FLORIDA INLAND WATERWAY DISTRICT (FIND)
HAD SEVERAL BOARD MEETINGS HELD IN PORT ST. LUCIE AT THE
SPRING HILL SUITES- BANQUET HALL ON SATURDAY FEB 18, 2012
THIS SERIES OF MEETINGS HAS BEEN REPORTED ON BY SCRIPPS MEDIA
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER GEORGE ANDREASSSI GO TO THIS LINK:
UNFORTUNATELY,ALTHOUGH THE AGENDA OF ONE OF THESE MEETINGS
CALLED FOR COMMENTS BY THE PUBLIC, WHEN GARY KACZENSKI OF OUR
CONCERNED IRC TAXPAYERS TEAM BEGAN HIS WELL PREPARED STATEMENTS
THE CHAIRMAN SAID HE WAS NOT GOING TO SIT AND LISTEN TO HIS QUESTIONS,
THEN COMMISSIONER BRUCE BARKETT, A VERO BEACH ATTORNEY, WHO WAS APPOINTED TO REPRESENT INDIAN RIVER COUNTY JOINED IN AGGRESSIVELY, SAYING
HE WAS NOT GOING TO SIT THERE AND BE CROSS EXAMINED ON THE IR-2 DMMA SITE AND THE PLANS FOR DREDGING OF THE SHORT SECTION OF THE REACH-1 EAST OF SEBASTIAN. DESPITE THIS UNEXPECTED SETBACK GARY WAS ABLE TO EXPLAIN THAT THE ORIGINAL PLAN WAS TO DREDGE 8 MILES OF THE REACH-1. BUT THE ARMY CORPS AND OUR MARINE BIOLOGIST DR. HAL GOFORTH HAD DETERMINED THAT 85 % OF THE REACH WAS OVER 12 FEET DEEP WHICH IS THE TARGET DEPTH FOR THIS AREA AND THAT THE REMAINDER WAS WAS 10 TO 11 FEET DEEP EXCEPT AT THE EASTERN AND WESTERN EXTREMITIES OF THE WATERWAY WHICH WAS 9 FEET DEEP. HE NOTED THAT THE DEPTH TARGET IS ONLY TEN FEET DEEP IN THE ST LUCIE PORTION OF THE WATERWAY. HE NOTED THE INFORMATION THAT THERE ARE 12 AREAS OF THE INDIAN RIVER WHICH FIND HAS IDENTIFIED AS SIX FEET OR AS LOW AS 3.5 FEET IN DEPTH.
HE ASKED THEN WHY IS THIS DEEP REACH BEING DREDGED AND WHY HAS THE ENORMOUS SIZE OF DMMA SITE REMAINED THE SAME WHEN ONLY 35% OF THE REACH
IS NOW PLANNED TO BE DREDGED? THEY HAVE NOT YET RE-SAMPLED AND CHEMICALLY EXAMINED THE SEDIMENT BUT ARE SPENDING MILLIONS ON SITE CONSTRUCTION.
NO ANSWERS WERE GIVEN, BUT WE HOPE THEY GOT THE MESSAGE. ONE COMMISSIONER SUGGESTED THAT WE SUBMIT A LIST OF QUESTIONS AND THAT THEY WOULD BE ANSWERED. WE INTEND TO TO DO THIS.
FRANK MARSHALL SPOKE AFTER GARY KACZENSKI AND EMPHASIZED OUR CONCERN
ABOUT HEALTH ISSUES WITH MERCURY WHICH WAS FOUND IN THE ONE SAMPLE THAT HAD BEEN CHEMICALLY TESTED 15 YEARS AGO. HE EXPLAINED THAT THE OLD SAMPLE WAS TAKEN FROM THE TOP OF THE SEDIMENT LAYER, WHILE MERCURY AND LEAD, BOTH HEAVY METALS SINK TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEDIMENT (4 FEET DEEP IN THAT AREA) AND DEEP BORE SAMPLING IS NECESSARY TO DETERMINE THESE TOXIC MATERIALS. THE SEDIMENT CONTAINS MUCH ORGANIC MATERIAL WHICH REACTS WITH MERCURY TO MAKE METHYL MERCURY A HIGHLY TOXIC MATERIAL WHICH CAN CAUSE SERIOUS DISABILITIES, DEFORMED NEW-BORN BABIES OR DEATH. THERE IS NO CURRENT TREATMENT FOR METHYL MERCURY POISONING. FRANK POINTED OUT THAT THERE WERE FAMILIES LIVING NEAR THE IR-2 DMMA SITE WHO HAVE THEIR OWN WELLS, NOT COUNTY WATER, AND THESE COULD BECOME CONTAMINATED BY A CONCENTRATION OF MERCURY COMPOUNDS. FURTHER HE NOTED THAT WE HAVE HAD TORNADOES IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE 2004 HURRICANES WHICH TORE OFF THE ENDS OF SEVERAL OF OUR BUILDINGS. THUS WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT A SPILL FROM THE RETAINING POND CONTAINING THE SLUDGE MATERIAL. HE NOTED THAT THE SITE IS ONLY ONE MILE FROM THE NATIONAL PRESERVE, PELICAN ISLAND, AND THERE ARE CLAM AND OYSTER FARMS IN THE AREA WHICH COULD BE CONTAMINATED. HE EXPLAINED THE BIO-MAGNIFICATION PROCESS WHICH HAS THE RETENTION OF METHYL MERCURY INCREASING AS IT MOVES UP THE FOOD CHAIN UNTIL IT REACHES HUMANS WHICH HAVING MORE FAT CONTENT IN THE BODY RETAIN THE MOST OF THIS TOXIC MATERIAL.
COMMISSIONER BARKETT QUIZZED MR.MARSHALL ABOUT ANY SPILLS OF MERCURY. HE
REPLIED THAT FIND HAD A SPILL AT FIND'S SJ-14 DMMA SITE IN ST JOHNS COUNTY.
HE AND THE COMMISSIONER FROM ST JOHNS COUNTY TRIED TO MINIMIZE THIS SAYING
IT WAS NOT A DIKE SPILL BUT A PIPING LEAK. NO MATTER WHAT YOU CALL IT, TOXIC ARSENIC SPILLED ONTO OVER 50 ACRES OF WETLANDS IN 2006 AND AFTER MILLIONS IN CLEANUP EXPENSE IT IS STILL NOT CLEANED UP. THE IR-2 SITE DOES NOT HAVE A LARGE WETLAND TO SPILL ONTO, IT IS ON A FLOOD PLAIN AND IS CLOSE TO OUR BEAUTIFUL INDIAN RIVER LAGOON WITH ALL TYPES OF FISH, CLAMS, OYSTERS AND UNDERWATER SEA GRASSES AND PLANTS SUCH AS MANGROVES
WHICH ARE NEEDED FOR THE FISH TO REPRODUCE. THE WILD BIRDS FEED ON THE FISH AND SHELL FISH, WHICH IF CONTAMINATED WILL EVENTUALLY KILL THEM.
FIND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DAVID ROACH RECOGNIZED FRANK MARSHALL FROM
EARLIER MEETINGS AND GREETED HIM EARLIER IN THE DAY . WHEN FRANK TOLD HIM OF HIS MAJOR CONCERN ABOUT HEALTH AND THE NEED FOR PROPER SAMPLING AND CHEMICAL TESTING MR. ROACH ASSURED HIM THEY WERE GOING TO DO THE PROPER TESTING OF THE SEDIMENT TO BE DREDGED
.
FRANK MARSHALL SPOKE AFTER GARY KACZENSKI AND EMPHASIZED OUR CONCERN
ABOUT HEALTH ISSUES WITH MERCURY WHICH WAS FOUND IN THE ONE SAMPLE THAT HAD BEEN CHEMICALLY TESTED 15 YEARS AGO. HE EXPLAINED THAT THE OLD SAMPLE WAS TAKEN FROM THE TOP OF THE SEDIMENT LAYER, WHILE MERCURY AND LEAD, BOTH HEAVY METALS SINK TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEDIMENT (4 FEET DEEP IN THAT AREA) AND DEEP BORE SAMPLING IS NECESSARY TO DETERMINE THESE TOXIC MATERIALS. THE SEDIMENT CONTAINS MUCH ORGANIC MATERIAL WHICH REACTS WITH MERCURY TO MAKE METHYL MERCURY A HIGHLY TOXIC MATERIAL WHICH CAN CAUSE SERIOUS DISABILITIES, DEFORMED NEW-BORN BABIES OR DEATH. THERE IS NO CURRENT TREATMENT FOR METHYL MERCURY POISONING. FRANK POINTED OUT THAT THERE WERE FAMILIES LIVING NEAR THE IR-2 DMMA SITE WHO HAVE THEIR OWN WELLS, NOT COUNTY WATER, AND THESE COULD BECOME CONTAMINATED BY A CONCENTRATION OF MERCURY COMPOUNDS. FURTHER HE NOTED THAT WE HAVE HAD TORNADOES IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE 2004 HURRICANES WHICH TORE OFF THE ENDS OF SEVERAL OF OUR BUILDINGS. THUS WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT A SPILL FROM THE RETAINING POND CONTAINING THE SLUDGE MATERIAL. HE NOTED THAT THE SITE IS ONLY ONE MILE FROM THE NATIONAL PRESERVE, PELICAN ISLAND, AND THERE ARE CLAM AND OYSTER FARMS IN THE AREA WHICH COULD BE CONTAMINATED. HE EXPLAINED THE BIO-MAGNIFICATION PROCESS WHICH HAS THE RETENTION OF METHYL MERCURY INCREASING AS IT MOVES UP THE FOOD CHAIN UNTIL IT REACHES HUMANS WHICH HAVING MORE FAT CONTENT IN THE BODY RETAIN THE MOST OF THIS TOXIC MATERIAL.
COMMISSIONER BARKETT QUIZZED MR.MARSHALL ABOUT ANY SPILLS OF MERCURY. HE
REPLIED THAT FIND HAD A SPILL AT FIND'S SJ-14 DMMA SITE IN ST JOHNS COUNTY.
HE AND THE COMMISSIONER FROM ST JOHNS COUNTY TRIED TO MINIMIZE THIS SAYING
IT WAS NOT A DIKE SPILL BUT A PIPING LEAK. NO MATTER WHAT YOU CALL IT, TOXIC ARSENIC SPILLED ONTO OVER 50 ACRES OF WETLANDS IN 2006 AND AFTER MILLIONS IN CLEANUP EXPENSE IT IS STILL NOT CLEANED UP. THE IR-2 SITE DOES NOT HAVE A LARGE WETLAND TO SPILL ONTO, IT IS ON A FLOOD PLAIN AND IS CLOSE TO OUR BEAUTIFUL INDIAN RIVER LAGOON WITH ALL TYPES OF FISH, CLAMS, OYSTERS AND UNDERWATER SEA GRASSES AND PLANTS SUCH AS MANGROVES
WHICH ARE NEEDED FOR THE FISH TO REPRODUCE. THE WILD BIRDS FEED ON THE FISH AND SHELL FISH, WHICH IF CONTAMINATED WILL EVENTUALLY KILL THEM.
FIND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DAVID ROACH RECOGNIZED FRANK MARSHALL FROM
EARLIER MEETINGS AND GREETED HIM EARLIER IN THE DAY . WHEN FRANK TOLD HIM OF HIS MAJOR CONCERN ABOUT HEALTH AND THE NEED FOR PROPER SAMPLING AND CHEMICAL TESTING MR. ROACH ASSURED HIM THEY WERE GOING TO DO THE PROPER TESTING OF THE SEDIMENT TO BE DREDGED
All virtue is summed up in dealing justly.
QUOTE FROM:
Aristotle
QUOTE FROM:
Aristotle
.
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