Plan to clean up water pollution called too costly

Technology long touted by a Central Florida company as able to affordably clean up pollution in rivers and lakes may not be very affordable, according to developments this week.

AquaFiber Technologies Corp. in Winter Park has tantalized state officials for having developed a potentially game-changing cure for polluted waters such as Lake Apopka and the St. Johns River.

But when the company went to the St. Johns River Water Management District on Wednesday to nail down a multi-year deal, the response it got was an offer to further evaluate a possible agreement that wouldn't cost the agency as much.

Hearing that, the company's president, Kirby Green, who is a former director of the water district, said the deal was off. He could not be reached for comment afterward.

AquaFiber's apparent withdrawal leaves the state with a challenge it has always faced; Dealing with water pollution will be a grinding, expensive and long-lasting job.

The state has 21 formal clean-up plans for rivers, lakes and coastal waters. Within those plans are more than 3,400 projects that have a combined – but not complete – price tag of nearly $2 billion, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.