Welcome to the first edition of the South District Protection Connection! Our goal is to reach out to the regulated community we serve, the many government and nonprofit agencies we call our partners and the residents of Southwest Florida and the Florida Keys with this free, electronic, on-line news letter.  I hope you all will agree that we are working hard together to create economic growth, protect our wonderful SWFL environment and marvel at the great place we all call home.  

As the South District Protection Connection moves forward we need your feedback.  We cannot be successful without it.  Please send us your comments and ideas for future stories.   We hope to publish the newsletter once a quarter in the coming year and then move to a bimonthly process.  Stories will cover relevant current topics, training opportunities, updates, community outreach opportunities and a Q&A session. Also, please send us any pictures you would like to see in the newsletter!

This edition of the South District Protection Connection is an introduction to our Environmental Consultants and will provide the public information regarding Who's Who in the South District.  Please contact the Environmental Consultants for anything you may need. 

Jon Iglehart 

Director of District Management

The South District Office has always taken a pro-active approach to working with governmental entities, the regulated community and the residents of the District to protect our fragile environment.  The recent re-organization was another step in expanding on the past as we move towards the future.  Our ultimate goal as a District is to form a stronger alliance with the regulated community and public to further environmentally friendly business growth that will allow our friends and neighbors to prosper.  This inaugural edition of the South District’s Protection Connection is just another step in our reaching out to the residents, governmental entities and businesses of the District.  With the addition of DeSoto and Sarasota Counties as part of the District, we have the opportunity to further expand our approach to working with the public, governmental entities and business communities.

To contact Al please call 239.344.5605 or e-mail Albert.McLaurin@dep.state.fl.us

As the South District’s Outreach Coordinator, Ombudsman and Business Relations Team Leader, I have had the great opportunity to meet many of our business, community and government partners. It is a pleasure each day to meet everyone, learn what your business does, and how we can improve our communication with each and every one of you.  In meeting each of you, we can work together to reduce the regulatory burden in our local industries while preserving the natural resources of Florida.

Public Records Request (Freedom of information).  I know many of the engineering firms, environmental consulting companies and others know me as the public records guy.   The truth is Eileen Cardona is my partner in records request searches. I could not do all of them without her diligent work.  In the District public records requests are sent to all employees to ensure we have all the information you deserve.  As our staff moves to different positions and as we become leaner and smarter we feel we can provide a better response by having everyone’s input, especially the valuable history of the location.   We hope our service is good and provides you with the answers to turn a property into an economically viable opportunity. Please do not hesitate to contact Eileen or myself with any public records request or related questions.

Community Outreach is our staff love.  All of us take part in formal educational programs, recycling round-ups, unwanted medicine programs, community festivals, Earth Day events and too many others to mention.  Staff says I never say no to an educational or community event.  They are right! When I see an opportunity to tell the Department’s story I say yes.   Our ability to meet and shake someone’s hand and answer their questions is the highlight of the day.  Watching a young person look and touch our macro-invertebrates display is outstanding.  Seeing their young minds explore each specimen is worth a 1,000 photos.   We also partner with our Award Winning State Park’s Division to provide a free pass to visit a state park for a day during community outreach events.  

Business Outreach – Our staff tries to attend as many business expos and chamber of commerce events as possible.  We want to meet business owners to answer any regulatory or other questions they have about the environment and their companies’ requirements.  I am so impressed to meet many owners who want to make sure they are doing the right things in their shops and offices to be in compliance and protecting the environment.   Our Compliance Assistance and Permitting teams are always creating new and exciting educational programs.  We have started a new educational series called “Greening Your Bottom Line.”   The goal of series of workshops is to help all businesses improve their overall operations while protecting the environment.   We hope the information provided and shared will improve their overall profit margins.   Please keep Oct 16 & 17 open on your calendar, as we will be hosting the 2nd Annual Greening Your Bottom Line Expo. There will vendors, luncheon opportunities to hear key note speakers, educational programs, more information to come.  Corporate sponsorships are available.

To contact Terry please call 239.344.5647 or e-mail Terry.Cerullo@dep.state.fl.us

The South District’s Business Support Team (BST) provides businesses with information regarding statewide procurement and contracting opportunities. Those businesses that are selected to provide goods and services to state agencies through a competitive bidding process contribute to Florida’s continued economic growth and job creation.  The BST has a two-fold mission. First, we ensure the Department of Environmental Protection’s procurement of goods and services are obtained through a competitive procurement approach that ensures the best possible value for the Department and other state agencies.  Secondly, we inform businesses about local and statewide procurement opportunities which enable them to compete at the state level.  Through our partnerships with the Small Business Development Centers and other business development entities within our region, the BST is able to provide helpful information and tips to businesses.  We conduct informative workshops and one-on-one sessions with business owners and provide information regarding locating and competing for statewide procurement opportunities found in the State’s 90 day Spending Plans and we also provide helpful tips regarding how to navigate the State’s Vendor Bid System.  In many instances, as we share information through the various venues offered by our key business support partners, we find many business owners are unaware of the vast number of procurement opportunities that are available to them through the statewide procurement system. For us, it’s all about doing our part to get the best possible value for the state and to help businesses play a role in helping make Florida’s economy strong.

To contact Randy, please call at 239.344.5659, or e-mail Randal.Landers@dep.state.fl.us

I am one of the managers in South District’s newly formed Compliance Assistance and Enforcement Group; I am also serving as the Division Liaison for the District and the regulated community for Air Program. Prior to joining the Department in 2007, I worked with the local air program office in Palm Beach County.

One of my duties is to assist the permitted and non-permitted air pollution facilities to achieve the maximum compliance rate. I am also responsible for cross-training our staff in several disciplines in air program so that they have the adequate knowledge of the subject matter. They will then be able to provide compliance assistance to a facility to remain in continued compliance and to bring any non-compliance matters into compliance without huge regulatory burden and cost. With regard to regulations, I maintain proficiency with the current and forthcoming State and Federal air regulations and provide guidance to our air facilities and our district staff in rule applicability, its impact on permit and its compliance requirements.

I am available to assist you in any way with any air compliance issues by providing services such as a visit to your facility for to help you with compliance assistance, air monitoring issues and answering questions and concerns about asbestos.

To contact AJ please call 239.344.5689 or e-mail Ajaya.Satyal@dep.state.fl.us

I am an Environmental Consultant for the South District and Subject Matter Expert in Hazardous Waste.  I have worked within the Department for approximately 20 years primarily in the hazardous waste program.  In 1976, the U.S. Congress enacted the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to protect public health and the environment from the improper management of hazardous waste by creating laws ensuring waste is managed in an environmentally sound manner.  The South District compliance assistance staff inspects and provides compliance assistance to a wide variety of businesses that generate waste including spent solvents, used oil, spent fluorescent lamps, waste pharmaceuticals, paint waste, used antifreeze, etc. 

If your business generates waste, you are responsible for determining if that waste is hazardous prior to disposal.  We offer compliance assistance site visits where we offer assistance with improving compliance with hazardous waste regulations as well as determining non-compliance.  Information including a pollution prevention strategy to eliminate or reduce the use of harmful substances and minimizing the amount of waste generated can lead to increased profitability and the protection of worker health and the environment.  We also offer general public outreach, education and technical assistance to our customers concerning the RCRA hazardous waste program.  

To contact Karen please call 239.344.5616 or e-mail Karen.Bayly@dep.state.fl.us.  

As a wastewater consultant my responsibilities consist of conducting external outreach to the regulated community, providing compliance assistance to the Department’s inspectors and offering training opportunities for both internal staff and external stakeholders.

External outreach revolves around meeting the public and regulated community for the purpose of answering any questions they may have and providing relevant information concerning both industrial and domestic wastewater. An example of an outreach event would be the Waste to Energy Expo held in Fort Myers earlier this year. The Department set up a booth at the conference and several of the staff, myself included, manned the booth and provided information for the attendees. 

Compliance assistance encompasses reviewing compliance related documents for the inspectors, meeting with the regulated community to help them meet their compliance goals without any undue economic burdens and identifying different ways to interpret various rules in order to maintain environmental protection while reducing the regulatory burden for all stakeholders. For example a surface water discharging facility in Sarasota had an issue meeting their cyanide limit a couple of years ago, a Lee County facility that also discharges to surface waters is currently having the same problem. By talking to the operators of both facilities I can help each benefit from the others knowledge. 

Training consists of both internal cross training events and external presentations aimed at providing operators and stakeholders with relevant information. An example of an external training event would be the operator certification classes that the Department held in May for the purpose of providing operators with industry information while also giving them continuing education units.

To contact Brandon please call 239.344.5653 or e-mail Brandon.Ivey@dep.state.fl.us

I am the Environmental Consultant for the Drinking Water program.  My duties include coordination of all aspects of compliance with Federal and State requirements.  These include performing sanitary surveys and compliance inspections of water systems, working with system owners and operators to provide technical assistance to solve problems that a system may be experiencing, review of bacteriological sampling reports, providing assistance with the preparation and delivery of Consumer Confidence Reports, assisting in the preparation of the section’s quarterly news letter, and providing training opportunities for system owners and operators. 

To contact Gordon please call 239.344.5688 or e-mail Gordon.Romeis@dep.state.fl.us

As Environmental Consultant for the South District's Compliance Assurance & Enforcement Section, my duties include Technical Advisor for the BWC, Bureau of Petroleum Storage System-Storage Tanks, and Bureau of Solid Waste. Those duties consist of reviewing Site Assessment Reports, Remedial Action Plans, Tank Closure Assessment Reports, Groundwater Monitoring Reports, and all technical submittals related to discharges and remediation projects within the District. 

Additional duties include the field review of current assessment and remedial projects related to the cleanup of petroleum, heavy metal, agricultural chemical, and other discharges, plus training for field personnel assigned to the regulation of storage tanks and solid waste facilities. I also provide assistance to both the public, municipal and other state agencies related to environmental issues regulated by the Department.

To contact Charles please call 239.344.5667 or e-mail Charles.Masella@dep.state.fl.us

My primary goal is to identify and meet the needs of DEP’s external and internal customers in order to provide excellent customer service for sovereignty (state-owned) submerged lands (SSL) issues.  I serve as the State Lands Subject Matter Expert for the DEP South District office and its external agency customers.  Past experience includes rulemaking, issue analysis, managing the SSL agenda process for meetings of the Governor and Cabinet (sitting as the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund), reviewing complex applications for Environmental Resource Permits (ERPs) and SSL authorizations, and compliance assistance pursuant to applicable Florida Statutes and Florida Administrative Codes. 

Providing excellent customer service currently involves program specific training opportunities for staff and for the regulated community, and conducting compliance evaluation inspections to achieve environmental protection while reducing regulatory burden and achieving compliance without formal enforcement.  I am part of a team that look for possible process improvement opportunities by coordinating with applicants, interest groups, environmental consultants, contractors, builders, agents, and federal state and local governments.  We also strive to use technology to improve our process and to provide information to the public.  We make a constant effort to eliminate "waste", reduce response time, simplify the design of both products and processes and improve quality and customer service.  

To contact Mark please call 239.344.5669 or e-mail Mark.Miller@dep.state.fl.us

Florida has a comprehensive state regulatory program that regulates most alterations to land (uplands, wetlands, and other surface waters) and mangrove trimming and alteration. In addition, activities on or using state-owned submerged lands require applicable proprietary authorizations. These programs are collectively known as the Submerged Lands and Environmental Resource Coordination (SLERC) Program.

Locally, I serve as the Subject Matter Expert in the Regulatory aspects of the SLERC Program for the DEP South District Office and its external agency customers. My goals are providing excellent customer service through consistent compliance evaluations of ongoing permitted activities; developing program specific trainings for staff and the regulated community; and developing useful resources for staff and the general public.

In an effort to make this program successful, input is appreciated from you, our customers. I urge you to contact me with your ideas on how to improve our current process and develop future resources for the benefit of all. 

To contact Megan please call 239.344.5670 or e-mail Megan.Mills@dep.state.fl.us 

Kirby Wolfe is the Environmental Consultant for the Environmental Assessment and Restoration Section.  He coordinates the water quality and biological sampling programs for the South District of DEP, which encompasses nine counties in Southwest Florida.  This includes sampling for the Total Maximum Daily Load program and coordinating with other state and local agencies that perform water quality sampling to prevent any duplication of monitoring efforts.  These programs directly support the Department goal of “Getting the Water Right.”  

Florida’s Total Maximum Daily Load program uses water chemistry and biological data to assess each waterbody in the state to determine if water quality standards are being met.  For those waterbodies that are not meeting standards, a TMDL (restoration target) is developed by DEP.  Once a TMDL is established for a waterbody, then a Basin Management Action Plan may be developed through a collaborative stakeholder-driven process.  The BMAP is a blueprint for water quality restoration and includes specific projects and programs that will be implemented to reduce pollutants entering the waterbody.  

Kirby’s program also responds to citizen complaints regarding water quality problems and algal blooms.  In addition, Kirby provides scientific and technical input on important regional issues affecting water quality through his role as a member of multiple technical advisory committees.

To contact Kirby please call 239.344.5719 or e-mail Kirby.Wolfe@dep.state.fl.us

The Marathon Branch Office is responsible for administering the South District's regulatory programs in Monroe County. The primary mission of the Office is to provide greater environmental protection while reducing excessive regulatory burden and promoting healthy economic growth in the Florida Keys. This is a special place, with spectacular and unique resources of national significance such as coral reefs, sea grass  beds, and world-class fisheries that are the source of commercial and recreational activities like diving, fishing, and boating. The tourism economy of the Keys depends largely on clean water and a healthy ecosystem . Because if its unique and fragile resources, the Florida Keys surface waters were designated as a national marine sanctuary by Congress on November 16, 1990 . These waters were also designated as Outstanding Florida Waters by the Florida Legislature and, as such, they are subject to special protection under the Law. 

The organizational structure of the Marathon Office includes 11 full time positions dedicated to permitting, compliance assistance,  enforcement and emergency response. The Marathon Office also facilitates numerous partnerships with local governments, businesses and stakeholders in a variety of environmental projects.  For example, many marinas in the Keys have joined the Clean Marina Program to keep our waterways clean. Also, we are partnering with local governments and wastewater utilities, to assist local businesses and homeowners to abandon or replace inadequate on-site wastewater systems and construct centralized sewer connections to advanced wastewater treatment systems. We are also working  with local stakeholders to improve water quality in residential canals. The Marathon Office also offers frequent workshops to businesses, contractors, marine industry groups, and water utilities to provide outreach and education on DEP programs and services such as the DEP business portal or how to use OCULUS to access records. Staff members also respond to public records requests and facilitate communication of information to local stakeholders.

To contact Gus please call 305.289.7081 or e-mail Gus.Rios@dep.state.fl.us

Martha works for three Programs in the South District: Community Outreach, Watershed and Business Support Team. 

 Martha is an  active member in the Hispanic community in Southwest Florida. One of her tasks is to help facilitate and continued support DEP’s environmental education and outreach programs reaching every major ethnic group. These important elements line up under the stipulated goals for the consolidation of efforts that DEP encompass toward regulatory and healthy environment, promote tourism, which is a major economic driver locally and support business development in SWFL.

 To contact Martha please call 239.344.5644 or e-mail Martha.Avila@dep.state.fl.us 

 This free workshop is designed to assist auto repair shops be in compliance with the Department and other government agencies, and help the facility improve its overall operations while protecting the environment.  A light dinner will be provided.

When:    Wednesday, August 28, 2013 from 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Where:    North Collier Recycling Drop-off Center

              9950 Goodlette Frank Road, North Naples, FL  34109

Please contact Narrisa Pannel at 239.344.5680 or Narrisa.Pannell@dep.state.fl.us to RSVP or for more information.