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Bezos thinks big donation makes it okay to poison a lagoon



How many billionaires does it take to fill a lagoon with millions of gallons
of industrial wastewater?

Apparently, just one.

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has caused quite a stir in Florida’s Space Coast
region after the Amazon founder’s aerospace company sought a permit to dispense
up to 450,000 gallons of “industrial wastewater” daily into an onsite pond that
drains into the Indian River Lagoon.



Locals and environmental activists have been showing up in protest to try and
block the pending approval.

“They could be building reservoirs. They could be filtering and reusing water.
They have thousands of acres in the wildlife refuge to create regional
retention systems. They are brilliant engineers," resident Stel Bailey told
Florida Daily.

"So why are they being instructed to dump into the lagoon instead of being
challenged to innovate?”

However, Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection ultimately gets to
decide on whether or not Bezos gets the green light.




 



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With Lee Zeldin setting the tone as an Environmental Protection Agency chief
who doesn’t believe greenhouse gases negatively impact the environment and who
openly sought to “drive a dagger” through the heart of “climate change
religion,” Bezos likely isn’t facing too much of an uphill battle.

But the Indian River Lagoon stands to lose much more. For years, locals have
been working to restore the delicate wildlife in the lagoon, imposing a tax
just to fund rehabilitation programs.

After all, the lagoon is home to over 50 endangered species, including the
Florida manatee.

“So let me get this straight. They are brilliant enough to send rocket after
rocket up into the sky, but they can’t figure out a better solution?" local
resident and business owner Jennifer Parrish told Florida Today.

"Because they’re too cheap. That’s exactly right. It’s cheaper to just dump it
and let us continuously pay for it, over and over again.”



In a statement to Fox 35, Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection
said that Blue Origin has been compliant, telling the outlet that the company
doesn’t dump fuel into the lagoon.

However, history shows that Blue Origin has been quick to cough up cash for
fines rather than play safe with the environment.




 



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According to documents obtained by Florida Today, Bezos’ company was fined
three times for exceeding pH minimums and failing inspections.

Now that Donald Trump is back in office, though, Bezos can breathe a sigh of
relief. After all, things got much easier for the space industry in August when
the president signed an executive order that would “streamline” the permit
approval process and "eliminate or expedite the [department's] environmental
reviews for, and other obstacles" to granting launches and reentry licenses or
permits.

Looks like all of Bezos’ sucking up to Trump really paid off.

And as for those pesky endangered species, Bezos can thank his buddies in the
Trump administration as well for rolling back Biden-era protections.



Last month, Doug Burgum’s Department of the Interior did away with a blanket
protection of any species on the endangered list or those threatened with
extinction. Now, economic factors will have to be considered as well.

In other words, officials will be considering how much money will be made or
lost if they don’t pollute the environment.

But, don’t worry, Bezos is making up for the rocket runoff in other ways. He
and his wife, Lauren Sanchez, are reportedly committing just over $102 million
to various nonprofit organizations that combat homelessness throughout the 2026
calendar year.

In case you’re wondering, that amounts to roughly 0.025% of Bezos’ over $400
billion net worth.



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