LAKE OKEECHOBEE

Legal battle over farm runoff pollution back in U.S. court

BY ROBERT P. KING - Palm Beach Post

Three decades of angry debate over pollution in Lake Okeechobee are due to boil over today in federal court.

The issue: Are water managers breaking the federal Clean Water Act by pumping billions of gallons of polluted farm runoff from the Glades into the state's largest lake?

Three environmental groups and the Miccosukee Indian tribe say they are and want the South Florida Water Management District to get federal pollution permits for its massive pumps near Belle Glade, South Bay and Clewiston. They say the permits would eventually force the district to clean up the runoff or send it elsewhere.

But water managers say that would result in red tape, needless expenses and a risk of ''catastrophic'' flooding. They've got the backing of the federal government, United States Sugar Corp. and more than a dozen water agencies from around the country.

A federal civil trial in the dispute is set to begin today in Miami. The case eventually could head to the U.S. Supreme Court -- much like a similar suit, involving Everglades pumping, that left both sides declaring victory two years ago.

The trial comes amid increasing anger among environmentalists, fishermen, tourist-dependent business owners and local governments about the pollution that has choked the lake for more that 30 years, despite promises and cleanup attempts by the district and other state agencies.

That pollution is spilling over into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers, and it threatens to undermine efforts to cleanse and restore the Everglades.

The pumps in the Glades account for just a small percentage of all water entering the lake, which receives much more fertilizer -- and manure -- pollution from the north. But they have inspired feuds since the 1970s between environmental groups and the water district, which mainly uses the pumps to prevent flooding.

Less frequently, the district also pumps runoff into the lake to boost the region's water supply during droughts. Besides phosphorus, nitrogen, pesticides and other pollutants from farms, the pumped water contains tainted runoff from lakeside cities.

Environmentalists argue that the pumping at the lake's south end is especially harmful because it occurs near spots where cities such as Belle Glade, Pahokee and South Bay draw their drinking water.

The environmental groups blame the pumping for much of the high levels of suspected carcinogens that plagued Pahokee and South Bay's drinking water in recent years. The runoff also fuels algae blooms that harm plants essential to nurturing the lake's fish populations.

''The district has made a mess all over the lake, and this is the worst example,'' said Tallahassee environmental lawyer David Guest, who is representing the Florida Wildlife Federation. ``This is the area where they are contaminating a water supply.''

If getting the federal permits causes headaches for the water managers, ''Good,'' said Lake Okeechobee activist Wayne Nelson, executive director of Fishermen Against Destruction of the Environment. ``Maybe they'll have to follow the law for a change.''

But the district says the environmentalists are trying to turn the Clean Water Act on its head -- treating the agency's flood-control pumps as if they were pollution-spewing factories.

Multiply this case by the district's hundreds of pumps and floodgates, and the result could be bureaucratic gridlock, the agency argues.

''Logistically, it would be a nightmare considering the amount of times the district moves water,'' district spokesman Roberto Fabricio said.

Water agencies as far away as California say they also could face crippling legal hassles if the district loses -- with no gain for the environment.

''A broad, sweeping ruling here could really make our lives difficult,'' said Jeff Kightlinger, general counsel of Southern California's Metropolitan Water District, which pumps water hundreds of miles across deserts and mountain ranges.

The wildlife federation, the fishermen's group and Friends of the Everglades sued the South Florida district over the pumping in 2002.

The case eventually drew attorneys from the Miccosukees, U.S. Sugar and the federal Justice Department, Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers.

In a similar case two years involving the Everglades, the district argued that it doesn't need federal pollution permits because its pumps don't add any contamination to the runoff.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected that logic as ''untenable'' but left the door open to similar arguments.