In just a few years, the clam farmers at Cedar Key have developed the largest clam aquaculture industry in the United States. The credit for this noteworthy accomplishment should be awarded to the entire Cedar Key community, and must also include county, state and federal agencies who all worked together for years to make this happen. It is an example of what the hard working folks in our region are capable of accomplishing when the goal is clearly in focus and the benefits abundant to all. We must also give credit to the Suwannee and Wacassassa rivers for providing their nutrient rich waters, which are the cleanest in the state. And it was nice while it lasted. But the end of the clam industry is no further away than the laying of the first foundation for homes in the Cedar Key Plantation. And make no mistake about it, homes will be built there and it will pollute the clam beds at Cedar Key. The City of Cedar Key decided not to annex the project into the city that would have allowed the effluent from the project to be taken over by Cedar Keys sewage treatment facility that has the capacity, but that is no longer an option. The Levy County Commission and the Suwannee River Water Management District are now circling the wagons around a dubious plan to take responsibility for a sewage treatment plant at the development, in order to avoid the 72 septic tanks that are planned for the project. Dubious, because it is conditioned on the dream that they can find a bonding company to sell an insurance bond to cover the long term cost if the private developer or homeowners association does not operate the sewage plant properly. And without that bond, the county WILL be very reluctant to take up the financial responsibility for the plant since the cost WILL be shouldered by all the taxpayers in Levy County, which also is against a county ordinance which does not allow the building of a private sewage treatment facility outside of a municipality in Levy County. Although SRWMD director, Jerry Scarbourough has said the water management district does not want to get into the sewage treatment business, he also assured the government leaders that it is either a sewage plant or the developers will, in his opinion, be able to sustain a court action to get permits for septic tanks. Septic tanks will pollute the beds without any help from hurricanes since they will continually emit effluent in the project that is basically in a wetland area. But according to Noel Desmond, who is a candidate for county commission, the sewage treatment plant will also pollute the area when a storm surge covers it as a result of a class 5 hurricane, which we have seen here before and will certainly see here again. So its either the quick death of the clam beds with septic tanks or it's a slow death with a sewage treatment plant awaiting a hurricane. So for you clam farmers out there who were thinking about buying that new pickup truck, you better pay it off real quick because your clam business is going, going, you get the picture. | 