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OPINION its feet. Finally, the EPA's continued tolerance substances in our drinking water. It is our offfor this was more than the environmental spring who will have to bear the burdens of congenital defects and disease as a proximal community could bear. result of the state's laxity. Several organizations, including the Sierra Club, sued the EPA in federal court four years We, the people of the state, should welcome ago to force it to better protect the waterways the EPA's rules with a collective sigh of relief in Florida. In a negotiated settlement, the EPA and hope the damages of the last few decades can be reversed. promised the court it would demand stricter The EPA has left open oversight by Florida's The people of the state should the door for state reguenvironmental regula- embrace the EPA's rules with a collective lators to play a greater tors or take over the sigh of relief, and hope that the damages role in protecting Florjob at the federal lev- of the last few decades might now be ida's waterways. Rathel. Now that time has reversed. er than opposing the arrived. This week new rules, the state the EPA released proshould embrace them posed nutrient guideand commit to improving its stewardship of lines for the state's roughly 100,000 miles of a treasure that belongs to its employer — the waterways, emphasizing the state's own propeople of Florida. % posed regulations were adequate to protect not more than about 15 percent of those waters. The rest would be governed by federal rules enforced by the EPA. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Predictably, the reaction from Gov. Rick Scott and the business and development communities was one of outrage. In their best Louis Renault impersonation, they were collectively "Shocked! Shocked!" that the state was not an adequate custodian of Florida's waterways. They made dark predictions of economic collapse and industrial flight if the EPA was allowed to foist its oversight on the state. The people of Florida, however, should have none of it. This is our proverbial backyard that has become a dumping ground. All of us can suffer the ill effects of exposure to toxic The Sarasota News Leader welcomes letters to the editor from its readers. Letters should be no more than 300 words in length, and include the name, street address and telephone number of the writer. Letters should be emailed to Letters@SarasotaNewsLeader.com, with "Letter to the Editor" in the subject line. Letters actually printed will be selected based on space available, subject matter and other factors. We reserve the right to edit any letters submitted for length, grammar, spelling, etc. All letters submitted become the property of The Sarasota News Leader.