Graham Raising Concerns Over Weakened Water Standards

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June 10, 2016
Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Gwen Graham sent a letter to Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection voicing her concerns over its plan to lower the state’s water standards.

“The Department of Environmental Protection should be working to protect our waters, not making it easier to pollute them,” Rep. Graham said. “In Florida, our lakes, rivers, springs and coastal waters aren’t just vital for a healthy ecology and economy – they’re essential to our very way of life.”

The Tallahassee Democrat has reported the Florida DEP is in the process of updating its water-quality standards for the first time since 1992, and the state wants to weaken standards on about two dozen cancer-causing chemicals. Many environmental groups and constituents have expressed concern that the state is specifically proposing higher limits for benzene, a carcinogen used in fracking, to pave the way for the unconventional drilling technique in Florida.

“My constituents, Republican and Democrat, have overwhelmingly come out against fracking in North Florida,” Rep. Graham said. “Our aquifer is unlike anywhere else in the country – and we don’t know how fracking could pollute it. It’s not worth the risk, and I’m going to do everything I can to fight fracking in Florida.”

Eleven of the fourteen counties in the Second Congressional District have voted in some form against fracking. Since joining Congress, Representative Graham has been a champion for Florida waters, fighting torestore the Apalachicola Bay and to ban drilling off Florida’s beaches.

Click here for a PDF copy of the letter to DEP Secretary Steverson:

Dear Secretary Steverson,

I write to you today to voice my strong opposition to the proposed changes to lower Florida’s water quality standards.  I am concerned that weakening restrictions on toxic chemicals in Florida’s surface waters, as proposed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, will negatively impact the overall quality of our state’s waters, as well as hurt many Floridians whose livelihoods depend on these waters.  I urge you to heed our concerns and reconsider these proposed changes.

As we’ve recently witnessed in Flint, Michigan, a community’s health is closely tied to its water quality.  In Florida, we’re even more dependent on our waters, where they not only serve as a source for household plumbing, but are also vital to our unique way of life.  Our state’s economy is dependent on Floridians and visitors to our state having confidence to eat from and recreate in our many lakes, rivers, springs and coastal waters.  I find it inconceivable that the department charged with protecting our environment would ease restrictions on dangerous chemicals that threaten the health of Florida’s waters and the people and industries that depend on them. We should be doing all we can to protect our most valuable asset, not make it easier to pollute.

I also worry the proposed changes could pave the way for hydraulic fracturing in Florida.  Much is still unknown about the potential negative impacts of hydraulic fracturing on our state’s unique hydrology– but it is clear that Floridians oppose expanding such risky drilling practices in our state.  Water quality standards are meant to protect against such harmful practices, and we must ensure such protections remain in place.

Contamination of our waters threatens the health of our communities, our economy and our environment. I urge you to give these concerns your full and timely consideration and to reconsider any proposal that would weaken Florida’s water quality standards.

Sincerely,

Gwen Graham

Member of Congress

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