Water Wars legal bills to be scrutinized
January 27th, 2017 by Mike Vasilinda
Florida has spent almost a hundred million dollars over the last 16 years fighting Georgia and Alabama over water rights for the H2O that flows into the Apalachicola River. The fresh water is essential for oyster production and a healthy estuary for most game fish in the area. Legal fees spiked to 41 million over the last two years as a lawsuit intensified. Now House Speaker Richard Corcoran has appointed two members with expertise to go through the receipts with a fine tooth comb.
“I think when you look and go through those bills, you’re going to find really fast that defending the rights of Floridians, yes, that’s an absolutely worthy expense” says Corcoran. “Spending a hundred million dollars in illegal fees, uh, we’re getting gouged, and that needs to be fixed.”
One of the law firms just hired the DEP official who authorized millions in legal fees for the firm before leaving the agency, prompting a proposed constitutional amendment to keep state officials from working for people they hired for at least six years.
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