Crist keeps pushing for U.S. Sugar land deal

By at 18 March, 2010, 3:24 pm

Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday toured the St. Lucie River to keep up his sales pitch for a $536 million Everglades restoration land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. The governor proposes buying 73,000 acres of farmland south of Lake Okeechobee that would be used to build reservoirs and treatment areas to restore water flows to the Everglades. The deal passed a critical hurdle last week when the South Florida Water Management District agreed to a six-month contract extension with U.S. Sugar, despite growing cost concerns. Opponents say the plan to borrow $536 million – with South Florida property payers paying off the long-term debt – costs too much and takes money away from other overdue Everglades restoration projects. Crist’s trip Thursday in Martin County was meant to draw attention to how the land deal could eventually improve the health of

coastal estuaries, in addition to the Everglades. Storing and treating more polluted stormwater on U.S. Sugar land could diminish the damaging flood control discharges from Lake Okeechobee, through the St. Lucie River to the coast. Those discharges have led to fish kills and damaged sea grasses. “The well-being of the St. Lucie River and estuary is of great importance to Florida’s economy and quality of life,” Crist said in a written statement. The U.S. Sugar land deal still faces a legal challenge, going before the Florida Supreme Court on April 7. If the Supreme Court endorses the deal, the South Florida Water Management District still needs to find a lender and must determine if it can ultimately afford the deal amid diminishing tax revenue.

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Crist keeps pushing for U.S. Sugar land deal

Categories : Florida | West Palm Beach




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