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Hold the Urban Development Line!
The final County Commission meeting for 3 permits outside the UDB was April 24. One of the applications was pulled before the vote. Despite hearing that the public was against moving the UDB, that the entire environmental community was against it, that the Miami-Dade County Staff was against it, the Florida Dept. of Community Affairs and the South Florida Water Management District was against it, the commission voted to move the line for the two permits.
Everglades Skyway Update
On Earth Day, there was a meeting to discuss whether a tentative plan to keep water flowing in the Everglades would meet any needs. The comment period is open till May 9. A Brief Background: The Corps of Engineers has tentatively selected a one-mile bridge in the eastern portion of the 11 mile area with an asphalt overlay according to the FL Department of Transportation of probably 6 inches on the remaining 10 miles of road. That comes out to two coats by those big asphalt laying machines. The original plan was for an 8.0 foot canal stage which would have required six inches of asphalt on just 20 percent of the remaining road, but in the last few weeks the state asked that the canal stage be increased to 8.5 feet -- increasing the amount of water that could pass through the bridge, but also requiring asphalt on all the remaining road. The plan costs $200 million for the bridge and $35 million for the 10 miles of asphalt. This 1-mile plan is part of the 1989 federally-funded Modified Waters Delivery Project (Mod Waters), and not the $11 billion Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) or any other state or federal transportation or environmental project. The Skyway Coalition has always said that if we were unable to secure the Skyway entirely in Mod Waters then the smaller project must be compatible with a full Skyway, and be built consecutively. The Corps estimates that the 11-mile Skyway costs $600 million at current prices with another $1 billion for risk and inflation if the bridge were built in 2012 and completed in 2020 -- 8 years to build. Independent experts have told us the bridge could be built in 4 years or less. We are investigating creative financing arrangements from state and federal governments and public/private partnerships. Tolling revenues from new and existing sources could be tapped for this effort. The entire Corps document can be viewed at: USAC Site
Talking Points: 1. It’s generally acknowledged by all parties that the one-mile bridge alone will not provide enough water flow to restore Everglades National Park and Florida Bay. If the Skyway Coalition were to consider this as a first step to restore Shark River Slough and close out Mod Waters, we would need to see verifiable commitments from the state and federal officials that a project to build the remainder of the Skyway would break ground right after the one-mile bridge project is finished.
2.We are concerned that the 10 miles of asphalt, however thin, is a costly and long measure that might lend some permanency to the project. We wonder if this plan is designed to be the only bridge for 10-15 years or beyond. Tell us why that shouldn’t be a concern, and what are you doing to assure this doesn’t happen.
3.It behooves us to assure the public that finishing the Skyway starts immediately after the Mod Waters project because costs will only go up. We’ll look back at this 20-30 years from now and think that this was a bargain.
4.There doesn’t seem to be a plan to build the full Skyway after Mod Waters. We would like the Administration in its last months to work with Congress, the State of Florida and the Skyway Coalition, to craft a plan that blends a variety of state and federal and possibly private funds, possibly tapping existing and future tolling streams and financing options. We’d like that plan ready before Congresses’ July ‘08 deadline so that the public can see that the interim 1-mile plan isn’t the end of the road.
5.To show the agency’s commitment to restoring flow to the Everglades, would the Corps move up the Tamiami Trail decompartmentalization project of CERP, which could be a funding vehicle for much or all of the remaining Skyway bridging after Mod Waters?
6.The science chair of Miami-Dade County’s Global Warming Task Force and University of Miami Geology Chair, Dr. Harold Wanless, predicts a 3 to 5 foot sea level rise by 2100. He said that restoring natural historic flows may be pivotal to saving the Everglades. This week marks the 80th Anniversary of the completion of Tamiami Trail. In another 80 years, the road and much if not all the Everglades could be underwater if we don’t make the right choices now. We hope State and Federal officials agree on a post-Mod Waters bridging plan by July to address these predictions.
- Jonathan Ullman, Sierra Club Everglades Office
Our Drinking Water and the Lakebelt Issue
Rock Mining is an unfortunate fact of life in South Florida. What
should not be, is having mining contaminate our drinking water. We
knew we were in for a fight when the the industry successfully got
everyone to refer to the string of giant open mining pits as a "Lake
Belt". The public had another setback when the county passed an ordinance saying rock mining no longer needed to hold public hearings to get new permits. For 10 years we have been in a legal battle with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers just to get them to obey the environmental
laws when permitting these mining operations. Recently, U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler ruled wisely and set aside the permits. It was one of our most stunning victories. However, the fight continues because the Army Corps of Engineers and the mining group have appealed the decision. The Miami New Times has the latest
on the story.
Click Here and read "Poisoned Well".
Other conservation news Governor Crist Signs Solar Initiative Bill
Here in the Sunshine State, the sun is our greatest energy resource. The Florida Solar Roofs Initiative is a plan to supply 2% of our energy from rooftop solar photovoltaics and a further 2% from solar thermal, by 2020. This will cost us less than 1% of our utility bills. That's a price most are willing to pay. Except for the Florida House and Senate.
State Senator's and Reps are looking to weaken the bill, or worse, call coal and nuclear energy renewable resources similar to solar.Please sign and forward the Vote Solar Petition. It proposes a million roof solar initiative for Florida. It can be accessed through the following site: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/votesolar/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=738.
Jonathan Ullman, Sierra Club
FPL Announces Plans for Two New Nuclear Reactors at Turkey Point
FPL is seeking approval to expand the Turkey Point site by two new reactor units by 2025. This would make it one of the largest sites in the Southeast. Forgetting all the issues with nuclear waste and the supervision and measuring of the existing aging reactors, these units need fresh water for cooling. So much water that it is an obvious question in these drought years, where are they going to get the water?
Mark Oncavage, Conservation Chair for the Miami Sierra Club was interviewed by the Miami Herald and was quoted as saying " That is one of the biggest problems I see, there is not enough water to build it." Mark has been the Energy Chair for the local Sierra Club for many years and testified at many of the hearings on the workings at Turkey Point. Over the years, issues of waste storage, security, and hurricane protection for the aging nuclear plant have all been in the news.
Florida Everglades News
Tamiami Trail (US highway 41) cuts through Shark River Slough, one of the Everglades’ deepest and most important water passageways. Scientists say this 11-mile section of the 1928 road must be elevated into a “skyway” if Everglades restoration is to succeed. The skyway will be an important first step in returning the historic water sheet flow through parched Everglades National Park and into Florida Bay.
It will be beneficial to wildlife by reducing habitat fragmentation and preventing road kill. The project will create jobs and increase tourism while raising Everglades awareness at the same time. Best yet, an 11-mile skyway will serve as a visible symbol of Everglades restoration; a real benefit to the floundering project. The Sierra Club believes that Everglades restoration cannot happen without the full 11-mile skyway. For more information go to Build the Skyway
Water Conservation News
Miami-Dade County has had rain. But despite this, some water restrictions still remain. You can view the Miami-Dade government website on water conservaton at Conservation
Broward County has created a few programs concerned with water management and resource protection.
"Water Matters" is the County’s educational program that helps homeowners, policymakers, local businesses, and property managers understand their role in water management and water conservation. See this at: Water Matters
NatureScape is about creating Florida-friendly landscapes that conserve water, protect water quality, and create wildlife habitat. See this at: NatureScape
Broward’s water management community has developed a Plan called the Integrated Water Resource Plan (IWRP) that looks at how Broward’s water resources might be most effectively and efficiently managed – for the next ten years and beyond. The Plan is an important step in making sure that water is managed in a way that benefits everyone, while protecting the environment.See this at: IWRP
“Know the Flow” educates local residents, property managers, landscape professionals, and municipal staff about how they each contribute to the successful functioning of our water management system. The Know the Flow program was developed in partnership with the Central Broward Water Control District and the South Florida Water Management District and provides an overview of local water management. The program emphasizes that we all have a role as water managers.See this at: Know the Flow
Global Warming Information
FOR TOO LONG, America has failed to take meaningful steps to address the serious problem of global warming, and some in government and industry want to deny the science behind global warming instead of taking responsible action. \However, we have the opportunity and the technology to cut our emission of the greenhouse gases which fuel global warming. The facts about global warming are in. The time for debate is over. We must act now. Visit www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming for more information and ways to take action.
“An Inconvenient Truth,” in theaters now, is an inspirational look at Al Gore’s crusade to halt global warming’s progress by exposing its myths and misconceptions. Find out more at www.climatecrisis.net and find a showing near you.
Rebuilding Flamingo in Everglades National Park
Everglades NP is asking the public what facilities should be in Flamingo. The '05 hurricanes wrecked everything except the visitors center and the gift shop. The Park just completed emergency dredging of the boat harbor. The following proposal has been submitted by Sierra Club. the reasons behind this proposal are: Floridians are basically unaware of the consequences of sea level rise, education is needed. A research station could help Flamingo financially, in the off-season (summer).
Concept
The two purposes of the Flamingo Research Station would be to collect data on rising sea levels and create predictive models for natural systems for rising sea levels. Everglades NP as well as other low-lying national park units in the region, will likely be the first land masses to show measurable changes to natural systems. Baseline data on flora, fauna, water chemistry, inter tidal communities, benthic communities, physical shoreline measurements, topographical measurements, and meteorological data should be collected immediately.
Another purpose would be to build predictive models for physical change, hydrological change, habitat change, species change, and the varying rates of change. The predictive model would not be used to set a timetable for sea level rise, but to describe the consequences to natural systems if the sea level were to rise. This would be of value for researchers in the biological, physical, and marine sciences. For practical purposes, information on losses of human water supplies, losses of land mass, losses of food production, and losses of fisheries will become increasingly important. The slow, gradual changes in elevation make the Flamingo area an ideal location to site a research station.
Mission
A research station to study the significance of rising sea levels can fulfill numerous missions. It can provide accurate information on changes that have occurred since historical records have been kept. It can provide a base of operations for field work needed for many different areas of science. It can attract outside researchers and institutions doing work related to climate change. It can provide a meaningful educational experience as the public will have access to a working research station. It can be an introduction to research and field work for public school students. It can provide opportunities for high school and college internships. It can provide many opportunities involving public relation activities to promote the mission of the National Park System. It can share relevant data with other national park units. It can educate the national and worldwide audience as to the significance of rising sea levels.Mark Oncavage, Conservation Chair
Miami Group Conservation Update 2006
Everglades
The first of many public meetings on various CERP projects started in March, 2006. For years the Army Corps has done little to restore the Everglades. In a blistering internal report, the Corps admitted they have done a poor job of Everglades restoration. OMB also criticized the Corps for their years of inaction. The first CERP meeting of the year concerned the Everglades NP Seepage Management Project. This is a crucial part of restoration but unfortunately is many years away. Other public meetings would be held on Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands, C-111 N Spreader Canal, Bird Drive Recharge Basin, and South M-D Water Re-use. Best time to affect change is in the early stages of a project when public comment counts the most.
In June there was the first public meeting on building the C-111 N Spreader canal. This project is going badly. It was supposed to rehydrate the wetlands east of US 1 between Florida City and Key Largo. Budget cutbacks and planned housing projects so far have cut the benefits of this restoration project in half and will actually drain more water out the Taylor Slough than before. Taylor Slough is the water source for the Everglades National Park Visitor Center and the Anhinga Trail. The Sierra Club joined with other organizations to petition for a change of proposal.
In September, Jonathan Ullman and Kristina Trotta hosted the Skyway Summit at the Biltmore hotel. This event generated a lot of interest in getting the Skyway built. The Skyway would replace 11 miles of the Tamiami Trail that crosses the Everglades, and would let water flow south.
Also, the Army Corps unveiled their new Bold-Decomp Plan. It re-establishes sheetflow for the northern part of the Everglades, however, The Corps wants to pump huge amounts of polluted water from Lake Okeechobee directly into the Biscayne Aquifer. Stopping this plan may become our major project for 2007.
Everglades National Park has asked the public how Flamingo section of the park facilities should be rebuilt. The ’05 hurricanes destroyed the harbor and most of the buildings. The Miami Group submitted a recommendation to establish a research station at Flamingo to study the effects of rising sea levels on natural systems. The Miami Group, the Florida Chapter and the National Club all endorsed this research proposal.
A combined meeting of the Everglades Coalition and the Everglades Foundation laid out some hopeful plans for the future of the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA), which is the land south of Lake Okeechobee and north of the water conservation areas. Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) need to be built to clean up the phosphorus contamination from Lake O. A flowway needs to be built connecting the STAs to the water conservation areas. The large releases of polluted water going out the St. Lucie River and the Caloosahatchee River need to be stopped. The Army Corps has put blind faith into Aquifer Storage and Recovery wells (ASRs) for storing huge amounts of water. We are finding out that many of the ASRs are failures. Water storage problems are significantly related to CERP, Bold-Decomp, ModWaters, the EAA, the Skyway, Lakebelt, the Biscayne Aquifer, water re-use and the flooding of Sweetwater and West Kendall. It is a huge mess. Money, political will, and good science are in very short supply.
Defending the Urban Development Boundary
The other stunning victory in 2006 was stopping 8 out of 9 Urban Developement Boundary amendments before the Miami-Dade County Commission. This effort required many months of work, coalition building, countless meetings, lobbying, lots of money, and lots of helping hands culminating in the April Commission meetings. Altogether 132 organizations, including 19 municipalities, formed the “Hold The Line” Alliance. The Miami Group can rightfully be proud of what was accomplished.
Even though the Miami Group won the Lakebelt litigation, the Army Corps and the rock miners petitioned for an evidentiary hearing. The hearing started in June and continued throughout the summer. New allegations about benzene contamination of the Lakebelt lakes were made public. Benzene contamination is a threat to the public water supply of the Northwest wellfield, which is largest supply of drinking water for Miami.
Energy Policy
In June 2006, the Sierra Club Florida Chapter decided to become heavily involved in influencing the National Club’s fledgling energy policy. The Miami Group submitted grassroots comments along with important Chapter comments. Many of Miami’s comments found their way into the Club’s final energy policy.
City of Miami
In August 2006 there were 2 days of meetings with the Army Corps about the recently completed dredging project at the Port of Miami and the upcoming dredging of the main channel at the Port. Authorization and budgeting for the main channel project is in the new WRDA bill that is now working its way through Congress. The Corps has planned 1,140 days of blasting in the main channel once the project starts. The coral reefs of Biscayne National Park may be damaged from this dredging.
Work on the Virginia Key Masterplan is on again and off again. This situation needs to be watched. There is a rumor that City of Miami Mayor, Manny Diaz wants to remove the “Critical Wildlife Area” designation from the manatee calving grounds north of Virginia Key. This is the first step towards building hotels and condos on Virginia Key. This must be opposed.
Other items
Some interesting things are starting to happen with the South M-D Wastewater Treatment Plant. A few years ago, Sierra Club sued the EPA over partially treated sewage being injected underground and having the sewage migrate from the Lower Floridan Aquifer to the Upper Floridan Aquifer. The suit was rendered moot when the EPA promulgated a rule specifically exempting the South Dade plant from Federal law. Since then, the Water Management District started insisting on large-scale water re-use. The County Commission will spend half a billion dollars putting in a high level disinfectant facility for the injection wells. Soon thereafter, another half of a billion dollars will be spent filtering the disinfected sewage so that 285,000,000 gallons a day of sewage will be re-used. Most likely it will be used to re-hydrate the coastal wetlands leading to Biscayne Bay. In other words, we won the lawsuit without going to court.
In December, there was a meeting of the Miami-Dade Environmental Quality Control Board (EQCB). Among other duties, this board grants or denies permits to fill in otherwise protected wetlands. The particular issue concerned a developer with property near the Deering Estate asking permission to fill in 34 acres of wetlands. Local homeowners were opposed to permit and the Miami Group supported the homeowners. No decision has been reached as the issue was moved to the January 2007 EQCB meeting.
Mark Oncavage, Conservation Chair
Help Keep the Environment a Top Issue in Florida
Please help push the environment to the front of the newspaper editors' attention in Florida. Something that you can do (and maybe even make you feel better!) is to write a letter to the editor of newspapers, both in your area and to others. The Internet makes this easier than ever. Even if your letter is not published, it is good for the newspapers to know that our issue-the environment-is at the top of peoples' concerns. Most papers require letters to the editor to include a full name, home address, occupation and daytime phone number, for verification purposes. The name, city of residence and, usually, occupation of writers may published. Send your opinions and share them with others.
Click on the links below to send letters to the editor
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CONSERVATION ARCHIVE
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