[audubon-news] AUDUBON JOINS SUPREME COURT BATTLE TO UPHOLD CLEAN WATER ACT
- From: "BIANCHI, John" <JBIANCHI@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <audubon-news@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 11:41:11 -0500
Contact: John Bianchi
jbianchi@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:jbianchi@xxxxxxxxxxx>
212/979-3026
AUDUBON JOINS SUPREME COURT BATTLE TO UPHOLD CLEAN WATER ACT
Audubon & Other National Environmental Groups Submit Amicus Brief
Washington, DC, November 25, 2003 - A Florida regional water management
district that pumps dirty stormwater into the Everglades is discharging a
pollutant, and therefore must obtain a point source permit under the Clean
Water Act, seven national environmental groups argued today in a brief filed
with the U.S. Supreme Court. The environmental groups filed a friend of the
court brief in the case, South Florida Water Management District v. Miccosukee
Tribe, No. 02-626, a suit whose outcome could weaken federal protections for
the nation's waters, including the imperiled Florida Everglades.
The case before the Supreme Court will explore whether the core protections of
the Clean Water Act apply to South Florida Water Management District's practice
of pumping huge quantities of polluted stormwater uphill from a collection
canal in a developed area into a natural wetland area in the Everglades. The
river-sized flow of stormwater contains phosphorus and other pollutants.
The water management district is arguing that it does not need a Clean Water
Act permit because the pump conveys polluted water, but doesn't add pollutants
to the water. The environmental groups' amicus brief argues that the very
essence of the Clean Water Act's point source permit program is to address the
"conveyance" of pollutants. Exempting conveyance from permitting would open the
door to serious degradation of cleaner waterbodies by pollutants diverted from
more polluted ones.
The district court and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians and Friends of the Everglades, an environmental
group, holding that pumping dirty stormwater into the Everglades is a discharge
of pollutants under the Clean Water Act, and therefore requires a National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The water management
district has appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Allowing the discharge of polluted water into the Everglades is giving
polluters a free walk: the Supreme Court must recognize this and uphold the
rulings of the two lower courts," said Audubon's Chief Operating Officer Bob
Perciasepe. "If the court fails to support the Clean Water Act, healthy
drinking water and restoration projects everywhere-especially in the
Everglades-could be threatened by polluters acting with virtual immunity."
"People who care about our nation's precious waters have to stand up to protect
them, because the federal government has already sided with the polluters,"
said Howard Fox, managing attorney for Earthjustice's Washington DC office, who
is representing the seven environmental groups. "Allowing diversion of dirty
waters into clean ones, without Clean Water Act safeguards, is a misguided
'lowest common denominator' approach."
A ruling in favor of the Water Management District would threaten continued
pollution of the Everglades-a matter of significant concern given recent
Florida legislation that substantially postponed deadlines for pollution
cleanup. More broadly, the approach advocated by the district holds broad
implications for the jurisdiction or reach of the country's primary water
pollution control law, affecting a host of other wetlands, lakes and rivers
around the United States. Many water districts or similar entities collect
polluted surface waters and divert them into cleaner waters.
"If the South Florida Water Management District's and the Bush administration's
position prevails in this case, serious environmental threats from interbasin
water transfers such as invasive species, urban and industrial runoff and
agricultural pollution could become epidemic across the country, jeopardizing
waters important to fish, birds, and other wildlife," said Jim Murphy, water
resources counsel at the National Wildlife Federation.
"This case is critical to restoration of the Everglades," said Bob Irvin,
director of U.S. Conservation for World Wildlife Fund. "Only by providing clean
water, at the right times of the year in the right amounts, can the River of
Grass, and the wildlife that depends on it be restored. Government agencies
involved in Everglades restoration should comply with the Clean Water Act and
all other environmental laws, not seek to avoid them."
In addition to the brief filed by Earthjustice's Washington, D.C., office on
behalf of National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council,
Sierra Club, American Rivers, National Audubon Society, National Parks
Conservation Association, and World Wildlife Fund, Earthjustice attorneys in
the Tallahassee office will file an amicus brief on behalf of Florida
environmental groups on Friday.
"Thirty years of environmental progress has taught us that the Clean Water Act
works," said Robin Mann, chair of Sierra Club's National Clean Water Campaign
committee. "Instead of working to restore the Everglades, the Bush
administration wants to give polluters a pass to dump polluted storm water into
the River of Grass, and seriously undermine restoration efforts. We are proud
to stand with the Miccosukee Tribe and the Friends of the Everglades to demand
that the Bush administration strongly enforce our clean water protections and
safeguard the Everglades."
"It's a sign of the times that polluters feel emboldened to keep appealing
rather than complying with court orders to stop," said Liz Birnbaum, director
of government affairs for American Rivers.
Audubon is dedicated to protecting birds and other wildlife and the habitat
that supports them. Our national network of community-based nature centers and
chapters, scientific and educational programs, and advocacy on behalf of areas
sustaining important bird populations, engage millions of people of all ages
and backgrounds in positive conservation experiences.
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