Source: National Resources Defense Council
http://www.nrdc.org/
Results: In 2008, Florida reported 634 coastal beaches, 306 (48%) of which were monitored once a week, and 328 (52%) were not monitored. For the fourth consecutive year, NRDC looked at the percent of monitoring samples that exceeded the state’s daily maximum bacterial standards (all reported samples were used to calculate the 2008 percent accidence values, including duplicate samples and samples taken outside the official beach season, if any). In 2008, 4 percent of all reported beach monitoring samples exceeded the state’s daily maximum bacterial standards.
For twenty-five years Buckeye-Quaker has created the most polluted river in Florida, the Fenholloway River, by dumping 60 million gallons of treated Class 5 toxic waste water into the river every day. The accumulation of this toxic waste water has, after twenty-five years, has created six of the top ten Dirtiest Beaches in Florida and a ten square mile Dead Zone in the Gulf.
On the Big Bend Coast, in the so-called Pure Water Wilderness, the Big Bend Canoe Trail passes through the Fenholloway Dead Zone. As the Gulf Stream flows south through the Dead Zone the pollution is carried off and creates six of the Dirtiest Beaches, not just in the Big Bend Area but in the entire State of Florida
Six of our beaches with the highest percent pollution exceedance rate are within the first forty miles south of the mouth of the Fenholloway River and its ten square mile Dead Zone. Last year clams harvested from north of the Steinhatchee River, passed the Fenholloway River were banned from commercial sale and public consumption.
The Fenholloway River flows from the North Coast of Taylor County. In 2009 the dirtiest beaches in the Big Bend were:
1. Shired Island in Dixie County (90%), (Between Shired Island and Horseshoe Beach lies Horseshoe Beach Cove where a new Dead Zone is forming).
2. Dekle Beach (62%), in Taylor County
3. Alligator Point (56%) Taylor County
4. Keaton Beach (41%) in Taylor County
5. Hagen’s Cove (40%) in Taylor County
6. Cedar Island (27%) in Taylor County
Dixie County had the highest percent exceedance rate (90%) in 2009 and for the last 4 years has been rated the dirtiest beach in Florida, Shired Island.
The next beach within the top ten dirtiest beaches is found in Levy County, ranked number seven and has an 11% exceedance rate. The first impediment to the Gulf flow from the Fenholloway Dead Zone is the twenty mile long Great Suwannee Reef, at the reefs north end the water is changing from Class II into Class III water at an ever increasing rate. At the south end of the reef is Cedar Key, the 2nd largest aquaculture framing area in Florida. Any marine life form growing in an exoskeleton (clams, crabs & etc.) must have Class II water to grow and thrive. They will die in Class III water.
Some people have the gall to defend dumping 60 million gallons of Class 5 toxic waste water into the Fenholloway River on a daily basis for 25 years while others are greedy enough to sell tourism in this area as part of the “Pure Water Wilderness”.
Suwannee Riverkeeper®, a non-profit charity, has the gall to make a three year independent scientific field study, overseen by independent PhDs with CDC Atlanta Credentials, scientifically proving the facts and then standing in the way of this environmental crime by telling the truth and letting the chips fall where they may.
Sincerely,
Stan Meeks
Suwannee Riverkeeper®
Contact info
suwanneeriverkeeper@earthlink.net
PO Box 1669
Old Town, FL 32680
Web Site www.suwanneeriverkeeper.org (under construction)
Member of Waterkeeper®Alliance
http://www.waterkeeper.org
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I hate what we are doing to our environment. When my grandfather was young he could drink water from a stream, when Dad was young he could swim in any river, creek or stream, when I was young there was no fear of playing in the creek behind our home or skiing in any of the lakes nearby. When my children were young there were still various safe lakes and rivers to swim. I am afraid my unborn grandchildren will never know what it's like to frolic freely in a lake, river or even the ocean.
ReplyDeleteIts pretty heartbreaking to think of the damage that will be caused long term if its not stopped. I didn't see a mention of horseshoe or pepperfish key grass flats, but that area is relatively fragile and it enfuriates me to think of what could happen. Cedar Key holds a special significance to my entire family, and the fact its threatened has got them up in arms. The real question is, outside of legal action what venue do we have to stop it?
ReplyDeleteWho is Buckeye-Quaker? I can't find a thing on them.
ReplyDeleteftp://ftp.dep.state.fl.us/pub/labs/lds/reports/9901.pdf
ReplyDeleteBuckeye Florida is a pulp and paper mill. The facility operates a 58 million gallon per day design
capacity industrial wastewater treatment system. The facility has no Administrative Orders or
Consent Orders. There have been no reported permit violations within the past year. The facility
has a mixing zone which encompasses the entire 22.1 mile length of the Fenholloway River
before effluent reaches the Gulf of Mexico (See Appendix F for detailed facility information
provided by Brian Kirts of FDEP Northeast District.)
The bioassay samples were chronically toxic to the Ceriodaphnia dubia test organisms. The
Pimephales promelas test was invalidated on Day 4 due to excessive control mortality.
The cause of the toxicity noted in the August bioassays was not determined.