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Richard Corcoran: House won’t OK legal money for DEP

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House Speaker Richard Corcoran late MondayĀ said his chamber won’t agree to hand over any more money forĀ theĀ Department of Environmental ProtectionĀ to pay its legal bills until the agency gives a full accounting of what’s already been spent. Corcoran was reacting to the DEP’sĀ request toĀ the Joint Legislative Budget CommissionĀ for an additional $13 million to pay outside legal counselĀ in an ongoing court fight betweenĀ Georgia and Florida over water use. (Earlier story here.) The commission is scheduled to take up the request Tuesday. Coincidentally,…

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“Water war” could cost the state another $13M in legal fees

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water use

The state’s Department of Environmental ProtectionĀ (DEP) has busted its outside legal expenses budget over the ongoing ‘water war’ between Georgia and Florida, legislative records show. It’s asking for an additional $13 million from the Joint Legislative Budget Commission, which meets TuesdayĀ ā€” and even that may not be enough. Gov. Rick Scott‘s office approved the request to the commission, made up of House and Senate members, for “litigation costs.” “This increase is necessary to meet projected expenditures for outside counsel as…

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Jon Steverson resigns as DEP secretary

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Jon Steverson, the Secretary of the state’sĀ Department of Environmental ProtectionĀ under Gov.Ā Rick Scott, has resigned. His departure was confirmed Friday night byĀ McKinley Lewis, Scott’s deputy communications director, who provided a copy of theĀ resignation letter. Steverson is set to join the legal-lobbying firm Foley & Lardner, sourcesĀ tell FloridaPolitics.com. Herschel Vineyard, who also served as a DEP Secretary, is a part of Foley’s governmental relations team. Steverson, whose last day will beĀ Feb. 3, did not mention reasons for his leaving in the letter.…

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Judge invalidates pollution notification rule

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A Florida administrative law judge says a rule requiring companies to notify the public of pollution events within 24 hours is invalid. The new rule was pushed by Gov. Rick Scott after it took weeks for the public to be notified about a giant sinkhole at a fertilizer plant that sent millions of gallons of polluted water into the state’s main drinking water aquifer. Administrative law judge Bram CanterĀ on Friday ruled that the new rule, which would result in fines…

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Personnel note: Lisa Edgar named state parks director

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Florida State Parks

Lisa EdgarĀ has helpedĀ regulate the state’s investor-owned utilities. Now, she’s going to oversee its parks. Edgar was namedĀ Director of the Florida Park Service, theĀ Florida Department of Environmental ProtectionĀ (DEP) announced Tuesday in a press release. She’ll start next month. ā€œFrom my time at DEP and as a frequent visitor of our state parks, Iā€™ve seen first-hand the high caliber of the Florida Park Service team,” she said in a statement. “I look forward to working with this team to continue to achieve…

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Storm wipes out Florida sand crucial for protection, tourism

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When Christa Savva returned to the Sandy Shoes Beach Resort a day after Hurricane Matthew brushed by Melbourne Beach, Florida, she looked at the beach in front of the pink-flamingo-colored hotel and noticed that half the sand dunes had disappeared. Savva guesses three-quarters of the missing dunes washed into the ocean, and the remaining quarter scattered onto the resort’s beachfront property, which was undamaged by the hurricane. “I was like, ‘Oh, my goodness!’” Savva, a property manager for the Space-Age-era…

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Outcry grows over delay in warning about Mosaic sinkhole, contamination

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Neighbors of a huge sinkhole sending cascades of contaminated water and fertilizer plant waste into Florida’s main drinking-water aquifer are fearful and fuming that it took weeks for them to be notified about the disaster. Many are still waiting anxiously for results from tests for radiation and toxic chemicals in their well water. Meanwhile, the Mosaic Co. – one of the world’s largest producers of phosphate and potash for fertilizer – acknowledged Wednesday that the contamination had spread to groundwater…

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