Stuart, Martin County - Today, Martin County Commissioners Sarah Heard and Ed Ciampi, Sewall's Point Town Commissioner Tom Bausch, and City of Stuart Commissioner Jeffrey Krauskropf, joined representatives of Clean Water Action, Indian Riverkeepers, Ocean Research and Conservation Association, Sierra Club and students from RiverKidz under the Stuart Causeway bridge on the St. Lucie River, where clean water is essential to the local economy and environment.

H.B. 421 Limited Certification for Urban Landscape Commercial Fertilizer Application would take away control from communities that want to do more to protect our water supply from toxic contamination. H.B. 421 would preempt local governments from effectively implementing the most important provision found in the state's local urban fertilizer ordinances - the rainy season application ban. H.B. 421 would exempt lawn care employees from the rainy season ban, which is the backbone of meaningful fertilizer management. Without it, local fertilizer ordinances become close to meaningless.

"We know the importance and value of clean water. That's why the Martin County Commission voted unanimously to enact local policies that protect our water resources," Martin County Commissioner Sarah Heard said this afternoon.

Sewall Point's Commissioner Tom Baush agreed, stating "we do not support any decisions by our legislators that work against lessening the amount of harmful pollutants in our waters... our ordinance requires that everyone comply."

"We have to demand clean water. It is a basic human right." said George Jones, Indian Riverkeeper. "The legislature should enhance, not take away, the ability to clean the state's water."

"In one corner you've got the public good, and in the other corner you've got someone trying to make money," noted Karl Wickstrom, local citizen conservationist and founder of Florida Sportsman magazine.

"We must send a message to Tallahassee -- please don't take local control away from Martin County," Stated Drew Martin, Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group. Martin County is one of nearly fifty local governments throughout the state that have worked to take progressive steps to protect and restore water quality. H.B. 421 could undue much of the good work done here in Martin County.

This issue was perhaps best summarized by student Evie Flaugh, co-founder of RiverKids, who stated: "Fertilizer makes fish, dolphins and manatees sick. We don't want a sick river. Think about it, it's our future."

Cara Capp of Clean Water Action concluded the event, stating: "Having clean water is not optional, it is vital for our local economy."

Sierra Club Regional Representative Cris Costello said: "County and municipal elected officials joined with clean water advocates today to decry the perils of stripping their communities of the one water pollution reduction tool that actually saves, instead of costs, local tax dollars."

"Last week a majority of the House Community and Military Affairs subcommittee was ready to vote down HB 421 but the vote was postponed - it appears that the leadership wanted more time to pressure the "No votes" into changing their minds. But the rainy season ban is not a partisan issue. It is Republican commissioners and council members who have cast the winning votes for strong fertilizer management. Why? Because the ban protects local jobs and saves their communities millions of tax dollars," remarked Costello.

Local governments must retain the right to protect the water resources upon which the majority of their communities' jobs are based. Cheap clean water or expensive clean water? The alternative to strong ordinances are stormwater and waste water infrastructure projects that cost hundreds of thousands, even millions of tax dollars.