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"Glacial slowness''

That's what Judge Alan Gold said about the EPA in a "blistering" order that accuses the agency of ignoring the judge's previous orders. From reporter Andy Reid:

U.S. District Judge Alan Gold in Miami blamed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for failing to heed his 2008 ruling that directed the agencies to enforce water-cleanup standards that were supposed to begin in 2006.
Instead, federal and state officials have opted for a 10-year extension to enforce tougher standards to clean up phosphorus in water that flows to the Everglades.
On Wednesday, Gold ordered the EPA and DEP to ``immediately carry out'' his previous mandates or face fines and sanctions for violating the federal Clean Water Act.
Gold also called out the South Florida Water Management District, which leads Everglades restoration. Gold said the district ``has chosen to ignore'' the court's call to enforce the water-quality standard.
``The hard reality is that ongoing destruction due to pollution within the Everglades Protection Area continues to this day at an alarming rate,'' Gold said in his ruling.

Gold isn't the only judge who is upset:

Gold became the second federal judge in recent weeks to raise concerns about the repercussions of the U.S. Sugar land deal on already-overdue Everglades restoration efforts.
U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno on March 31 ordered construction to resume on an Everglades restoration reservoir that had been shelved as the district tried to finalize the still-pending U.S. Sugar deal.
The unfinished reservoir in western Palm Beach County has already cost taxpayers almost $280 million.
The Miccosukee Tribe, which contends that Everglades restoration is off course, filed the legal challenges that led to both judges' rulings.
The tribe has also teamed with U.S. Sugar competitor Florida Crystals to wage a legal fight to try to stop the U.S. Sugar land deal.
They argue the deal threatens to take money from other restoration efforts, such as the reservoir, and would lead to further restoration delays.
"You are supposed to be cleaning up the water,'' Miccosukee attorney Dexter Lehtinen said. "They are abandoning the already existing plans. It's a deliberate ignoring of the requirements.''

Full post as published by Southern District of Florida on April 15, 2010 (boomark / email).