DEP secretary Jon Steverson resigns after stormy 2-year tenure

Jon Steverson, who for two stormy years has led the state Department of Environmental Protection under Gov. Rick Scott, resigned late Friday, effective Feb. 3.

Steverson, whose agency was criticized for not telling the public about a sinkhole at Mosaic's Mulberry phosphate plant last year, made no public announcement about his resignation and did not respond to a request for an interview.

His two-page resignation letter makes no mention of the sinkhole, nor of Steverson's other controversies involving his call to allow hunting and other moneymaking activities at state parks, his replacement of experienced people with inexperienced ones and his push for new water quality standards that allow a larger amount of cancer-causing chemicals to be dumped into the state's waterways.

Instead, the letter focuses on the increased spending by Scott on Everglades restoration and saving the state's springs. He also saluted Scott for pursuing a lawsuit against Georgia over the long-running Tri-State Water War.