A state wetlands expert reportedly suspended for failing to issue a permit that remains under review, has returned to work following an internal review into her unapproved absence from work.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection released a statement Tuesday announcing that wetlands expert Connie Bersok is back on the job, without facing any administrative actions.

Bersok had been suspended, with pay, on May 11 after she was accused of failing to report to work as expected by her supervisor and for being suspected of inappropriately providing information to third parties in violation of agency rules.

The Tampa Bay Times had reported that Bersok was suspended two days after she claimed in a May 9 memo that the North Florida business, Highlands Ranch, wanted wetlands credits for preserving land that isn’t considered wet.

“Contrary to media reports, Ms. Bersok was not suspended because she refused to issue a permit,” Tuesday’s release declared.

The DEP added that the Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank permit application remains under review.

“Any decisions made about this permit will be based on sound science and within the confines of Florida law and the environmental rules that govern the department’s action,” the release stated.

The Times report spurred Gov. Rick Scott to defend how DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard was handling the ensuing hubbub.

“He’s done a real good job making sure we care about the environment,” said Scott on May 31, having been apprised of the matter by the DEP.

Water Resource Management Division Director Mark Thomasson called for the internal investigation and for Bersok to be placed on paid leave, the DEP release stated.

In a June 4 memorandum from Inspector Candie Fuller, of the Office of Inspector General, to Thomasson, the absence was due to being involved in out-of-town training and she had placed her name in the “out” status on the attendance board in the office.

As for the third-party contact, “Bersok did send emails to her personal email address that contained official DEP documents; there was no proof of violation of department rules,” Fuller wrote.

The DEP release doesn’t expand on what information she was suspected of providing to third parties.



Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.