8/2/2019 Sign on letter, SB 724

1/4

Palm Beach County

REEF RESCUEP.O. Box 207Boynton Beach, Florida 33425(561) 699-8559

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

UPDATE February 27, 2012

RE: SB 724

Dear Senator,

I want to update you regarding the email (pasted below) I sent to you last week regardingSB 724.

On Friday, February 24, 2012, Executive Director Tom Ingram, issued a statement that theDiving Equipment & Manufacturing Association (DEMA), is opposed to the deadlineextension for Florida wastewater outfalls. San Diego based DEMA, is the largest SCUBAtrade organization with 1,600 member businesses, including over 600 retailers from aroundthe US. DEMA is dedicated to promoting sustainable growth in safe recreational divingand snorkeling while protecting the underwater environment.

Also, adding their voices to the opposition of SB 724 are the Sierra Club LoxahatcheeGroup and South Florida Wildlands Association.

The Sierra Club is America's oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmentalorganization. Inspired by nature, they represent 1.3 million working together to protect ourcommunities and the planet. The Loxahatchee Group serves members in Palm Beach,Martin, St. Lucie, and Okeechobee counties in Southeast Florida.

South Florida Wildlands Association (SFWA) was founded in 2010 to protect theunparalleled beauty and biodiversity of the greater Everglades.

Again, I urge you to oppose SB 724.

Ed Tichenor, Director

Palm Beach County Reef RescuePO Box 207Boynton Beach, FL 33425561 699-8559

8/2/2019 Sign on letter, SB 724

2/4

Clean Water Network of Florida, February 23, 2012Cry-of-the-Water,Eastern Surfing Association,

Global Coral Reef Alliance,Greater Fort Lauderdale Dive Operators Association,Nature Travelers Club,Ocean Rehab Initiative Inc.,Palm Beach County Dive Industry Association,Palm Beach County Reef Rescue,Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility,Surfrider Foundation,Reef Relief,Reef Relief Founders

Re: Senate Bill 724, Domestic Wastewater Discharged Through Ocean Outfalls

Dear Senator:

We, the undersigned ocean advocacy, industry and conservation organizations, on behalf ofour tens of thousands of members and supporters strongly urge you not to support SenateBill 724 (Domestic Wastewater Discharged Through Ocean Outfalls). SB 724 is intendedto delay implementation of the 2008 Florida Ocean Outfall legislation which was enactedto phase out the archaic practice of discharging inadequately treated sewage into southeastFloridas coastal coral reef ecosystem.

According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 239,000 acres of coralreefs and associated reef resources lie within the four-county area affected by SB 724. Thisnorthern portion of the Florida Reef Tract stretches more than100 miles from the northernboundary of Biscayne National Park in Miami-Dade County to the St. Lucie Inlet in MartinCounty.These reefs are part of the third longest reef system in the world which annuallysustains more than 71,000 jobs and generates $6.3 billion dollarsin salesand income forFlorida.(http://www.dep.state.fl.us/secretary/news/2009/02/files/0212_02.pdf)

Floridas corals are dying at an alarming rate; between 1996 and 2001 the Keysexperienced a 40 percent decrease in coral cover. Since the 1980s, 97% of FloridasStaghorn and Elkhorn reef building corals have died prompting the federal government toelevate these species to threatened status under the Endangered Species Act. Recent studieshave linked Elkhorn coral white pox disease with Serratia marcescens, a human pathogenfound in sewage,(Sutherland KP, Shaban S, Joyner JL, Porter JW, Lipp EK (2011) HumanPathogen Shown to Cause Disease in the Threatened Eklhorn CoralAcropora palmata.PLoS ONE 6(8): e23468. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0023468).(http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0023468)

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/secretary/news/2009/02/files/0212_02.pdfhttp://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0023468http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0023468http://www.dep.state.fl.us/secretary/news/2009/02/files/0212_02.pdf

8/2/2019 Sign on letter, SB 724

3/4

Along with the mix of nutrient pollution and pathogens spewing from south Floridasocean outfalls, EPA reports Personal Care Products and Pharmaceuticals (PCPPs) nowrepresent and ever increasing threat to the environment. Recent studies have found Prozacin fish organs and disrupted sexual development in fish cause by estrogen.

The 2008 Florida Ocean Outfall legislation was not all about saving coral reefs. A keydriver of the legislation was the need to conserve water in south Florida. Water needed foragriculture, population growth and Everglades restoration. The southeast counties have oneof the lowest water reclamation and reuse records in Florida. Everyday 396,000,000gallons of wastewater is discharged into the coastal waters of Palm Beach, Broward andMiami-Dade counties. The 2008 legislation mandates that 60% of this wastewater beallocated for reuse.We strongly urge you not to turn back the clock; time is running out for Floridas coralreefs. Please vote no on SB 724.

Sincerely,

Clean Water Network of FloridaLinda Young, Director

Cry-of-the-WaterDan Clark, President

Eastern Surfing Association National Head QuartersEastern Surfing Association South Florida DistrictEastern Surfing Association Palm Beach County District

Tom Warnke, Chairman of the Board

Global Coral Reef AllianceThomas J. Goreau, PhD, President

Greater Fort Lauderdale Diving AssociationJeff Torode, President

Nature Travelers Club, Delray BeachHope Fox, President

Ocean Rehab Initiative Inc.

William Djubin, President

Palm Beach County Dive Industry AssociationVan Blakeman, Director

Palm Beach County Reef RescueEd Tichenor, Director

8/2/2019 Sign on letter, SB 724

4/4

PEER, Public Employees for Environmental ResponsibilityJerry Phillips, Director Florida Chapter

Surfrider Foundation

Miami ChapterBroward ChapterTreasure Coast ChapterSebastian Inlet ChapterCocoa Beach ChapterVolusia Flagler ChapterFirst Coast ChapterSuncoast ChapterCentral Florida ChapterEmerald Coast Chapter

Ericka Canales, Florida Regional Manager

Surfrider Foundation Palm Beach County ChapterTodd Remmel, Chapter Chair

Reef ReliefPeter Anderson, Chairman & President

Reef Relief FoundersCraig & DeeVon Quirolo