Environmental scientist accused of stealing secret documents from powerful foundation

A prominent environmental scientist stands accused of stealing secret documents and destroying research before quitting his more than a decade-long job at the powerful Everglades Foundation, citing concerns about the nonprofit group’s emphasis on politics.

Thomas Van Lent, a respected engineer whose water modeling helped create the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, was sued earlier this month by the foundation after it said he took, among other confidential items, “internal modeling and analysis of a government project” before he left.  

The lawsuit has shaken the normally collaborative environmental community in South Florida known more for their plaintive advocacy on behalf of the River of Grass and its animals than bare-knuckle litigation. The dispute raises questions of political influence and interference in the long-lauded, and well-funded, Everglades restoration effort while highlighting divisions over support for a key reservoir.

Of the Everglades Coalition — a 60-member alliance of conservation and environmental groups — the foundation is one of the most formidable. It lists billionaire Paul Tudor Jones as a co-founder and board members that include tropical crooner Jimmy Buffett, professional golfer Jack Nicklaus and Palm Beach resident Garrison "Gary" du Pont Lickle, a longtime island banker.

A February fundraiser at The Breakers for the foundation included a performance by Sheryl Crow. Pit Bull, Jon Bon Jovi and Buffett have performed at past galas. 

“This has created a rumbling among all the environmental groups, and that’s probably an understatement,” said United Waterfowlers of Florida President Newton Cook, about the lawsuit. “It’s crazy, it’s kind of scandalous, it’s like a big divorce.”

Michael Rayboun, Van Lent’s attorney, said he believes the foundation is bitter about the scientist’s resignation, which the 63-year-old explained on social media by saying he was going to work for Friends of the Everglades “who puts facts over politics.” Friends of the Everglades is part of the coalition.

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“For 17 years he provided top level research and analysis to save our natural resources and they are trying to stifle him and scare him from providing the same good service for another group,” Rayboun said. “This (lawsuit) reads like a mission impossible movie. You’d think it was the Manhattan project and he has the secret codes.”

The 22-page motion for temporary injunction against Van Lent was filed in Miami-Dade County April 6. On April 11, Circuit Court Judge Carlos Lopez granted the injunction, which requires the return of computers, storage drives and files.

"As a science based organization, the Foundation has a proprietary interest in its work and related data, which it relies on to support its research as new challenges emerge," said Everglades Foundation CEO Eric Eikenberg. "The speed with which the court acted shows both the seriousness of the matter and strength of this case."

Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, said in a statement that Van Lent for years “has been an incorruptible voice on what works and what won’t to restore the Everglades.”

"Friends of the Everglades is grateful for his clear-eyed insights and hopes this episode will be quickly resolved," Samples said.  

According to the foundation, before Van Lent’s last day on Feb. 28, he downloaded copies of research, a draft of a confidential presentation, and a directory with information related to the foundation’s board of directors — all non-public “highly confidential and proprietary information.”

A forensic examiner hired by the foundation reported he found Google searches of how to erase documents on a internal workspace used by Van Lent and that subsequently his entire work email folder was deleted, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit also says Van Lent “deleted thousands of Foundation files and folders on multiple Foundation servers” and makes the reference to him taking “internal modeling and analysis of a government project.”

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The foundation in recent years has ardently supported the Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir, a massive project underway south of Lake Okeechobee in Palm Beach County that is expected to reduce harmful discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries while increasing the amount of water that can flow along its natural path south toward Everglades National Park.

Former Senate President Joe Negron was the initial driver of state legislation in 2017 to push the reservoir forward after his district suffered repeated bouts of toxic blue-green algae blooms.

When Lake Okeechobee gets overfilled and threatens the integrity of the Herbert Hoover Dike, the Army Corps releases water west into the Caloosahatchee River and east to the St. Lucie River. The cyanobacteria-tainted fresh lake water dilutes the brackish estuaries encouraging toxic blue-green algae blooms. Blooms also occurred in the Lake Worth Lagoon in 2016 after water from the lake was flushed through the C-51 canal.

The project could cost upward of $3.4 billion — split between state and federal funds — and was questioned in the early stages about whether enough land was devoted to the reservoir and the stormwater treatment area, or STA, which cleans the water of harmful nutrients.

In a 2018 TC Palm story, Van Lent is paraphrased as saying none of the plans presented had STAs large enough to clean the lake water before sending it south.

The state relied on willing sellers and state-owned land for the project, which is in the middle of sugarcane fields and farmland.

In early 2019 when U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Palm City, and newly elected Gov. Ron DeSantis felt the former board of the South Florida Water Management District was favoring sugarcane farmers over the northern estuaries, the board members were forced to resign.

Mast and DeSantis are fervent supporters of the project, often flanked by Eikenberg at press conferences touting groundbreakings. Most recently DeSantis criticized President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure law, which omitted funding for the reservoir.

The Sierra Club, also a member of the coalition, broke with the foundation on the reservoir issue, praising Biden for leaving it out of the law. In a Feb. 25 letter to the president, the Sierra Club said it was “immensely grateful that this FY22 Infrastructure allocation will not fund construction of the inferior, ill conceived” reservoir.

Diana Umpierre, organizing representative for the Sierra Club’s Everglades Restoration Campaign, said she couldn’t comment on Van Lent but confirmed the club and other environmental groups in the coalition have had concerns about the reservoir.

“It seems like people just said let’s build this thing, see what happens, and figure out how to fix it later, and that is irresponsible. That is not how good science is done,” Umpierre said about the reservoir.

Biden’s 2023 budget request includes $407 million for Everglades restoration projects, including the reservoir, according to a March TC Palm story.

The foundation’s lawsuit against Van Lent said the information taken has the potential to harm the foundation’s reputation, goodwill, and competitive edge.

But Rayboun said no specific documents have been identified.

“It's my opinion that this lawsuit is for the sole purpose of bullying, harassing and smearing Dr. Van Lent’s good name,” Rayboun said. “He did nothing wrong.”

Kimberly Miller is a veteran journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate and how growth affects South Florida's environment. If you have any news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com.