The Seminole Tribe of Florida is asking an administrative law judge to block controversial new water quality standards the Seminoles say won’t protect people who live off the land.
The tribe is arguing a “subsistence level” hunter and trapper eats more than 140 grams of fish a week, five times more than the new water quality standards contemplate. A hearing date has been set for next month.
Environmental and Native American activist Nicole Williams was in tears when she testified recently before the Environmental Regulation Commission. She said Seminoles spend most of their time on lakes and streams and eat a lot of game.
“These bad things enter out systems in a lot more ways than just fish. And none of that is being addressed in any of the studies.”
A Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman said she could not comment on pending litigation.
DEP stresses that it is regulating 39 chemicals that were never covered before. Standards were relaxed for about half of the 43 other chemicals it regulates, but the experts say the changes are safe and based on the best science.
