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East Coast Oceans Public Meeting Tampa, Florida
06/01/1998| Carol M. Browner, Administrator U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Remarks Prepared for Delivery East Coast Oceans Public Meeting Tampa, Florida June 1, 1998 Thank you Jim. Welcome everyone. Thank you all for joining us today. I am delighted to be here with the other members of our panel, and to have this opportunity to listen to your concerns. I am heartened that so many of you have taken the time from your busy schedules to be here. It shows just how important our oceans are to Florida -- and to this nation. I grew up in Florida -- in Miami. I was raised on white sand and the sound of the surf. I know, as does any Floridian, just how important the beauty and bounty of the ocean is to our quality of life. We know that clean, safe, healthy oceans means clean, safe, healthy, and economically vibrant communities. But I have been wondering: what kind of oceans will we be able to pass on to our children and grandchildren? Will they enjoy the fabulous quality of life and natural heritage I did when I was growing up? Many parents are asking these same questions and not just in Florida, not just in other coastal states, but everywhere in this nation where we eat fish and depend on the many resources our oceans provide. Since we passed the Clean Water Act more than a quarter century ago, we have recognized that what we do on land has great impact on our waters. We have taken steps to prevent billions of pounds of toxic chemicals and raw sewage from entering our waterways both inland and along our coasts. Today, two-thirds of our waters are now safe for swimming and fishing compared to only a third in 1972. While much as been done to reduce discharges from point sources, sewer plants, and industrial pipes -- our job is not done. We know that too many of our rivers, lakes, and coastal waters still contain fish unsafe to eat and water too polluted for swimming and drinking. Contaminated , polluted urban and agricultural runoff continues to cause serious problems. Today, 40 percent of the coastal waters and estuaries that have been surveyed do not meet water quality standards. Over the last decade, almost 19,000 closings and health advisories have been issued for the nation's beaches. No parent should have to tell their child that the water is just too dirty to take a swim. Scientists by and large have linked excess phosphorus and nitrogen to last summer's outbreak of pfiesteria -- a toxic micro-organism that killed fish in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina and may have poisoned fishermen. Excess nutrients have lowered oxygen levels in waters throughout the country and created a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico the size of Connecticut. There are no fish, no shrimp, no vegetation. And in Florida, a cousin of pfisteria -- cryptoperidiminopsis -- potentially threatens the health of the St. John's and Indian River Lagoon. Our nation cannot afford this -- not only for the health of our people and marine life, but also for the health of our economy. In 1995, the U.S. fishing industry added more than $20 billion to the economy, and coastal tourism generated more than $54 billion. One out of every six jobs is linked to our oceans -- in tourism, fishing, shipping, research. Businesses and communities along our coasts have enough to worry about with the bad weather that's been coming their way recently. They should not have to worry about beach closings, a red tide, a high bacteria count, pathogens in the water that are keeping customers and tourists away. Just in Maryland, the pfiesteria outbreak last summer cost the state's fishermen and seafood industry $43 million. President Clinton is taking action to clean up the nation's waters. He understands that what we do on land has a significant effect on our coastal waters. In February, he announced the Clean Water Action Plan -- our national blueprint to clean up and restore the nation's waters -- our rivers, lakes, streams, underground acquifers, and estuaries. For the first time ever, at the Year of the Oceans Conference in Monterey next week, the President and Vice President are bringing together government experts, public health officials, scientists, environmentalists, and businesses to develop a national strategy -- using the Clean Water Action Plan as the roadmap to restore and protect our precious ocean resources. This plan provides $2.3 billion to address polluted runoff from agriculture and urban areas, as well as the loss of wetlands, and the restoration of our waterways. It gives Americans the tools, flexibility, and resources they need to clean up their waters community by community and watershed by watershed, estuary by estuary. It builds on this administration's philosophy of bringing people together -- industry, agriculture, environmentalists, communities, and every level of government -- to find common-sense, cost-effective solutions. Unfortunately, while the President is moving the nation forward on clean water, some in Congress are holding us back. A budget resolution passed in the Senate that would slash funding for our efforts to clean up the country's waters, as well as address most of the nation's other urgent public health and environmental challenges. This action sends the wrong message to the American people. It tells them that their government is willing to put their health and environment in jeopardy. This is not the time to let down our guard. We must remain vigilant. The Clinton Administration is committed to protecting our oceans -- and we can do a better job with your help. Already we are taking steps for clean water: a strategy to control animal waste runoff from feedlots; increased efforts to prevent and minimize harmful algal blooms and pfiesteria outbreaks; first-ever internet access to information on beach closings and advisories across the nation. In doing so, we take important steps toward protecting our oceans, Healthy estuaries -- cleaner freshwater entering the estuaries -- where so much of life begins, healthy fish, shellfish, healthy oceans, healthy beaches and a healthy future. I must tell you now that I have to leave in about an hour to catch the last plane back to Washington, but Jim will report back to me -- and I will take your comments and concerns to the National Oceans Conference next week. Thank you again for your time and sharing your ideas and concerns. |
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