Melissa Ross
Florida environmental groups say they’ll keep fighting after an administrative law judge approved a plan for a cattle operation they say threatens the state’s iconic Silver Springs and the Ocklawaha River Aquatic Preserve.
“The 9,500 head of cattle planned … will produce nearly 158 million pounds of manure and 11 million gallons of urine per year. In addition, 700,000 pounds of nitrogen from fertilizer will be used to grow grass and crops to feed the cattle,” said St. Johns Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman.
“Our experts and attorneys presented evidence that the aquifer is critically over-tapped in the Silver Springs springshed, and that the fertilizer and manure will increase nutrient pollution in the Silver and Ocklawaha rivers.”
Rinaman and the St. Johns Riverkeeper organization have joined with the Sierra Club and other parties in a legal challenge to Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach.
Stronach is one of Marion County’s largest landowners. He had asked the St. Johns River Water Management District for permission to move water rights involving his cattle operation at Sleepy Creek Lands from sod farms to a larger cattle ranch a few miles north.
A granted permit would approve the pumping of 1.46 million gallons a day from the Floridan Aquifer. The water would be used for the first phase of a multiphase beef operation.
Administrative Law Judge Gary Early ruled Wednesday in Stronach’s favor, saying petitioners have failed to prove the water withdrawal threatens the environment.
The SJRWMD Governing Board will vote on the permit at an upcoming meeting. However, environmentalists across the state are also alarmed at news this week that four senior staffers are abruptly departing the SJRWMD, calling it evidence of further erosion of water quality protections in Florida.
The fragility and decline of Silver Springs has long been a clarion call for environmentalists in the Sunshine State, and has received national publicity.
“One of the most troubling parts of the judge’s conclusions is his finding that the proposed withdrawal is ‘consistent with the public interest.’ Allowing our over-pumped aquifer and polluted waterways to be further degraded for the economic benefit of a private landowner is completely contrary to the public interest,” Rinaman said.
The Riverkeeper and other groups say they’ll demonstrate opposition to the permit when the SJRWMD Governing Board meets to vote on the permit.
