We do not need to tell you that phosphate mining impacts our water supply, wildlife, aquatic life, functioning of wetlands, loss of fish and wildlife habitat, in addition to effects on recreational, aesthetic and economic values here in Florida. You have already been affected in some way.
We are a group of business people, both Democratic and Republican, some highly active in environmental causes and many, well apathetic. We are spread throughout Florida and have become united on a mission--to save one of Florida`s greatest treasures, the waters of the Gulf of Mexico from dumping toxic metallic materials into the waters. We need your help before time runs out, because once this door is open to pollute the gulf there will be no closing it. As Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Phil Coram representative states: "Offshore dispersal may provide a long-term solution." (See notation, below.)
To date May 8, 2003, the DEP has previously received a copy of this e-mail and was asked to refute data contained herein, in writing. No response.
This is not the long-term solution. We are both angry and saddened by this response. The State of Florida has created this problem and is attempting to obfuscate the issue. This should not be about saving Tampa Bay at the expense of the Gulf of Mexico. THE REAL ISSUE IS CONTROL OF PHOSPHATE MINING IN THE STATE. The State of Florida, without proper analysis of documents of financial capacity prior to permitting and licensing, did permit and license Mulberry Phosphates to conduct a business without consideration of environmental concerns with pollution potential to conduct business in the state, then allow them to simply walk away and leave the costs estimated to be $160 million for cleanup to the taxpayers in the state of Florida. Further, the State of Florida has had ample time since February 2001 when this phosphate mining company went bankrupt to resolve this problem and they have not. (There are currently twenty-five phosphogypsum stacks in the state. This does not bode well for the future of Florida`s environment.)
Please consider the following in determining how prudent the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) plan really is:
Tallahassee: The Florida Legislature this week considered bills that call for waiving liability for "good Samaritan" companies that help during environmental emergencies. Both failed. (If the DEP truly believed that the water they intend to dump into the Gulf of Mexico was environmentally sound, why would they need such bills? Was it perhaps that IMC Phosphates turned down a contract worth over one and a half million dollars to clean and pump the water because of liability issues?)
Additionally, an amendment to one of these bills called for a state law to mandate phosphate chemical companies to draft emergency manuals to "tell the state how to operate the plants in the event the companies go bankrupt." (This tells me the DEP does not know what they are doing or why would they need this amendment?)
Tallahassee: May 4, 2003 Deena Wells, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (EPA) states: We`re moving forward with pipeline construction very soon. We are going to build a storage facility to store the water. We expect to be barging it out in the Gulf within six weeks." (If we can build storage facilities to store the water, why the rush to judgment--the only "relatively safe" solution the DEP representative states is to dump the toxic water into the Gulf of Mexico.)
Tallahassee: April 2, 2003, EPA Approves DEP Permit--without Environmental Impact Report on Gulf of Mexico. (I have made numerous inquires, see below, as recently as yesterday to the DEP to supply me with the Environmental Impact Statement on the Gulf of Mexico. An Environmental Impact Report provides information about the natural processes in the Gulf of Mexico prior to dumping. This sets the benchmark we will have to determine the effects of the DEP`s dumping activities. Without this knowledge the DEP cannot make effective resource management decisions and DEP will open themselves to liability issues, thus the Good Samaritan was proposed.)
Tallahassee: DEP`s unusual Emergency Disposal Plan to begin dumping contaminated waste water in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida Coast over 19,500 square miles. The disposal will disperse enough water to fill more than 700 Olympic-size swimming pools. Dispersion of dump to add 125 tons of nitrogen to the Gulf of Mexico,to commence November 30, 2003. (Other future dumping plans: DEP representative states: "Offshore dispersal may provide a long-term solution." I have again, requested the DEP to supply scientific research the foundation of resource management beyond acceptance of EPA guidelines that the DEP used to basis their decision.)
Under the emergency permit for disposal, the DEP is considering a plan that would call for commercial fishermen to assist with the monitoring by collecting and documenting samples when they travel in the gulf. (Bob Jones, a spokesman for Southern Fisheries Association, which includes roughly 500 companies in five states stated: We do not know what the bottom and the quality of the water looks like now. If you are going to have any recourse if something goes wrong, we need to have an idea of what things looked like before." Some commercial fishermen and marine environmental experts object to the monitoring proposal. They say despite their extensive knowledge of gulf waters the DEP needs input from fishermen but they (fisherman) are not qualified to provide the kind of scientific monitoring needed. ( DEP needs an Environmental Impact Study.)
DEP monitoring should be conducted by those who have studied the Gulf. For example, Florida State University biologist Felicia Coleman and Chris Koenig who have studied grouper and redfish spawning habitats in the gulf for twelve years. Felicia Coleman said some of the protected fishing habitats could be in jeopardy because they abut areas where wastewater dumping is planned. She states: it is the state`s job to protect those resources for those people who use them.
The U.S.Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emphasis is on human health and safety; any benefits to fish and wildlife are indirect. The EPA often does not address off-site contamination of natural resources. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) "MISSION: To Protect Florida`s Coastal and Aquatic Resources. Focus efforts within and beyond our boundaries to address priority threats to the ecosystem. Make decisions based on the best available science and information such as, changes in water quality, abundance and diversity of fish populations, and natural replenishment of corals and sponges." (Taken directly from DEP`s website.)
We do not support their "relatively safe" unproven theory to move this toxic metalic water from one area and dump it into the Gulf of Mexico without knowing the ramifications of such action is simply outrageous. Let us not rush to do something where we will create more problems to our waters here in Florida. We are asking Governor Jeb Bush and the Department of Environmental protection to immediately cease and desist the dumping until a permanent solution to this problem is addressed and before we open the gulf to catastrophic damage to the ecosystems.
Please contact Governor Jeb Bush at 850-488-4441 or e-mail him at jeb.bush@myflorida.com and e-mail and e-mail or telephone your state senators and house representatives in Tallahassee at www.myflorida.com. I urge you to spread the word and get your local newspapers, business leaders, organizations and individuals to contact the Governor and Florida state senators and house representatives in your area. Together, we can stop this!
Please see excerpts from the e-mails I received from DEP representatives:
March 19, 2003, I sent an e-mail to Governor Jeb Bush and David Struhs, Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection asking them to save Florida`s environment and stop phosphate mining pollutants.
March 24, 2003, I received e-mail response from DEP, Orlando Rivera, PWS, Environmental Adm., Mandatory Phosphate Section, Bureau of Mine Reclamation. He states, "I have been asked by Governor Bush and David Struhs to reply to your e-mail". He states: "The DEP sees no reason to duplicate or question the federal government`s effort on this issue". My response, "--send me the data on which you based your opinion." No reply. April 16, 2003, I received e-mail response to "Save Our Seas--Do not dump toxic water into the Gulf of Mexico", from Dave Herbster, DEP. He says the DEP will spread the water over 19,000 miles in the Gulf and states it is a "relatively safe" option. My response, "--send me the DEP`s independent scientific data, including Environmental Impact Report to the Gulf of Mexico to support the DEP`s untested theory." April 17, 2003, Dave Herbster`s e-mail reply states "budgetary cuts" as reason for decision to dump. Urges we "reconsider contacting Jeb Bush and other `officials`". May 1, 2003, I received an e-mail response from Phil Coram, PE, Program Administrator, Bureaus of Mine Reclamation. He states, "Governor Bush asked me to respond to your email. He states: "Offshore dispersal may provide a long-term solution." May 2, 2003, Contacted Mr. Coram`s office by telephone to request Environmental Impact Survey on Gulf of Mexico and other scientific data performed by DEP independent of EPA, West Indian Manatee an endangered species and other documentation which necessitated their decision. May 3& 4, 2003, wrote a response to Mr. Coram again requesting documentation, OR EVEN REFUTE MY STATEMENTS ABOVE. Would rather talk about data, nor did he refute statements made in this e-mail. My response, send the data.
NEWSPAPER UPDATES Sanibel Island, Effects of red tide still pervasive around Pine Island Sound. Dated May l, 2003 State Rep. Gus Bilikrakis, R-Palm Harbor, said we`ll do everything we can to prevent it (the disposal plan).
St. Petersburg Times Dated:April 28, 2003 Ready for a fight, Several groups from Tampa Bay`s sponge, shrimp and commercial fishing industries want county, state and local officials to pressure the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to reconsider its disposal plan and listen to them. I was outraged knowing that they had done this without an environmental impact study of any facts or input from the fishing industry stated one multistate industry representative. We`re astounded that the state fast-tracked this without any public debate and without give out all the facts, stated another. The government has a responsibility to get them the facts....They (DEP) have to show us what helped them make the decision stated one county commissioner. St. Petersburg Times Dated:April 28, 2003 Scientists dig into 'black water' Scientists believe the combination of a large, nutrient-rich patch of runoff combined with a severe outbreak of red tide caused the 60-mile-wide patch of "black water" that appeared off the southwest Florida coast in late 2001. St. Petersburg Times Dated: Sat. April 19, 2003
LITTLE GASPARILLA ISLAND, Red tide sickens nine dogs. Sun-Herald Dated: April 20, 2003
Red tide killing Florida manatees. A toxic "red tide" has killed at least 60 endangered manatees along the southwest Florida coast in the last two months, the second-largest mass death of sea cows blamed on the deadly algae bloom, according to state biologists.
USA Today Dated April 21, 2003
Big Pine Key, Florida Keys, At least 28 pilot whales stranded. Many die. Cause under investigation. USA Today, Dated April 23, 2003
"Charlotte Harbor and its adjacent estuaries make up one of the most pristine and productive coastal ecosystems in the state of Florida. To protect these coastal areas for the enjoyment of future generations, the Florida Legislature has designated most of the waters within the greater Charlotte Harbor complex as aquatic preserves which encompass over 160,000 acres of submerged land and water." Taken from DEP website. Well after almost four weeks of red tide outbreak, several of us were able to take our boats out into the Harbor. Enough said.
Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me:
Pauline Blocker
Save Our Seas
P.O. Box 3432
Placida, FL 33946
(941) 697-8507 | 