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DEP Northwest District Headquarters fires chief regulatory enforcer, loses 10 other regulators - as St Joe moves into Panhandle

It’s not easy being green

Environmental activists got the jitters.

They envision bulldozers wiping out pristine salt marshes left and right.

Developers are wary.

They picture fast- paced building coming to a standstill.

That’s because tree-lovers and tree-haters see a big mess at 160 Governmental Center in Pensacola — the Department of Environmental Protection’s Northwest Florida district headquarters.

What’s up at the DEP?
Within the past year, about 10 top, veteran regulators responsible for monitoring construction impacts on sensitive lands left the agency. In addition, Northwest Florida District Director Mary Jean Yon dismissed Cliff Rohlke — a 28-year veteran of the department who some consider the state’s top environmental enforcer.

The exodus raises questions, many DEP observers say.

Can younger, more inexperienced regulators adequately protect Northwest Florida’s wetlands? Will the turmoil and turnover cause development projects to pile up? Is the wait for a wetlands permit going to take longer than the typical three to six months? And is the enforcement of state regulations going to tail off if coastal and submerged lands are destroyed by stormwater or dredge and fill projects?

The fear factor
Dan Gilmore and Edwin Henry, two top Northwest Florida developers and leaders in the Florida Home Builders Association, say a backlog of project permits hasn’t hit big developers or small property owners yet. But they worry about growth stalling.

“They’ve lost some very good people down there,” says Gilmore, head of RGB Development, who waited more than three years for a development permit for his Bayou Tarkiln Plantation subdivision. “The stability factor is very important.”

Says Henry, “It hasn’t effected permits yet, but will they take the same amount of time they always do, which is already too long?”

Building Industry Association of West Florida governmental affairs chairman Mike Green says simply: “I don’t have any permitting, and I’m glad I don’t.”

Meanwhile, environmentalists interpret the flight of top regulators and firing of Rohlke as open season on wetlands, which are viewed as critical to keeping pollution out of waterways and as habitats for threatened animals.

“This is a bad sign,” says Linda Young, Clean Water Network’s southeast region director. “It’s obvious to everyone that this means everyone is vulnerable to being fired. How can you expect regulators to stick out their necks to protect the environment when you know you’ll be next?”

Frances Dunham, Santa Rosa Sound Coalition member, says she worries about wetlands disappearing even more rapidly.

“I don’t know what’s going on internally, but it raises a lot of concern when you have so many people resigning,” she says. “It appears our environment will be much more subject to political whims.”

So much for being green
Rohlke, the DEP’s former compliance and enforcement manager, doesn’t allay environmental activists’ or developers’ fears. His last day is Sept. 16. Rohlke says current supervisors Amy Porto, Gary Woodiwiss and Steve Andrews all have fewer than four years experience. He expects big projects at St. Joe Co., which owns 70,000 acres north of Panama City, and other projects to greatly overwhelm Northwest Florida regulators.

“The environment goes to hell,” he predicts. “It’s obvious to me the (Gov. Jeb Bush) administration wants no regulatory responsibility.”

Yon, who took over the district in August 2001 from Bobby Cooley, tells property owners and concerned citizens not to fret. She says the situation is under control.

“I don’t expect the world to change,” she says. “We have some very good, very qualified people still here. They have the best interest of the public and environment at heart.”

State Sen. Durell Peaden says he will watch the Northwest District closely to ensure it continues balancing economic and environmental interests.

“Our environment has to be protected,” he says. “I can tell you our part of the state is better than other parts.”

Pointing fingers
Meanwhile, some who have worked with the local DEP office’s Environmental Resource Permitting Program pin the current upheaval on its chief, Connie Lasher. They label Lasher a micromanager, whose constant second- guessing demoralized staff.

The ERP program addresses dredging, filling and construction in wetlands and other surface water, as well as stormwater and surface water management systems in uplands. The program is designed to ensure that activities in uplands, wetlands and other surface waters do not degrade water quality or degrade habitat for wildlife.

Yon backs Lasher and says turnover occurred because more private sector companies are hiring at better salaries. However, sources say Lasher was nearly terminated two years ago when some regulators complained to Cooley about her poor management.

Rohlke says Lasher compounds the problem by undermining her staff, which deals with typically upset property owners on wetlands permitting and makes tough calls.

“She can be brutal,” Rohlke says. “She’s like Lord Sauron in ‘Lord of the Rings.’”

Unlike Rohlke, others contacted for the story refuse to be named for fear of retaliation from the department. But a former DEP regulator who worked closely with Lasher says her “militant” management style is a factor, saying it paralyzes regulators from making final decisions. The person says: “You’re at a constant disadvantage to help people. It’s already a tough job. It ends up an awful stressful and ulcer-producing situation.”

Another former DEP employee who wants to remain anonymous says: “It’s terrible. Many of us wish the permitting program would go to hell in a hand basket so something would be done about it.”

Greener pastures
Other regulators say they left the wetlands department for better pay in the private sector. Debbie Looney, an eight-year veteran, left in June for a Pensacola environmental consulting company. Environmental specialists typically earn between $28,000 and $40,000.

“A lot of people have left for more money,” Looney says.

Rohlke says with Service First, a program the Bush administration implemented last years, even more people will jump ship. The program ended state workers’ protection from being terminated for no reason.

Young says experience like Rohlke’s is greatly missed.

“You want someone like Cliff (Rohlke) who knows how things should be done,” the longtime activist says. “DEP regulators are going to feel reluctant to protect the environment.”

Rohlke and his staff were some of the state’s top enforcers; they brought 222 enforcement actions in Northwest Florida and handled 1,521 complaints in 2001.

But Henry, one of Northwest Florida’s largest homebuilders, says Rohlke won’t be missed. Henry and other developers say Rohlke wasn’t flexible and tried to stop development at all costs.

“He went out and harassed people,” Henry says. “The DEP made the right decision. He wasn’t truthful; at best, he was incompetent.”

Although the 51-year-old Rohlke calls his removal a political move by businessmen close to Bush and Florida DEP Secretary David Struhs, Yon says it was her decision to make.

“It was not political at all,” Yon insists. “I concluded that the compliance and enforcement department was having problems and that a lot of it had to do with Cliff’s inability to perform well as a manager. I wanted to start fresh.” 
 http://www.independentfloridasun.com/page.asp?id=112&aid=1223 
... Duwayne Escobedo, Independent Florida Sun,9/13/2002 , duwayne@ifsun.net

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