Symington: Lake Champlain report is ‘strike three’ for Douglas’ environmental policy

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gaye Symington: Symington for GovernorHouse Speaker Gaye Symington (D-Jericho) criticized Gov. Jim Douglas (R-Middlebury) and his Lake Champlain environmental policy, Clean and Clear, this afternoon after the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) issued a report scoring the wellbeing of the lake and the progress taken to reverse the effects of pollutants.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate assailed the legislation because of its lack of benchmarks to track progress, despite its $85 million price tag. Symington noted that this year, she tried to pass a bill that would introduce benchmarks into the Clean and Clear program.

The House Speaker said, "As Governor, I am not going to spend $85 million on a program without knowing what we're getting for the money."

The LCBP report detailed the health of Lake Champlain and focused on the trends in pollutant levels: phosphorous contamination, human health and toxins, and aquatic invasive species. Some areas of the lake were rated poor, but others were scored as fair or good. The report also detailed trends of improvement around portions of the lake, but in many cases progress could not be determined or there was no statistical trend.

Symington considers the report as "strike three" in Douglas' environmental policy, citing the report as well as an EPA letter from earlier this month and an audit from the legislature as proof the governor's "strategy is failing."