October 25, 2002

Sugar Industry Expert: Set Phosphorus Limit at 15.6 ppb ; Blame Airboats 

The Sugar Industry staked out its stand today on what number should end up in the phosphorus criterion rule required by the Everglades Forever Act. Duke University Professor Curtis Richardson, hired by the sugar industry to make a 5 hour presentation to the state's Environmental Regulation Commission, recommended that the standard be set at 15.6 parts per billion - contrasting with the 10 part per billion standard recommended by the Department of Environmental Protection.

Richardson also threw in another twist, suggesting that "disturbances" such as airboats in the Everglades Conservation Areas are a greater cause of the conversion of natural Everglades wetlands from sawgrass to cattails than phosphorus pollution from agricultural fields, raising the specter that the sugar industry may call for limitations on recreational use of Everglades lands as an alternative to a strict water quality standard.