Sneaking Big Sugar a favor ahead of the next governor

Rick Scott pretended to be many things during his Senate campaign. One of them was an environmentalist.

Before his victory over Bill Nelson became official, however, we saw again that Scott has been Florida’s worst governor in decades when it comes to the environment.

Scott had touted his role in the new reservoir on 16,100 acres of state-owned land south of

Lake Okeechobee that will reduce harmful discharges to the coasts. Two days after the election, however, the governing board of the South Florida Water Management District – all of them Scott appointees -voted unanimously to let sugar farming continue on that site.

If the action stands, the land will be unavailable for at least two years. Though it could take a decade to complete the reservoir, the district could use the land for temporary storage after minimal work.

The move was bad on substance and worse on style. The board had scheduled only a discussion during its Nov. 8 meeting of whether to extend the lease with a subsidiary of Florida Crystals. At 9:30 the night before, however, the agenda changed to show a board vote. The meeting was not at district headquarters in West Palm Beach – the usual location -- but at the University of Miami.

Newly reelected U.S. Rep. Brian Mast asked the board to delay its vote. Mast represents Martin County, where lake discharges have fouled canals and closed beaches. Ron DeSantis, then leading but not officially the governor-elect, joined Mast in seeking a delay. The lease expires March 31. The board has four meetings between now and then.

District officials claimed that they had fulfilled notice requirements. But Everglades Foundation CEO Erik Eikenberg and Celeste De Palma, director of Everglades policy for Audubon of Florida, say the district failed to provide proper notice. The director of the First Amendment Foundation agrees with them.

In a letter to Scott, Eikenberg called the vote “illegal, shameful and undemocratic” and “a breathtaking effort to thwart the public will.” Well, yes. But if you understand Rick Scott and the sugar industry that has supported him, you can understand the rush and deception.

Though the district had been studying the lease as far back as July, Eikenberg said things began moving much faster in September, after DeSantis defeated Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in the Republican primary.

Sugar growers had backed Putnam, who also has been a tool of the industry. DeSantis had called for stronger policies to prevent algae blooms and red ride and had criticized Putnam’s close ties to polluters. The district wanted to help Florida Crystals before the next governor took office. After the vote, a district news release claimed that the board actually had speeded up the reservoir by making the land available once design work is done. Even as Scott has decimated the district for eight years, the agency perpetuates the myth of Scott the environmentalist.

Scott’s relationship with Florida Crystals began early. The company gave $100,000 near the end of his 2010 campaign. U.S. Sugar long has been a Scott patron. The company donated roughly $8 million during the last election cycle, and the Miami Herald reported that between 1994 and 2016 the sugar industry contributed nearly $58 million just in state races.

The Legislature overwhelmingly approved the southern reservoir in 2017. Floridians overwhelmingly support stronger environmental protection. Yet the agency charged with that protection continues to favor the sugar industry. So does the Legislature. The original plan envisioned a 60,000-acre reservoir. When sugar growers said they wouldn’t sell any land, the plan shrunk. Opposition to the larger reservoir came from a senator who now works for the Florida Sugar Cane League.

Regarding the lease, De Palma said Audubon is “looking at our options” Eikenberg wonders if the lease has been signed. A district spokesman didn’t return an email asking that question. Challenges to the vote almost certainly are coming.

At the same meeting, the district board voted to withdraw from the court order that compels the state to clean water entering the Everglades. Fortunately, a federal judge is unlikely to agree, and Eikenberg says the Department of Justice likes the status quo. Both board actions can be traced to the real Rick Scott. He proclaims that he will continue to help Florida from Washington. Please, stop helping.