Jeb Bush mortgaged the environmental well-being of a pristine river for $180,000 in donations

[Tommy_Carcetti]

Back in 1999:

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20021102/NEWS01/211020347

In November 1999, five months after Gov. Jeb Bush canoed down the Ichetucknee River and vowed to protect it, his administration announced plans to issue a permit for the construction of a $130 million cement plant three miles from the river.

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Months after the state denied Suwannee American Cement's parent company, Anderson Columbia Co. Inc., a permit to build its factory near the pristine Ichetucknee, the firm sued the state, demanding Bush's decision be reversed. In November 1999, the state announced a deal had been struck, and the plant - 40 miles northwest of Gainesville in south Suwannee County - was given the green light.
At the time, state environmental Secretary David Struhs said the decision would help in the long-term protection of the river and nearby springs, and drew a number of environmental concessions from Anderson Columbia, such as a $1 million environmental impact study and the mandatory installation of "real-time" emission monitors.

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But a recent report by The Miami Herald revealed that the state may have overpaid Anderson Columbia nearly $62,000 an acre. In addition, The Herald said the company gave more than $180,000 to the state and national Republican Parties within 48 hours after the limerock deal was announced. The road-paving firm denies the donations were related to the approval of the permit, and points to its history of contributions to both major Democratic and Republican candidates. In 1998, for example, Anderson contributed about $200,000 to Bush's war chest.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

1. Bump. nt