FURTHER NEWS ON THE PROPOSED DUMPING OF MUCKY SEDIMENT ON THE
IR-2 DREDGED MATERIAL MAINTENANCE AREA
THIS IS JUST 1/5 TH OF A MILE NORTH
OF PELICAN POINTE ON A BEAUTIFUL 179 ACRE PRECIOUS RIVER SIDE SPREAD OF LAND ACQUIRED IN 2000 BY "EMINENT DOMAIN" PROCEEDINGS. NOTE:179 ACRES EQUALS 115 FOOTBALL FIELDS IN AREA
AS SOME OF YOU KNOW A SMALL TEAM OF US CITIZENS HAS JOINED THE FIGHT TO STOP
THE USE OF THIS PROPERTY FOR DUMPING ORGANIC CONTAINING MUCKY SEDIMENT AT THIS POORLY CHOSEN SITE ON THE FLOOD PLAIN IN A RELATIVELY DENSELY POPULATED AREA ON US-1--OVER 3000 HOMES IN A 1/2 MILE RADIUS.
THE ORGANIC MATTER ROTS IN AIR AND EMITS A VERY NOXIOUS ODOR---. GREAT FOR OUR OWN DAILY ENJOYMENT OF THIS BEAUTIFUL AREA AND OBVIOUSLY A WONDERFUL ATTRACTION TO TOURISTS, SNOW BIRDS, HOME BUYERS AND OTHERS WHO DO BUSINESS WITHIN OUR GROWING COMMUNITY!! THINK OF WHAT THIS WILL DO TO REAL ESTATE VALUES!!
PERHAPS SEBASTIAN WILL BE RENAMED "SMELLVILLE" AND WILL HAVE MANY MORE THAN "6 OLD GROUCHES" AS THE SIGNS ENTERING THE CITY NOW ANNOUNCE.
PERHAPS SEBASTIAN WILL BE RENAMED "SMELLVILLE" AND WILL HAVE MANY MORE THAN "6 OLD GROUCHES" AS THE SIGNS ENTERING THE CITY NOW ANNOUNCE.
NOTE: WE DO NOT OPPOSE DREDGING, WE JUST OPPOSE DUMPING IN THIS ARBITRARILY CHOSEN SITE WHICH DOES NOT ADEQUATELY TAKE INTO ACCOUNT CHANGES THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN FOURTEEN YEARS, THE MANY CITIZENS SURROUNDING IT, THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT, THE COMMERCIAL DAMAGE THAT WILL RESULT, AND THE AIS INDIAN HERITAGE THAT HAS NOT BEEN EXHAUSTIVELY STUDIED ARCHAEOLOGICALLY.
PERHAPS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT TO THOSE HOME OWNERS LIVING NEARBY THE SITE, WHO HAVE WELL WATER, IS THE REVELATION THAT THE TESTING CARRIED OUT FOR FIND 14 YEARS AGO NOTED IN THE DATA TABLES THE THE SEDIMENT WHICH WAS CHEMICALLY ANALYZED SHOWED A MERCURY LEVEL OF 0.19 ugm (millionth of a gram per cubic meter) WHICH EXCEEDS THE THRESHOLD EFFECT LEVEL OF 0.13 ugm BY SOME 46%, . HOWEVER IN THE NARRATIVE THAT WAS PRESENTED IN THE APPLICATION FOR A PERMIT FOR THE SITE THE STATEMENT WAS MADE AS FOLLOWS: " ALL METAL CONCENTRATIONS ARE BELOW THE THRESHOLD EFFECTS LEVEL (TEL) , INDICATING THAT THEY ARE UNLIKELY TO CAUSE BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS."
YET EXCEEDING THE THRESHOLD LEVEL MEANS THAT IF ONE ABSORBS THE MATERIAL BY DRINKING OR OTHER MEANS IT LIKELY WILL CAUSE SERIOUS INCURABLE MEDICAL CONSEQUENCES. WHY THIS MISLEADING STATEMENT ON SUCH A SERIOUS MEDICAL MATTER??
FOR INFO ON THE MERCURY DANGERS GO TO :
EPA SITE
MERCURY TOXICITY INFO
LEFT CLICK ON EACH OF THE LINKS ABOVE TO GET DETAILS
IF THE REVIEWER OF THE PERMIT REQUEST WERE TO ONLY READ THE STATEMENT, RELYING ON ITS ACCURACY, AND NOT EXAMINE THE TABLE OF DATA A CRUCIAL INCORRECT DECISION COULD HAVE BEEN MADE IN APPROVING THIS REQUEST.
EPA SITE
MERCURY TOXICITY INFO
LEFT CLICK ON EACH OF THE LINKS ABOVE TO GET DETAILS
IF THE REVIEWER OF THE PERMIT REQUEST WERE TO ONLY READ THE STATEMENT, RELYING ON ITS ACCURACY, AND NOT EXAMINE THE TABLE OF DATA A CRUCIAL INCORRECT DECISION COULD HAVE BEEN MADE IN APPROVING THIS REQUEST.
THERE ARE YOUNG MOTHERS WITH INFANTS LIVING CLOSE BY WHO ARE DEPENDENT ON WELL WATER. WILL THEIR WATER BE CONTAMINATED IF THIS TOXIC SEDIMENT IS CONCENTRATED IN THE DIKED IN 56 ACRE SLURRIED SEDIMENT RECEIVING AREA WHICH WILL HAVE NO IMPERMEABLE LINING?? WOULD YOU WANT YOUR CHILD TO LIVE THERE??
THERE IS NO NEED TO RUSH THIS PROJECT AHEAD AND SPEND NEEDLESSLY MILLIONS OF OUR TAXPAYER DOLLARS WHEN ONLY THREE OF THE 8 MILES PROPOSED TO BE DREDGED ARE BELOW THE 12 FOOT DEPTHS THAT ARE DESIRED, AND THIS 3 MILE SECTOR RANGES FROM 9-1/2 TO 10-1/2 FEET IN THE AREA NORTH WHERE THE SEBASTIAN AND INDIAN RIVERS JOIN. A 120 FOOT LONG YACHT WITH A DRAFT OF SEVEN FEET COULD EASILY CLEAR THIS NORTHERN AREA, MEANWHILE, THERE ARE 11 OTHER AREAS OF THE INDIAN RIVER ABOVE AND BELOW THIS COUNTY THAT ARE SUFFERING FROM SHOALING AND 3 FOOT DEPTHS WHERE THE COAST GUARD IS ISSUING NAVIGATIONAL WARNINGS TO BOATERS. THESE DANGEROUS WATERS SHOULD BE DEALT WITH AS A MUCH HIGHER PRIORITY THAN THIS INDIAN RIVER 8 MILE "REACH" (A DESIGNATED SECTION OF THE CHANNEL ESTABLISHED BY FIND AS A REFERENCE).
THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WERE OPEN TO LEARNING ABOUT OUR FINDINGS AND INVITED OUR TEAM TO DO A PRESENTATION AT THEIR LARGE CONFERENCE ROOM ON TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2011. OUR PRESENTATION FOLLOWED A BRIEFING ON THE PROJECT BY
DAVID ROACH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE FLORIDA INLAND NAVIGATION DISTRICT, (FIND).
TO VIEW A VIDEO OF THE PRESENTATIONS BY BOTH SIDES GO TO:
THE FIND ORGANIZATION WAS MOST RECENTLY GIVEN ITS REVISED FUNDAMENTAL AUTHORITY BY FLORIDA STATUTE 374 <---CLICK HERE TO GO TO THIS STATUTE.
FIND HAS BEEN IN OPERATION FOR MANY DECADES WORKING IN COOPERATION WITH THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS (ACOE) WHO ARE CHARGED WITH KEEPING THE INLAND WATERWAYS OF THE U.S. NAVIGABLE. FIND IS RESPONSIBLE TO LOCATE SUITABLE SEDIMENT DUMP SITES, PREFERABLY UPLAND, IN SCARCELY POPULATED AREAS, ON THE CONTRARY THE ROUTE US-1 IR-2 DMMA SITE IS IN THE FLOOD PLAIN (HARDLY UPLAND IF YOU LOOK UP UPLAND IN ANY MAJOR DICTIONARY) AND IS IN A DEVELOPED AREA AT THE MAXIMUM POPULATION DENSITY THAT THE COUNTY ZONING PERMITS. WHY MUST THIS PERSIST WHEN MANY THING HAVE CHANGED IN THE 14 YEARS THAT HAVE GONE BY SINCE FIND INITIALLY HONED IN ON THE US-1 IR-2 DMMA SITE?
TO TRY TO GET A SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM WE HAD ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON, JUNE 9, 2011, ANOTHER MORE LIMITED MEETING IN SIZE GRACIOUSLY HOSTED BY COMMISSIONER WESLEY DAVIS IN A SMALLER CONFERENCE ROOM WITH MR. ROACH OF FIND, COMMISSIONER DAVIS, KEY STAFF OF THE COUNTY AND A FIVE MEMBER REPRESENTATION OF OUR TEAM ( DONALD McARTHUR, HAL GOFORTH, GARY KACZENSKI, ATTORNEY STEVE LULICH, AND FRANK MARSHALL). EACH SIDE TRIED TO OPENLY DISCUSS THEIR VIEWPOINTS AND POSITIONS.
DR. GOFORTH ASKED WHY HAD NOT THE NEW SEDIMENT SAMPLE INFORMATION (WHICH MR. ROACH CLAIMED FIND NOW HAD AT TUESDAY'S MEETING) BEEN POSTED ON THEIR WEBSITE? MR. ROACH SAID IT WOULD BE POSTED TOMORROW- i.e. FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011. IT WAS NOT POSTED EVEN ON TUESDAY THIS NEW WEEK!
IN VIEW OF RECENT REPORTS IN THE PRESS JOURNAL ABOUT TWO AREA ARCHAEOLOGISTS BELIEVING THAT THE AIS INDIANS OF THIS AREA HAD A VILLAGE LOCATED BETWEEN BETWEEN THE SEBASTIAN INLET AND WABASSO. DUCK POINT, NOTED GREAT FISHING SPOT ON THE INDIAN RIVER IS PART OF THE PROPERTY BOUGHT BY FIND FOR THE DMMA AND IS ABOUT HALFWAY BETWEEN.
SINCE THESE INDIANS DEPENDED FOR FISH FOR ABOUT 80% OF THEIR SUSTENANCE IT SEEMS LOGICAL THAT THEY MIGHT CHOOSE THIS LOCATION AS A SITE FOR THEIR VILLAGE. FURTHER ONE OF THE PARTICIPANTS AT THE TUESDAY MEETING STATED HE HAD FOUND INDIAN POTTERY SHARDS AND RUDIMENTARY JEWELRY ON THE DMMA SITE. BEFORE TONS OF MUCKY SEDIMENT IS DUMPED ON THIS SITE WE FEEL A MORE THOROUGH STUDY SHOULD BE MADE, NOW THAT FIND'S CLEARING CONTRACTOR HAS STRIPPED A LARGE PORTION OF THE SITE LEVEL. THEREFORE, MR. MARSHALL ASKED ABOUT THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY THAT WAS CARRIED OUT SOME TIME BACK, AS HE HAD HEARD THAT IT WAS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE SEARCH. MR. ROACH SAID THAT IT WAS A THOROUGH EXAMINATION OF THE SITE AND THAT THIS TOO WOULD BE POSTED ON THEIR WEBSITE ON FRIDAY,
SINCE THESE INDIANS DEPENDED FOR FISH FOR ABOUT 80% OF THEIR SUSTENANCE IT SEEMS LOGICAL THAT THEY MIGHT CHOOSE THIS LOCATION AS A SITE FOR THEIR VILLAGE. FURTHER ONE OF THE PARTICIPANTS AT THE TUESDAY MEETING STATED HE HAD FOUND INDIAN POTTERY SHARDS AND RUDIMENTARY JEWELRY ON THE DMMA SITE. BEFORE TONS OF MUCKY SEDIMENT IS DUMPED ON THIS SITE WE FEEL A MORE THOROUGH STUDY SHOULD BE MADE, NOW THAT FIND'S CLEARING CONTRACTOR HAS STRIPPED A LARGE PORTION OF THE SITE LEVEL. THEREFORE, MR. MARSHALL ASKED ABOUT THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY THAT WAS CARRIED OUT SOME TIME BACK, AS HE HAD HEARD THAT IT WAS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE SEARCH. MR. ROACH SAID THAT IT WAS A THOROUGH EXAMINATION OF THE SITE AND THAT THIS TOO WOULD BE POSTED ON THEIR WEBSITE ON FRIDAY,
NOT YET POSTED!
WE HAVE PROPOSED AN ALTERNATE SITE WHICH EXISTS
IT IS CAPABLE OF HANDLING TWO MILLION CUBIC YARDS OF SEDIMENT.
THIS IS OPERATED BY THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT.
IT WAS INITIALLY USED TO RECEIVE THE DREDGED MATERIALS FROM THE SEBASTIAN RIVER A FEW YEARS AGO.
THEY HAVE SUFFICIENT ADDITIONAL CAPACITY TO TAKE THE DREDGING SEDIMENTS FROM THE SECTION OF THE INDIAN RIVER THAT MIGHT BE DREDGED IN THE NEXT YEAR OR SO. THIS SITE IS NEAR THE AREA WHERE THE SEBASTIAN AND INDIAN RIVERS MERGE BY THE BRIDGE BETWEEN BREVARD AND INDIAN RIVER COUNTIES. THIS WOULD ALLOW PUMPING OF THE DREDGED MATERIALS FROM A BARGE THROUGH APPROPRIATE PIPING DIRECTLY TO THE DUMP SITE, WHICH IS IN AN UPLAND AREA AND IN A RELATIVELY REMOTE AREA.
THIS WOULD ALSO ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR THOUSANDS OF VERY LARGE (18 CUBIC FOOT CAPACITY) DUMP TRUCKS PULLING OUT ONTO US-1 TO MOVE THE EVENTUALLY DRIED OUT SEDIMENT TO WHEREVER (AS OF NOW, UNDETERMINED USE) IT MIGHT BE USED.
MR. ROACH SAID HE WAS NOT GOING TO ABANDON THE IR-2 DMMA SITE AS HE COULD NOT SEE HIMSELF BRINGING THIS TO HIS BOARD AFTER HE HAD SPENT THE MONEY TO PURCHASE THE SITE IN 2000. THIS PURCHASE WAS MADE BEFORE THE ALTERNATIVE SITE WAS BUILT OR AVAILABLE SO THE CHANGE IN CIRCUMSTANCES AND THE CURRENT NEED TO AVOID UNNECESSARY SPENDING OF TAXPAYER MONIES WOULD SEEM TO BE SUFFICIENT TO HAVE THE BOARD MEMBERS UNDERSTAND THE ABSOLUTE NEED TO CHANGE THE PLANS FOR THE GOOD OF THE TAXPAYING CITIZENRY.
WE ALL NEED TO PURSUE THIS WITH OUR GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES AND NOT JUST LEAVE THIS TO A FEW MEMBERS OF A TEAM WHO FEAR THIS PROJECT'S CURRENT LOCATION.
FORTUNATELY, BOTH MIKE HARIDOPOLOS AND DEBBIE MAYFIELD HAVE INDICATED THEIR INTEREST IN OUR CAUSE, JUST AS DID OUR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ALL OF WHOM WE THANK. YOU CAN REACH YOUR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS TO EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS ON THIS IMPORTANT MATTER AT THEIR E-MAIL ADDRESSES SHOWN BELOW:
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
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