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Staff ReportsJuly 17, 2017

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Peebles & Smith is now Peebles Smith & Matthews. The firm announced Monday that Ryan Matthews, who most recently served as the interim secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, has joined as a principal. Peebles and Smith is a well-regarded boutique lobbying firm whose list of clients heavily tilted toward local government clients. On […]

Michael MolineMay 23, 2017

Noah Valenstein got the job as secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection on Tuesday, after a unanimous vote by Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet. He will take the helm on June 5, with a salary of $150,000 per year, Scott said. “Noah has 15 years of environmental policy experience and I’m confident will continue […]

Michael MolineMay 17, 2017

Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet will interview a single candidate for the vacant secretary slot at the Department of Environmental Regulation — Noah Valenstein, a former environmental aide to the governor. His was the only name put forward for an interview during a meeting of aides to the governor and Cabinet Wednesday morning. “The […]

Florence SnyderMarch 14, 2017

Just in time for Sunshine Week, Tampa Bay Times environmental reporter Craig Pittman reminds us how focused, how ruthless, how relentless Gov. Rick Scott’s flacks are in their taxpayer-financed efforts to keep information out of the hands of taxpayers. Florida’s Ministries of Disinformation have been around since the Chiles administration, but “paranoia about the press” […]

Jenna Buzzacco-FoersterJanuary 25, 2017

Ryan Matthews will serve as the interim Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. Gov. Rick Scott announced Matthews appointment Tuesday, just days after FloridaPolitics.com first reported DEP Secretary Jon Steverson was resigning. Steverson’s last day is Feb. 3. Matthews joined the DEP in 2015, serving as the Director of Office of Water Policy and […]

Mitch PerryNovember 17, 2016

U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham is speaking out critically about the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, after she reviewed public records regarding the massive sinkhole at Mosaic’s facility in Polk County. “Unless there are records that were not produced as required by law, the disclosures show an alarming lack of communication among state regulators about a threat to the health and safety […]

Mitch PerryNovember 4, 2016

Six weeks after first requesting public records pertaining to the leak of contaminated water that occurred at a massive sinkhole at Mosaic’s New Wales Facility at the Hillsborough/Polk county line in August, U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham says she wants to know why Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection are “stalling” to release emails related to the controversy. “Public records are […]

Mitch PerrySeptember 29, 2016

Gwen Graham is again blasting Gov. Rick Scott about the massive sinkhole created at the Mosaic phosphate plant in Polk County last month. The Tallahassee Democratic representative specifically is challenging the claim made by Scott earlier this week that he wasn’t aware of the 215 million gallons of contaminated water going into the Florida aquifer until weeks after the incident. […]

Tamara LushSeptember 29, 2016

Neighbors of a huge sinkhole sending cascades of contaminated water and fertilizer plant waste into Florida’s main drinking-water aquifer are fearful and fuming that it took weeks for them to be notified about the disaster. Many are still waiting anxiously for results from tests for radiation and toxic chemicals in their well water. Meanwhile, the […]

Mitch PerrySeptember 21, 2016

Tallahassee U.S. Representative and potential gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham is blasting the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection, claiming it failed local citizens by failing to alert them of the massive leak of contaminated water that occurred through a sinkhole at Mosaic’s New Wales Facility in Polk County last month. The company did immediately inform the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection and other agencies, […]

Tag: DEP
Jonathan Dickinson State Park. Image via Visit Florida.

Personnel note: Peebles & Smith becomes Peebles, Smith & Matthews with hire of Ryan Matthews

Noah Valenstein hired as DEP’s new secretary

A single candidate scores interview for DEP top job: Noah Valenstein

Florence Snyder: Ain’t no Sunshine where Scott’s gone

Rick Scott taps Ryan Matthews as interim DEP chief

Gwen Graham still not satisfied after receiving DEP records about sinkhole

Gwen Graham blasts Rick Scott and DEP for delay in public records request on sinkhole spill

Gwen Graham again slams Rick Scott on Mosaic spill

Outcry grows over delay in warning about Mosaic sinkhole, contamination

Gwen Graham wants to know why the DEP didn’t tell the public about Mosaic’s toxic sinkhole