Sweet home Alabama, land of opportunity
Geeze, the Yellow Hammer State must be the place to be for business. Just ask Rep. Greg Evers, R-Baker, and Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville.
King just mentioned in the Senate's fix-the-economy committee that 'Bama's stealing away Florida business. And earlier today at the House Ag & Natural Resource Committee, Evers looked to Alabam as a source of inspiration when it comes to environmental regulation, which he said is far better across the Perdido River.
Evers, complaining about the Department of Environmental Protection's lengthy permit reviews, viewed DEP as a type of threat that could rival the securitization of subprime mortgages and credit-default swaps.
"One of the reasons Florida is suffering right now is the permitting process with DEP," Evers said.
-- Marc Caputo and Jennifer Liberto, Times-Herald staff
From the writers of the St. Petersburg Times, The Buzz offers the latest news in Florida politics. This is a public forum sponsored and maintained by the St. Petersburg Times. When you post comments here, what you say becomes public and could appear in the newspaper. You are not engaging in private communication with candidates or Times staffers.
Evers is an idiot!
Posted by: | January 13, 2009 at 05:53 PM
Oh the suffering... the infernal suffering... must. go. to. Alabama.
Posted by: | January 13, 2009 at 06:33 PM
Walker County residents sue Alabama's environmental agency about coal mine water discharge permit
Thursday, January 01, 2009 KENT FAULKNews staff writer
Four Walker County residents have asked a court to force the state's environmental agency to republish a public notice for a permit that, if approved, would allow a coal company to discharge water into the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River.
The proposed 506-acre mine, southeast of Cordova, is opposed by nearby residents, the Black Warrior Riverkeeper group and the Birmingham Water Works, which has a major drinking water intake in the Mulberry Fork near the site.
A lawsuit was filed by the four residents Monday in Montgomery County Circuit Court against ADEM regarding its Nov. 13 public notice in a Walker County newspaper that set a 30-day public comment period on a proposed water discharge permit to Reed Minerals Inc.
ADEM did not follow state rules in publishing the notice, according to the lawsuit, because it failed to include a general description of the location of each existing or proposed discharge point into the river under the proposed permit.
The lawsuit asks the court to order ADEM to republish the notice and include a general description of the location of each proposed discharge point.
An ADEM spokesman said Tuesday he had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment. Efforts to reach an official with Reed Minerals for comment were unsuccessful. The 30-day comment period for the Nov. 13 notice has ended.
In its notice, ADEM provided a link to its Web site where a copy of the proposed Reed Mineral permit can be found. The proposed permit includes a map of discharge points.
David Ludder, a Tallahassee attorney for the four Walker County residents, said residents in the case did not file comments and don't feel it's their responsibility to seek out where the discharge points are. State rules require ADEM to provide information in public notices that would give residents an idea of where the outfalls are located, he said.
"The idea is to give them enough notice of what affects them to know whether to pursue further steps," Ludder said.
If ADEM decided to hold a public hearing on the proposed permit, the agency could combine a public hearing with a new public notice and comment period and solve the problem, Ludder said.
ADEM has not said whether it will hold a public hearing.
Reed Mineral's application for the permit says the company plans to sell coal from surface and underground mines at the site to Alabama Power for generation of electricity. Under the proposed permit, the company would be required to keep pollutants from running into the river. The company would spend about $350,000 a year on pollution control at the site, according to the permit application.
Birmingham Water Works filed a letter with ADEM on Dec. 15 opposing the permit because of discharge sites immediately upstream of its drinking water intake on the Mulberry Fork.
"In general, it can be concluded that the Reed Minerals No. 5 Mine operation has a high potential for adverse impacts to the Birmingham drinking water supply, and that the proposed permit is not protective of the designated uses of Mulberry Fork," Darryl R. Jones, assistant general manager at the waterworks, said in the letter.
Birmingham Water Works had similar concerns with a water discharge permit last year for the proposed Shepherd Bend mine, which is near the proposed Reed Mineral site. ADEM granted the Shepherd Bend permit in July.
Neither mine has a state mining permit yet and neither is operating. The Black Warrior Riverkeeper group has sued ADEM over issuance of the Shepherd Bend permit.
E-mail: kfaulk@bhamnews.com
Posted by: | January 13, 2009 at 06:42 PM
One thing is for sure... Evers is no dummy at getting his name in the press all the time. You Go, Greg!!!! We're with you all the way.
Posted by: | January 13, 2009 at 09:35 PM
"when it comes to environmental regulation, which he said is far better across the Perdido River."
In other words, King is lamenting the fact that we have some semblance of regulation in Florida. Get rid of him, and ALL irresponsible Republicans, PLEASE!
Posted by: | January 14, 2009 at 08:52 AM
Evers and the Florida Elections Commission:
"On November 21 2003, the Commission entered an Order of Probable Cause
finding probable cause to charge the Respondent with 39 violations of the Election Code."
http://www.fec.state.fl.us/Final%20Orders/2004/113.pdf
http://www.fec.state.fl.us/Final%20Orders/2002/191.pdf
Posted by: No ethics with Evers | January 14, 2009 at 06:17 PM