Manatee CO, Florida, Eliminates County Water & Air Quality Department - But Services Will IMPROVE!!!

MANATEE COUNTY — The dismantling of the county department that monitors local air and water quality moved swiftly this week.

Few staffers still occupy the offices of the Environmental Management Department, located on Sixth Avenue East in Bradenton. Its director, Karen Collins-Fleming, is gone. Remarked one employee on Wednesday: "There is no department."

And just like that, a county division that was originally born by a legislative act 17 years ago to give the county more authority to police polluters is no more. County Administrator Ed Hunzeker announced Monday he had dissolved the 24-person department to help save money in a budget year that may see $44 million in countywide spending cuts.

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Air quality monitoring will now be the responsibility of the state. Hunzeker and other county officials insist that environmental oversight will not diminish as a result of the consolidation. "We're not going to see a demise of our environmental programs here," said Charlie Hunsicker, director of the Conservation Lands Management Department. "Perhaps we'll see an improvement."

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http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080605/NEWS/806050306/1661

She wrote the playbook on identifying clean air!

Just askin...:shrug:

that will be under water in the near future.

are prepared to eat your water with a spoon.