Florida’s existing water quality

"Florida’s existing water quality criteria fail to protect human health"
Advocates ask EPA to regulate Florida water toxins

By Deborah Nelson
June 29, 2009

Clean Water Network of Florida (CWN), a nonprofit water quality advocacy group, is asking the Feds to help regulate toxin levels in Florida fish and water.

Florida’s own Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has failed to update water toxin safety standards, the group charges, despite studying the issue since 1994.

"Florida’s existing water quality criteria fail to protect human health," according to a petition filed earlier this month.

Florida’s water quality standards are largely based on assumed per capita fish consumption levels. Florida’s assumed levels currently fall well below Federal standards.

Those levels don’t accurately reflect the Florida public’s exposure to waterborne toxins, say CWN officials, and cover only 36 of 90 dangerous substances regulated by the U.S. EPA.

“You would think that we would make sure our fish are safe to eat and that we would protect their habitat and living conditions to ensure an abundant supply,” Linda Young, Clean Water Network of Florida Director, remarked in a statement.

“But the Florida Department of Environmental Protection does not have the backbone to properly regulate 90 toxic chemicals that the US Environmental Protection Agency says all states should either be regulating -- or demonstrating every three years…are not discharged within the state in sufficient quantities to need regulation.

“These include many known carcinogens such as dioxin, which we know Florida industries are releasing into fishing waters.”

On June 18, the Florida Clean Water Network formally petitioned the U.S. EPA to regulate current and future toxic chemicals being released in Florida waters.

The petition notes that although EPA has identified 90 toxic pollutants with recommended water quality criteria, Florida DEP is only regulating 36 of those. It also points out that Florida assumed fish consumption levels fall well below EPA levels.

Currently, Florida safety standards assume a daily fish consumption level of 6.5 grams (2 tenths of an ounce) per capita.

Florida DEP adopted that assumption in 1990, based on EPA standards.

But EPA has since increased assumed fish consumption numbers. Florida's DEP has not followed suit, despite studying the issue since 1994.

In 2003 Florida DEP recommended increasing fish consumption standards to 71.4 grams (2.5 ounces) per day. That recommendation was never implemented.

"…FDEP said then: [that level] 'represents the 90th percentile fish consumption level of Florida species by Florida’s adult population. This level will reduce the risk of cancer to less than one in a million for most carcinogens and reduce the hazard index to less than one for most noncarcinogens. It is also protective of child consumers,'" Clean Water Network officals point out.

In July 2008, after a series of more workshops, Florida DEP advocated a fish consumption rate of 32 grams (1.1 ounces) per day -- for 36 toxic pollutants. But 54 additional toxic pollutants identified by the U.S. EPA were still not addressed in the proposed criteria revisions.

By Spring of this year, State efforts to update Florida's water toxin standards appeared to be on hold indefinitely.

"In March 2009, Florida DEP announced that it was going to delay any further workshops on the triennial review and therefore, the proposed criteria revisions for the toxic pollutants," Clean Water Network officials note.

In June 2009, Florida’s Clean Water Network filed the petition, after Florida’s DEP announced the delay.

Underestimating waterborne toxin levels that end up in Florida’s fish could have immediate and long-term health effects on Florida residents, water quality advocates point out.

"EPA data shows that subsistence fishers consume on average 142.4 grams [5 ounces] of fish per day. Florida data reveals even higher consumption rates by some people in the Sunshine State," according to the Florida Clean Water Network.

“The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has been studying the revision of water quality criteria…since August 1994 and has failed to adopt revised criteria to adequately protect the designated uses of Florida’s waters,” David A. Ludder, Florida CWN attorney remarked.

“In the meantime, Floridians that have used and continue to use these waters for drinking, shellfish harvesting [and] consumption; and fishing consumption, have not been adequately protected from exposure to excessive toxic pollutants."

"There are at least two papermills that are known to be dumping excessive and unsafe levels of dioxin into waters that are heavily fished by thousands of people, and yet Florida refuses to even consider adopting EPA’s promulgated dioxin standard for Florida waters,” Young added.

The Clean Water Network petition may be accessed at: www.enviro-lawyer.com/EPA_Petition.pdf.