> You can forget all that training you got in conservation school
> about the value of wetlands. No longer do they filter pollution, they
> actually create it!! Yes, it's true -- according to the EPA.
> More craziness; more evidence of the tightening grip corporate polluters
> have over our government. This is worth spreading around.
>

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Contact: Dennis McKinney (202) 265-7337

Wetlands Pollute, Says Study Okayed by EPA
EPA Biologist Resigns in Protest; Study Clears Way for SW Florida
Developments

Washington, DC - A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency biologist has
resigned in protest of his agency's acceptance of a developer-financed study
concluding that wetlands discharge more pollutants than they absorb,
according to a statement released today by Public Employees for
Environmental Responsibility (PEER).  EPA's approval of the study gives
developers credit for improving water quality by replacing natural wetlands
with golf courses and other developments.

A group comprised largely of local developers in Southwest Florida
contracted Harvey Harper to write the report outlining how the developers
could address worsening water quality problems in the region.  The resultant
Harper Report concludes that -

* Wetlands generate pollution, based upon sampling collected
in wetlands next to highways and bridges; and

* Developers can escape federal wetlands restrictions by
employing a tactic called "rent-a-cow," whereby the land
owner allows a few cattle to graze in the wetland so it can classified as
"improved pasture."

Often called "nature's kidneys," wetlands are protected by the Clean Water
Act in part because of the role they play in purifying water.  Despite these
legal protections, America's wetlands are shrinking as regulatory agencies
find ways to approve more development.

Bruce Boler, a former state water quality specialist, resigned after three
years with EPA.  Boler, in his resignation statement, cited the stance taken
by the EPA Regional Administrator Jimmie Palmer that "EPA would not oppose
state positions, so if a state had no water quality problems with a project
then neither would EPA."  The state of Florida has already signed off on the
Harper Report.

"In the Bush Administration's bizarre world of 'sound science,' wetlands
cause pollution and there is no evidence of global warming," commented PEER
Executive Director Jeff Ruch.  PEER is leading a coalition of environmental
groups seeking to stop ten projects in the Western Everglades that would
destroy more than 2,000 acres of wetlands.  "EPA's new position that
wetlands pollute stands the Clean Water Act on its head and sends the
all-clear signal to developers that no project is out of bounds."

###
Read Bruce Boler's statement of resignation from EPA
http://www.peer.org/EPA/Boler_Statement.html

Review PEER's effort to stop the destruction of 2,000 acres of wetlands in
the Western Everglades.
<http://www.peer.org/press/398.html>

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