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鈥檚 emphasis on politics.
Thomas Van Lent, a respected engineer whose water modeling helped create the , was sued earlier this month by the foundation after it said he took, among other confidential items, 鈥渋nternal modeling and analysis of a government project鈥� 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 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.
