florida’s Waters Contaminated with Mercury Sierra Club Files Lawsuit Challegning Bush Administrations' Failure to Protect Water We Drink, Fish We Eat Tampa, Florida – With concerns over mercury pollution in Florida’s waterways, this Earth Day the Sierra Club is shining a spotlight on how the Bush administrations’ inaction on this critical environmental issue is jeopardizing our health and safety. The Sierra Club filed a lawsuit challenging the federal Bush administration’s illegal approval of a decision by the Jeb Bush administration to remove 161 Florida waters – including 97 mercury-contaminated waters – from its required pollution clean-up list. Tomorrow, President Bush will speak about conservation at an event at Rookery Bay where a fish-consumption advisory was recently issued for mercury contamination. “Earth Day is a time for Americans to reflect on the state of our environment,” said John Swingle, Conservation Chair for the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club. “As we take stock this Earth Day, Floridians will see that the Bush administration’s policies leave little to celebrate. By allowing for increased mercury pollution and failing to clean up contaminated waters, the administration is threatening public health , our waters and wildlife." The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee this morning by Sierra Club, Save our Suwannee, Inc, and Florida Public Interest Research Group Citizen Lobby, Inc, challenges the “don’t list” policy of the Jeb Bush administration when it comes to mercury-contaminated waters. By failing to list these contaminated waters, the state and federal Bush administrations are running away from their responsibility to clean up the mercury pollution in these 97 waters. All of Florida’s coastal waters and more than 100 of its rivers, streams, and lakes are under fish consumption advisories for mercury. “Even as the federal Bush administration warns Americans about the dangerous mercury levels in fish, it has refused to take simple steps to address this problem and has allowed his brother’s administration to skirt the law,” said Swingle. “When you hear about all the fish-consumption advisories, you expect your public officials will work to solve the problem. But the Bush administration is failing to enforce the laws that protect the waters that flow throughout Florida and sustain our economy.” The federal Bush administration has let power plants off the hook, even though they are the chief causes of mercury in Florida waters. Even the Bush administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concedes that available technology would solve the problem – a 90 percent reduction in mercury pollution from power plants is possible. Yet the administration would allow polluting power plants to emit three times more mercury pollution for decades longer. “There is a better way. With strong enforcement of the current Clean Air Act, we could reduce mercury pollution and protect communities,” said Swingle. Mercury is a hazardous pollutant that can cause nervous system damage, birth defects, and impairment of motor functions. It is especially dangerous for women in their childbearing years and young children. The EPA recently estimated that one in six U.S. women of childbearing age have mercury levels in their blood high enough to put their baby at risk. That means approximately 630,000 newborns are at risk each year. The lawsuit challenges the federal approval of Florida’s decision to remove 20 mercury-polluted river and stream segments from the clean-list and to refuse to add 77 mercury-polluted lakes, rivers and stream segments to the clean-up list. Last month, the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council and Florida resident Linda Young asked the federal Bush administration to take over the water pollution clean-up duties of the Jeb Bush administration. The environmental groups have notified the federal Bush administration of their intent to file suit to compel it to enforce the Clean Water Act and ensure Florida’s waters are fishable, swimmable and drinkable. For a complete list of the waters omitted from the state’s impaired waters list, please contact Annie Strickler at (202) 675-2384. For information, please visit: http://www.sierraclub.org/cleanwater/.
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