Congressional hearings in Orlando on Florida's water pollution standards listen

Tags: EPA, EPA water standards, Sierra Club, Orlando, UCF, Phil Compton, algae blooms, Tampa Bay

A possible algal bloom in Tampa Bay, north of the Howard Frankland Bridge, on 6 August 2011.

photo by Seán Kinane/WMNF

Tuesday in Orlando there will be a Congressional hearing on Florida’s water pollution rules. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has imposed numeric nutrient standards on Florida’s water bodies, but they’re being challenged by some business groups. They’ll be well represented at the hearings called by U.S. Representative Cliff Stearns, which concerns Phil Compton, the Tampa Bay regional representative for Sierra Club Florida.

They are organizing a demonstration outside the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment hearing. It begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the University of Central Florida Alumni Center in Orlando.