From: The News Service of Florida
Environmental groups gave notice Thursday they will appeal a January court order in a long-running fight about water-quality standards in Florida. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle in January approved a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to agree to changes in a consent decree with the state about the standards. But the environmental law firm Earthjustice, on behalf of the Florida Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida and the St. Johns Riverkeeper, filed a notice Thursday that it will appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. The environmental groups contend that the changes approved by the EPA — and backed by the state — won’t do enough to protect streams and canals. “The Clean Water Act is supposed to mean clean water,” Earthjustice attorney David Guest said in a prepared statement. “That’s not happening here in Florida, and that’s why we’re going to court.” Environmental groups, the EPA, the state and major business groups have battled for years in court about water standards known as “numeric nutrient criteria.”