Over heated objections, Governor Rick Scott's Environmental Regulation Commission narrowly approved sweeping new water quality standards for the state.
The rules set limits for dozens of pollutants that were previously unregulated. But they also allow higher concentrations of some potentially cancer causing chemicals. Tallahassee physician Dr. Ron Saph warned commissioners they were putting lives at risk.
"The National Institutes of Health have said that we have too many carcinogens in our food and in our water. They say that we need stricter water standards."
Regulators insist the new standards are perfectly safe and reflect the latest science as well as Florida's environment and demographics. Department of Environmental Protection officials say they are the first rewrite in 24 years.
But critics say relaxing standards for chemicals like benzene will invite hydraulic fracturing, the controversial oil and gas drilling technique.
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