 IS THERE NO AGENCY THAT REALLY WILL PROTECT LAKE? Palm Beach Post -- Wednesday, August 15, 2001 By: Shep West, Loxahatchee Resident LETTER TO THE EDITOR The Post's front-page Aug. 2 article "No slowdown to Lake O runoff pumping" begins: "Sugar growers and water managers are opposing regulators who question the quality of runoff water." The public should recognize that the sugar growers and water managers are virtually one and the same, not two separate entities. They see the lake through the same eyes; their disdain for the lake's water quality is identical. Now, we see that "the twins" have a third brother, that being the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which announced July 18 that it would issue an order to stop the Belle Glade pumps, where the nutrient-laden "water" is the worst. Now, the DEP won't enforce its own order because officials "can't get the wording right." Evidently, stop is not in their vocabulary. The condition of the lake isn't a concern just for the few thousand of us who pursue our recreation there. How many tourists will be lured back to miles of algae blooms and decomposing fish? Coastal dwellers, beware. When the lake reaches its fill of witches' brew, the overflow will be headed for the Indian River Lagoon. This isn't speculation - just history repeating itself. Copyright (c) 2001, The Palm Beach Post |