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Sugar Production and the Destruction of Our Waters

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Sugar Production and the destruction of our Waters.
Natural resources surround the state of Florida; water resources are one of them through the state. We have a variety of lakes, natural springs and wetlands, just to mention a few. Lakes and reservoirs are a major water resource in the state. It wasn’t until the 19th century that environmentalists around the country saw the need to create laws and regulations on how to use and protect the environment and better use our natural resources, that’s when the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) was established.
In the State of Florida, the EPA has established laws and regulations that protect our waters; the primary water laws are the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). These laws protect our waters, lake Okeechobee and the everglades. Lake Okeechobee is a freshwater inland lake that provides our state with fresh drinking water, it also provides the necessary water for irrigation, essential for our agricultural lands and our citrus industry, and most importantly, lake Okeechobee is a major source of water for the everglades.
Despite many laws and regulations protecting our important sources of water, we have a huge pollution problem affecting lake Okeechobee, and a violation of the clean water act. Florida is the biggest producer of sugar in the United States, and sugar production brings big revenue to the state, the problem is that the sugar industries, are polluting our lakes by “back pumping” water that has pesticides and chemicals obtained during the manufacture of sugar, endangering lake Okeechobee and the everglades by not treating and cleaning the water. When the contaminated water gets combined with the clean water, it grows toxic algae that destroy water and the habitat surrounding the affected area. The problem continues with the beneficiaries in Capitol Hill and in our senate, some of our representatives support the production of sugar in the state. This “beneficiaries” get big amounts of money for bills helping the industry of sugar production, receiving donations and monetary support during their campaigns, as a payoff, the representatives, provides the industry with lighter regulations, beneficiary laws, tax breaks that benefit the industry of sugar production and making it harder for the clean up, restoration and preservation of our waters in the state. This issue has been fought for many years, and sugar industries always had the upper hand, it wasn’t until a couple of months ago that a judge ruled in favor of the conservation of our waters in Florida and managed to impose higher regulations on sugar corporations, and speed up the process of cleaning contaminated waters, and lands around lake Okeechobee and through the state.

REFERENCES

* Raven, P., & Berg, L. (2011). Environmental laws, economics and ethics. In Environment (8e ed.). Fort Worth: Saunders College Pub. * Morgan, C. (2013, July 25). Lake Okeechobee dumping spells pollution problems for coastal rivers - Environment - MiamiHerald.com. Retrieved September 5, 2014. * Reid, A. (2014, March 31). Court ruling could block pumping pollutants into Lake Okeechobee. – Sunsentinel.com. Retrieved September 7, 2014. * Guest, D. (2014, March 14). Pumping Polluted Water Into Lake Okeechobee Must Stop, Judge Rules. - Earthjustice.org. Retrieved September 5, 2014. * News, M. (2014, June 23). Despite Responsibility, Sugar Industry Avoids Most of the Cost for Everglade Pollution Cleanup. Sunsentinel.com. Retrieved September 6, 2014. * REID, A. (2014, June 15). Sugar industry dodges 'Polluter Pays' Everglades costs. Sunsentinel.com. Retrieved September 7, 2014. * Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). (n.d.). Retrieved September 5, 2014. * EPA. (n.d.). Retrieved September 9, 2014. * -Jordan, G. (2014, February 23). Big Sugar's Influence Stretches From South Florida To Washington. wlrn.org. - Retrieved September 7, 2014.

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