A public hearing scheduled in Orlando this week on proposed Florida clean water standards does not include any environmental witnesses, a void that has drawn fire from groups that say they should have a seat at the table.
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, whose members include Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla, is holding the hearing to get testimony on numeric water standards being proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for Florida lakes, rivers, springs and other freshwater bodies.
The list of witnesses includes EPA officials and representatives from agriculture, electric and water utilities, the construction industry and watershed management agencies.
“We are not sure why Rep. Stearns is stacking this hearing with representatives from polluting industries and shutting out clean-water advocates, but it doesn’t bode well for the public,” said Florida Wildlife Federation President Manley Fuller in a statment “Stearns isn’t allowing any public testimony at the hearing, and instead has assembled a panel of people from the sewage, agricultural and fertilizer industries – the very parties who are polluting the public’s waters and causing nauseating toxic algae outbreaks.”
