Investigation Request

The Council of Civic Associations (CCA) has requested a congressional investigation into permitting concerns in southwest Florida over what appears to be, “the disregard for the enforcement of existing laws that has become commonplace among governmental bodies at the federal, state and local levels.” ( from CCA Attachment 1, see list below).

The CCA, through the efforts of Ann Hauck, has been working closely with PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility) a Washington-based environmental watchdog organization that works to protect scientists and others employed by federal, state and local agencies from undue interference and political pressure. Phrases in quotation marks in this e-mail have been excerpted from numerous documents to give some idea of how egregious that pressure has been.

On May 9, 2007, Jeff Ruch, Executive Director, PEER addressed the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Natural Resources and submitted CCA Attachment 1 into the congressional record. Following strict guidelines, Mr. Ruch gave oral testimony regarding input from scientists or other specialists who are “asked to shade or distort the truth in order to reach a pre-determined result, such as a favorable recommendation on a project.” ( from Testimony of Jeff Ruch, Executive Director, PEER, May 9, 2007, The House Natural Resources Committee. See list below).

Quote from Jeff Ruch’s presentation: “ In this morning’s testimony, I will 1) describe how official manipulation and distortion of Endangered Species Act (ESA) science has become pervasive; 2) explain how scientists are often caught in the political crosshairs of their own agency management with little recourse; and 3) suggest how Congress can ameliorate this state of affairs.”

Beginning with the Clinton administration and then-Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, Mr. Ruch continues to point out the transgressions by former Interior Secretary Gale Norton and then leads into the Bush White House with reference to Karl Rove’s PowerPoint presentation to Interior political staff and the Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie MacDonald scandal that prompted an investigation by the OIG (Office of Inspector General). The investigation ended in “the abrupt resignation of Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie MacDonald in the wake of an Inspector General report finding that she falsified agency scientific findings and improperly supplied internal drafts of agency documents to the Farm Bureau and property rights groups.”

The CCA 6 page Attachment 1 to the PEER oral presentation included recommendations to the House Committee and were “compiled by regional, state and federal regulatory sources to address some of the serious deterioration of natural resource protections in Florida”. The CCA is asking for an investigation into corruption at top levels within the EPA, questionable land deals for Everglades Restoration, and independent oversight committee to review USACE projects, clarification amendments to the Clean Water Act, better communication between agencies and we end with “Fundamentally, the CWA (Clean Water Act) will only be effective if the regulatory agencies decide to embark upon meaningful enforcement of the ESA and CWA. This means that both civic and criminal enforcement must be allowed.” (Quotes are from CCA Attachment 1)

In June, 2006 the Council of Civic Associations sponsored a Symposium to review the effectiveness of the Southwest Florida PEIS (Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement) which was to identify and control cumulative effects of development in southwest Florida. As the group that petitioned for the PEIS, the CCA supported the written concerns of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Environmental Protection Agency that the effort failed to fulfill its written intent. Over 65 people attended the two day Symposium including federal, state and local officials as well as scientists who could best help us identify and seek solutions to continuing growth associated problems including decline in water quality, draw down of aquifers, failing infrastructure, lack of affordable housing, shrinking habitat and spiraling development in high hazard areas.

The CCA, in it’s continuing effort to be proactive, used the symposium findings in it’s investigation request to the House of Representatives, House Committee on Natural Resources.

In a May 17, 2007 separate report to the House Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans, Ann Hauck wrote: “The White House has engineered a biological train wreck in South Florida. Campaign contributors have engineered immunity for themselves from the Endangered Species Act and other, related environmental laws.” The nationally respected St. Petersburg Times used the quote in an article on the questionable Army Corps approval of the Mirasol development in Collier County and the quote was picked up by national news media such as Florida Trend magazine where it was chosen as their “Quote of the Week” and from where it was picked up by GOOGLE at TOPIX.com, US News, under Top Stories.

If you are not a committed environmentalist, you may think this information has nothing to do with you and your civic activities but we are talking about permitting agencies that review large development proposals or make other decisions that can and do directly affect our quality of life, degrade our water quality, deplete our ever diminishing resources and cause our taxes to skyrocket. We owe a debt of gratitude to the environmental organizations that fought to pass the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act. Laws that give civic groups some teeth with which to bite-back at rampant, unbridled growth.

Developers commonly play one development permit off another so if they can get one agency to issue a permit they can use that as leverage against other agencies. Often they begin the process of approval by lining the pockets of politicians campaigning for office years before breaking ground on a new development and then they ask for a nod, a wink or a look the other way when a development order comes through. Once the development is built, the developer moves on leaving the residents to deal with problems of traffic congestion, crowded schools, depleted drinking water aquifers and runoff pollution of our rivers, bays and estuaries. While we are scurrying to deal with the mass of local problems, more developers are beginning the process all over again and we never seem to catch up.

We are “busting our buttons” proud of what the CCA has accomplished, so far, and remain hopeful that Congress will step up to the plate and provide an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct. We will keep you informed and if you are one of the people who contributed to this effort, our gratefulness is exceeded only by our awe of your courage. We humbly thank you.

Below is a list of documents available some of which are included as attachments to this e-mail:

     1)  The Council of Civic Associations ATTACHMENT 1 to The House Committee on Natural Resources, May 9, 2007, (6 pgs.).

     2)  Wall Street Journal article by Tom Hamburger re: White House political strategist Karl Rove’s clout brought to bear on 50 Interior managers at a Fish and Wildlife Service conference center in Shepherdstown, W.Va.

     3)  Report of Investigation by the OIG (Office of Inspector General) re: Julie MacDonald, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Fish, Wildlife and Parks, (22 pgs.).

     4)  PEER Press Release “Legacy of Scientific Fraud Honed by Bush Administration, Julie MacDonald Scandal Symptomatic of Broad Pattern of Mendacity”, May 9, 2007 (2 pgs.). Links at the bottom to the PEER testimony before congress; Council of Civic Associations report on Florida, Attachment 1; Fish & Wildlife Service scientists PEER survey and the NOAA Fisheries scientists survey.

     5)  CCA Report to Honorable Barbara Boxer, Chairman, U.S. Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee, 2/19/07, (21 pgs.).

     6)  Testimony of Jeff Ruch, PEER Executive Director, before The House Natural Resources Committee, May 9, 2007, (11 pgs.)

     7)  PEER Press Release, February 9, 2005, “Politics Trumps Science at U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service” - Survey Reveals Inappropriate Orders to Alter Scientific Findings, Decisions. Link to the summary of national and regional survey results.

     8)  PEER Press Release, June 28, 2005, “Political Appointees Pollute Waters at Ocean Agency” - Survey Shows Special Interest Influence and Altered Scientific Findings. (2 pgs.)

     9)  Council of Civic Associations, Ann Hauck’s memo to House Committee on Natural Resources, May 17, 2007 with quote: “The White House has engineered a biological train wreck in South Florida.” (2 pgs.)

     10)  “As Corps Works to Fix Glades, It Approves Golf Course In It”, article by Craig Pittman, St. Petersburg Times, May 18, 2007 re: Mirasol development in Collier County and quoting Ann Hauck. (3 pgs.)

     11)  Audubon of Florida, Jason Lauritsen review of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) Biological Opinion (BiOp) for the planned Mirasol development in Collier County, March 1, 2007. ( 13 pgs.)
 

Prepared by: Kathy Malone, vice-President

Council of Civic Associations, Inc.

239-283-3762

E-mail: km654@cyberstreet.com

CCA Attachment1:

Date:         May 17, 2007

Memo to:   Ms. Lori Sonken, Staff Director

                  Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans

                  House Committee on Natural Resources

From:       Ann Hauck, Secretary 

The White House has engineered a biological train wreck in South Florida. Campaign contributors have engineered immunity for themselves from the Endangered Species Act and other, related environmental laws. 

The extent of breakdown is evidenced by – 

A. The almost total absence of jeopardy opinions. The Fish and Wildlife Service is operating under unwritten orders to issue no biological opinion that impedes a development project, no matter what its effect is upon listed wildlife. 

B. The recent removal of nearly a million acres of land from boundaries of designated critical habitat for the critically endangered Florida panther. This panther caper is the epitome of a profound corruption at work inside the federal resource agencies in this region. 

C. Reliance by FWS on industry consultants to write the key components of their own biological opinions on their clients’ projects – to “speed things up,” according to an FWS email. 

We believe that the conditions in this region merit the Natural Resources Committee’s further attention.  On behalf of the CCA, I would request that the Committee staff initiate a review of ESA implementation in a state renowned for its exotic variety of wildlife – a reputation that is quickly becoming obsolete.

For Additional Information Read: 

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/18/State/As_corps_works_to_fix.shtml
 

Note: Attachment: 2007 BiOp comments revised.doc exposes flawed FWS Skip Bergman, COE project reviewer told a reliable source that approval of the project was based on the FWS recommendation.