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Friends of Lake Apopka - How it
began...
The West Orange Time's article's headline read "St. Johns River
Water Management District signs Lake Apopka Death Warrant."
Published in the May 16, 1991 edition, the article outlined the
decision of the St. Johns Water Management District's governing
board
giving the Zellwood Muck Farms a permanent permit which would have
allowed them to continue dumping polluted water into Lake Apopka.
The legislation was referred to as 40C-44FAC which stated that
existing agricultural systems are "presumed to satisfy the
conditions for issuance." An amendment to this ruling that would
have required existing agricultural systems to get into compliance
with the state's pollution standards before the issuance of a
discharge permit failed. Another provision to limit the duration of
the permit to five years also failed. The final paragraph of the
article stated, "The local muck farmers are economically and
politically powerful; and they appear to control state regulators.
There does not seem to be anyone in government who is able to
protect the lake."
James Hawley of Killarney was mentioned in the article. For years
Jim had worked for the lake both in and out of court trying to force
responsible agricultural practices. Jim and his wife live on the
shores of Lake Apopka . He and a group of citizens sought
restoration of the lake by forming "People for Lake Apopka Now!"
Members of the West Orange Chamber of Commerce distributed, at
numerous chamber events, hundreds of reprints of the Times article
along with a call for action. The Chamber board of directors
established a Steering Committee to organize interested volunteers
and prepare a course of action to press for an end to the pollution.
This subcommittee operated under the sanction of the Chamber's
Government Affairs Committee. Jim Hawley, Bill Breeze, Pat Smith,
Andrew Bailey, Mike Malloy and Pat Arndt were among those early
committee members.
It was after a number of meetings of this committee, that the need
for expert assistance in the formation of an advocacy group was
recognized and Jim Thomas, a environmental biologist and owner of
BIOSPHERE in Winter Garden, was invited to attend committee
meetings. Jim Thomas had served as president of the Friends of the
Weikiva and was knowledgeable in restoration processes and in the
organization of citizen advocacy groups. He agreed to serve as an
advisor. After attending several committee meetings, Jim became a
permanent member of the committee.
With Jim Thomas's guidance and dedication, The Steering Committee
went on to draft a charter and, spun off from the Chamber of
Commerce, formed what is now "Friends of Lake Apopka." Many of the
original Steering Committee members became directors of the new
group. An active relationship with the West Orange Chamber continues
to this day. Without the initial support by their board and clerical
support by staff, FOLA would not have achieved their goals. A
special thanks will always go to the West Orange Chamber for this
support.
Since then, FOLA has worked undauntingly to secure a solution for
the lake restoration which finally, with the 1996 signing of the
Lake Apopka Restoration Act, culminated buyout of the muck farms and
the end to the phosphate loading.
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