Central Florida’s insatiable thirst for water to dump on its collective front lawn has real causualties — as evidenced in this short video, showing bulldozers destroying a cypress forest in order to make way for the new Yankee Lake water siphoning facility. When complete, the plant (which was approved, despite massive citizen outcry, by the St. Johns River Water Management District) will be able to suck as much as 55 million gallons a day from the St. Johns River. Watch it before you water your lawn:

– Posted by Anne Schindler

If you haven’t been down by the river in the past few weeks, here’s a grim look at what your missing. Andy Leverett, the college winner of the St. Johns Riverkeeper’s 2010 PSA Video Contest put together this video montage of the putrefaction in the river. Watch it on an empty stomach. And if you think of it, give Rep. Ander Crenshaw a call and let him know what you think of his recent attempts to undermine river cleanup efforts.

– Posted by Anne Schindler

Despite the belly-up redfish and the floating mats of toxic algae, everything is just dandy in Florida waterways. Must be; why else would U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Jacksonville) be trying to kill financing for a measure to help clean up the state’s polluted lakes and rivers? 

The text of an amendment that Crenshaw is currently attempting to attach to a must-pass appropriations bill would effectively block so-called numeric nutrient standards, which the federal Environmental Protection Agency has said the state must implement to limit water pollution. State regulators at DEP have dragged their feet on this for years, because officials there are in the same deep pockets as Crenshaw. You can contact Crenshaw’s office to tell him what you think of his sneaky, 11th hour attempt to keep Florida’s waters polluted here.
You can read more about Crenshaw’s fealty to polluting interests in the 2008 Folio Weekly cover story “Crenshaw’s Oil Stain.”

 

– Posted by Anne Schindler

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) reports that water samples taken from the St. Johns River near Naval Air Station  Jacksonville tested positive for Aphanizomenon. That’s Latin for the electric blue-green algae that multiplies under the right sweltering conditions into (a toxic) river-swathing and life-suffocating blooms.

The FWC kindly provided a colored map with the fish kill reports it’s received illustrated by red dots: Fish Kill Mapped. (If map seems to be taking a long time to open, change size to 100 percent.) Note the heavy concentration of dead fish reported in the densely populated area from Matthews Bridge south to about Julington Creek.

— Susan Eastman

Kayaking on the St. Johns River

Perhaps it’s not surprising that the self-interest of state Agricultural Commissioner Charles Bronson has him jumping to defend the state’s agricultural industry from anything that would hurt their wallets or make them change their method of operation. But in pandering to the narrow interests of agriculture, Bronson has abdicated his responsibility as an elected official. He could be a leader in convincing the agricultural industry that finding new ways to reduce nutrient runoff is good for the state and ultimately good for this important Florida industry.

Instead, Bronson wants to join a fight against a recent settlement brokered with the United States Environmental Protection Agency that would finally force Florida to get serious about stemming the flow of fertilizers and other nutrient-laden pollutants into its lakes, rivers, streams and estuaries. Bronson wants to join the Florida Pulp and Paper Association, the Florida Cattlemen’s Association and the South Florida Water Management District to contest a settlement brokered last month by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA agreed to set statewide nutrient pollutant standards to settle a lawsuit filed in July 2008 by Earthjustice on behalf of five environmental groups, including the St. Johns Riverkeeper.

In the lawsuit, the environmentalists charged that the EPA under President Bush had allowed the state of Florida to ignore the Clean Water Act and simply set no nutrient standards. Nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from golf course, lawns, leaky septic tanks, failed sewage treatment plants and other industrial sources overload waterways and cause sickly phenomena such as the St. Johns River’s deadly blue-green algae blooms. Florida had a 2004 deadline to set limits or EPA was to intervene and set nutrient limits for the state. But 2004 came and went, and the federal government took no action. In 2008, the Florida DEP reported half of Florida’s rivers, lakes and streams had poor water quality. DEP says it would cost millions of dollars to to fix the problem.

Under the settlement of the Earthjustice lawsuit, EPA agreed to set statewide nutrient limits — for the state’s lakes and streams by October 2010 and for the coastline and estuaries by October 2011. Simple statewide standards would likely thwart a state DEP plan in the works since 2001 to develop a complex system of nutrient-loading standards for each of Florida’s water bodies. Environmentalists argue these individualized standards are really just a way for DEP to declare that the current level of pollutants in a body of water as the normal, acceptable level for that particular body of water. A single standard would force a cleanup plan and a strict curtailment of pollutants, the says, the more individualized standards would give a stamp of official approval to pollute-as-you’ve-been-polluting-all-along.

— Susan Eastman

Took this picture with my cell phone camera this a.m. of a strand of green algae about five feet wide or so along the retaining wall of the St. Johns River in Riverside near Cherry Street.

St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon said he’s received several calls this a.m. about the algae bloom and was headed out around 9:30 a.m. to take a look at it. Blooms were spotted further south in Lake George in April and in Julington Creek, Riverdale and Picolata about five weeks ago, he said.  ”There has been an algae bloom of some size and shape in the river since spring,” says Armingeon. “When it reaches us, it becomes a part of our consciousness. But what kills me is that all the people who are in charge of protecting the river, like the St. Johns River Water Management District,  haven’t said a word about it.”

Although the Green Monster algae bloom of 2005 is the benchmark for blooms because of its massive size, Armingeon said the combination of summer rains, which decreases the salinity of the water, and summer heat, which triggers them, led to smaller blooms in 2006, 2007, and 2008. “It’s the river’s way of saying that I’m sick,” said Armingeon, “and it more or less tells us that this idea that the river is healthy enough to take water from (as drinking water for Central Florida) is just crazy.” Armingeon said we’ll have to wait to see whether weather and tidal conditions dissipate the algae or cause it to spread.

The St. Johns River Water Management District didn’t waste any time embracing new state legislation that effectively blocks the public from weighing in on water permits. The decision whether or not to issue a permit now rests solely in the hands of the executive directors of the state’s five water management districts thanks to Senate Bill 2080, which Gov. Crist said he wouldn’t support and then signed. It removes the approval process from the public forum, from public debate and from a deciding vote by water management boards — although Crist weakly suggested water districts think through their process and decide the most responsible way to handle permitting.

Yesterday, on July 9, we got an answer on how the St. Johns River Water Management District will respond to the new legislation. A memo sent that day from the Division of Regulatory Information Management informed the board all permit applications that have been recommended for approval by district staff are being removed from the Governing Board’s July 14 agenda. Instead, SJRWMD Executive Director Kirby Long will decide whether to approve those permits or not. The only permits the Board will see are ones that the staff has recommended for denial. The effect of that will be to give a developer’s hired tongues a public forum to shoot the staff report full of holes and sway the Board over with brilliant rhetoric. See Anne Schindler’s “Editor’s Note” in the July 7, 2009, issue for more about Crist’s role in this environmental debacle.

There’s a great article in the Orlando Sentinel today about Northeast Florida’s own Stetson Kennedy. Back in April, the 92-year-old civil rights cum environmental activist was turned away from a public hearing at the St. Johns River Water Management District’s Palatka headquarters, one that resulted in the District’s governing board approving a permit to allow Seminole County to draw millions of gallons of water from the St. Johns River. Kennedy and others were told that the facility had reached capacity. After waiting 90 minutes in the Florida heat, Kennedy left for home. Never one to cower, Kennedy has filed a lawsuit against the District for violating his rights by barring his entrance to the  meeting, a potential violation of Florida’s open government laws.

And Kennedy’s lawsuit comes at an appropriate time, as the already mishandled  governing board meetings — at which the general public should have the opportunity to voice opposition or support for whatever measure the board is voting on — could be done away with altogether. State Bill 2080 would put permitting decisions in the hands of the respective water management districts’ (there are five) executive directors, effectively stymying the public’s voice altogether — a precarious situation to say the least.

To read more about Kennedy’s legal battle and SB 2080 click here.

Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon sent an e-mail to Riverkeeper members earlier today, urging them to look critically at the recent DEP-mandated delay of GP’s pollution pipeline. This is “not a victory,” Armingeon says. Read his full letter below: 

You may have recently read that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued a letter to Georgia Pacific (GP) granting them yet another hiatus from meeting water standards in Rice Creek.  Many folks believe this action constitutes a “victory” in the public’s decade-long battle to stop GP from building a pipeline to the St. Johns River.  DEP’s ACTION IS NOT A VICTORY. 

 

Please read below as to what DEP’s action REALLY means for the St. Johns River. 

 

Background      

·       The Georgia Pacific Paper Mill (GP) has been discharging pollution to Rice Creek for over 50 years.

·       Toxic substances from GP’s plant and settling ponds have polluted Rice Creek– its sediments contain dioxin, cholorphenols, and other toxic compounds that unless removed, will exist in the creek forever.

·       Rice Creek is not longer able to assimilate the pollution from GP’s discharge and meet State Water Quality Standards (WQS).

·       In June 2002, GP was given an administrative order (AO) which required them to build a pipeline from Rice Creek to the St. Johns River.   

·       GP proposes to build a four mile, 36” diameter pipeline, to transport pollution from Rice Creek to the St. Johns River.

·       Removing the GP’s pollution from Rice Creek will not return the creek to its natural state nor will it improve the health of the St. Johns.  

·       Recently, data collected and analyzed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed that GP is discharging dioxin (a highly toxic carcinogen related to Agent Orange) in its wastewater at levels two to five times higher than is allowed by law. 

·       St. Johns Riverkeeper opposes the construction of a pipeline to transport pollution from Rice Creek to the St. Johns River.  Transferring pollution from one location to another is archaic and is not a solution! 

 

 

Current status and DEP’s “Letter Order”

 

GP has made improvements to its processes, but the mill is still unable to meet water quality standards in Rice Creek. If GP was unable to meet WQSs after making required improvements, the AO required GP to begin to the build the pipeline and complete it in 2010.  The estimated cost of the pipeline is $40 million. 

 

In December 2008, GP began to lobby the DEP for a two–year extension on the AO’s timeline, claiming “economic uncertainty”.  There is no legal basis for the extension.   

 

St. Johns Riverkeeper (SKRK) and Clean Water Network of Florida (CWNF) spent six months in discussions and negotiations with GP to help the mill develop a plan that would identify new treatment processes that would allow the mill’s discharge to remain in Rice Creek, and the mill to remain economically competitive. 

 

SJRK and CWNF’s proposed a study that would involve technical experts, agreed upon by all parties, to outline alternative treatment processes to enable the GP to meet water quality standards in Rice Creek and save GP money by not  spending  ~$40 million on the pipeline.  SJRK and CWNF are confident there are technologies that would improve GP’s discharge, and both groups agreed to participate with GP in the analysis and to accept the study’s results- including potentially building the pipeline if this was the most feasible alternative.   This would have given the public some certainty that the study was legitimate and would have given credibility to the final decision.

 

SJRK and CWNF briefed Governor Crist’s office on their proposal, and his office fully supported the goals of the project.  The groups were told the Governor would not support granting GP an extension unless the two groups were involved in the reanalysis process.

 

SJRK and CWNF continued to negotiate with GP on the wording of the agreement.  Unfortunately, GP ultimately would not agree to abide by the results of the study.  Simply put, SJRK and CWNF were bound by the agreement, but GP was free to ignore the results.  Due to the inequity of GP’s position, the negotiations broke down.  But, GP continued to lobby the Governor and DEP for the illegal extension.

 

Their efforts paid off, and Governor Crist directed the DEP to grant GP’s request.  DEP’s recent “Letter Order” grants GP an illegal extension on the Administrative Order, allows the mill to continue to discharge without a permit, and effectively prohibits public oversight of GP’s operation.

 

DEP’s sham does not protect the St. Johns River and it does not prevent the construction of pipeline. More importantly, this action establishes dangerous precedence:

 

·       The DEP has granted GP a one to two-year hiatus to continue to violate water quality standards in Rice Creek.  The extension also gives GP a break in permit renewal and enforcement actions.

·       The DEP will continue to allow GP to discharge high levels of toxic dioxin into the environment.

·       The DEP will continue to allow GP to discharge with an expired discharge permit.

·       The DEP will allow GP to “study” its pollution problems, including dioxin, with no public oversight and no guarantee the study will address the pollution’s problems. 

·       The DEP, after stating for years GP is bound by the AO, has now allowed GP to set off on yet another course of action with no legal basis.    

·       The DEP’s action is a thinly veiled “shield” against challenges of GP current permit which, by DEP’s own admittance, does not comply with the Clean Water Act.

·       The DEP’s “letter order” is not based in any legal authority.  

·       The DEP “letter order” is a pseudo permit which contains no pollution limits. 

·       The DEP “letter order” ignores GP’s ongoing non-compliance with the Permit and AO.  

 

Don’t be fooled by DEP’s maneuver.  This is not a victory and it does not stop GP from eventually building a pipeline.  DEP has granted GP an illegal extension that allows GP to continue to pollute the St. Johns River on an expired permit that has almost no pollution limits in it. 

 

The only solution is an independent analysis of the GP’s processes that will produce meaningful, pollution reduction for both Rice Creek and the River. More importantly, this analysis MUST include the public during its existence and bind GP to the results.  An unbinding study conducted by GP without public involvement cannot be trusted.

 

 

St. Johns Riverkeeper will continue to fight the GP pipeline, and we will continue to seek a solution to this significant environmental problem.             

St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon forwarded a series of emails that raise concerns we may see a repeat of the blue-green algae bloom that slimed the St. Johns River from Lake George to its mouth at the Atlantic Ocean in the summer of 2005. Over the past several days, a number of green algae blooms have been noted by observers in our area. On a flight over the west bank of the St. Johns River on June 3, Gerry Pinto reported blooms starting to develop from the Naval Air Station south to Black Creek and in Doctors Lake. And on June 4, Captain Jim Suber, dockmaster of the city of Jacksonville, said he saw the beginning of a green algae bloom in the cove at Metro Park. “Well, we knew it was coming based on our April observations in Lake George,” commented A. Quinton White Jr., executive director of the Marine Science Research Institute at Jacksonville University. “This rainfall may have helped push it north.”