FL Legislator Will Retire This Year W. Plan To Protect Springs Undone By Homebuilders' Lobby

[hatrack]

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Burt Saunders, R-Naples, called for a pilot project in Marion County to establish protection zones for Silver and Rainbow Springs. Creating the zones would lead to reductions in nitrogen from farms, sewage treatment plants and septic tanks.

The same concept has been pitched for Central Florida's Wekiva Springs and Wakulla Springs near Tallahassee. But efforts to begin a statewide springs-protection strategy have failed in the Legislature in recent years. And it happened again in the 2008 session, which ended a week ago.

With home builders saying new septic tank requirements could increase the cost of homes, Saunders said sponsors of other springs bills only wanted studies. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection supported the Saunders bill. Florida's springs are "something that attract people to Florida, that attract our tourists here," Saunders said. "The home builders may be killing the goose that laid the golden egg if they don't spend some extra effort protecting it."

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But some home builders and developers say the advanced septic systems are too expensive or are unproven. The Florida Home Builders Association says the systems can cost $15,000 more than standard systems. "Our concern was it would become an unnecessary financial burden on homeowners," said Edie Ousley, association spokeswoman. The Florida Department of Health estimates the cost of performance-based septic systems at $3,000 to $5,000 more than a standard system. Saunders' bill also would have required DEP to establish pollution limits at the Marion County springs. DEP has proposed pollution limits at Wakulla and Wekiva Springs. But he said the possible House sponsor of the bill, Rep. Debbie Boyd, D-Newberry, only wanted to do a study of springs statewide - a study he said had already been done. Boyd said this week Marion County officials told her during the session they were concerned about Saunders bill.

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http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080512/NEWS0120/805120341/1075

[DCKit]

1. A major reason I left FL 22 years ago...

is their total inattentiveness to their own water supply. They pull too much out and their houses fall into sinkholes, the everglades dry up and seawater infiltrates the coastal areas. Now that the population of the state has doubled (tripled?) again, they still don't get it.

Once the aquifer is completely polluted, where do the people of FL believe their potable water is going to come from? Georgia's got none to spare and seawater desalinization is too expensive.

Yes, Florida is a hothouse for raising Morans.