Craig Quirolo talks about some of the thousands of photos he’s made of coral reefs around the world… Read More
US Coral Reef Task Force Meeting Nov. 2009
Coralations: Puerto Rico’s Planning threatens Culebra’s Reef
http://www.coralations.org/Planning_Board/index.html
(See Spanish-language version at above link)
Planning Board of Puerto Rico is proposing radical
zoning changes/redefinitions that pose a threat to Culebra’s Natural Resources and quality of life.
Summary:
The Planning Board is planning radical zoning changes / “redefinitions” (Reg #4) which will impact the entire island of Puerto Rico, Culebra and Vieques. These radical changes in zoning are proposed in a 500 page document. We were lucky to find out at this late date that there is a public hearing on Friday, January 25, 2008. The date this was hearing was formally announced is not clear.
There are changes proposed in the protective “RO” zoning that Culebra now enjoys. The proposed change in definition would apparently facilitate the urbanization of the island, and would legalize current “illegal” segregations now moving in violation of our protective zoning. We have stopped development for violation of zoning in the past. This could eliminate citizen ability to do this.
Culebra projects this may facilitate include the very dense Villa Mi Terruño, Playa Zoni (segregation or eco-parque), Playa Clara, Vista Bahia (dense segregation on Mt. Resaca we partially stopped in court.) As we are observing from the segregations now moving in violation of the protective zoning, this will cause irreparable harm to our coastal waters and quality of life.
Culebra’s protective zoning is the backbone of Culebra’s coastal zone management plan. It has until the recent onslaught of segregations moving in violation of zoning, protected coastal waters. Should this zoning be approved, the Federal funding received by the Coastal Zone Management Program must be evaluated. It could be a concern that Federal funding to protect coastal resources may be abused by Government knowingly supporting special interest development in opposition to public views (albeit not formally solicited) and causing irreparable harm to coastal water quality and Federally protected resources.
The radical changes proposed are not limited to the protective “RO” zoning on Culebra, but given our experience on Culebra, this is the only change we at this short notice on which we can comment.
Most disturbing is that the Government of Puerto Rico is apparently attempting to push these dramatic zoning changes through, with no Environmental Impact Study. We believe this may be unconstitutional and have referred this to legal experts for evaluation and comment.
This requires more than a few days review prior to comment. This must be slowed, stopped and reviewed by the people, along with a legitimate Environmental Impact Study. Culebra is already suffering impacts to coastal waters and personal property from dense segregations moving in violation of protective zoning!
It is our opinion, albeit at this early stage of evaluation, that should this change in RO be approved it will result in dramatic and dense projects, destroy future quality of life, and continue to destroy coastal water quality and resources consistent with what we are observing from current illegal segregations now moving without legitimate local Government oversight or intervention island wide.
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About Video
These changes are apparently similar to those first proposed
for public hearing in June of 2007. Dr. Nelson Pérez of the Coalición de las Playas
Para Todos and the late but great Sarah Peisch of Centro de Acción Ambiental
are interviewed. We are not sure if there are new changes or what has happened
since the hearings in June. The proposed 500 pages of changes requires time to
review. Here is a UTUBE of Nelson expressing concerns about the changes in
beach definition and access, and Sarah Peisch expressing concerns about the radical zoning redefinitions She is still helping…now that is quite a legacy.
Video Español
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rqiXtzY-9g
Florida Clean Water Network: DEP Rush to Flush; Groups call for protection from Sewage
http://www.cleanwaternetwork-fl.org/content/press/060108-SewageRpt-Press.pdf
THE RUSH TO FLUSH Groups call for legislation, planning and enforcement
to protect Gulf of Mexico from sewage
A report on the current condition of thousands of domestic wastewater treatment facilities along the Gulf Coast of Florida (from Pensacola to Key West) reveals that decades of poor planning and lax enforcement of the Clean Water Act has created an infrastructure meltdown in many coastal communities. The information for the report was researched and compiled by the Clean Water Network of Florida over a two year period ending in 2008.
The research found that many of Florida’s domestic wastewater facilities are either over-capacity at times or simply not performing at levels for which they are designed. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) frequently allows permits to expire for extended periods of time (when the plants cannot comply with previous permits), issues permits that are not protective of surface and/or groundwater standards, and is inconsistent if not lax on enforcement.
“Few people in Florida think about where their sewage ends up,” says Linda Young, director of the Clean Water Network of Florida and author of the report. “We assume that the government is protecting us and the environment, but this is not always the case. It is not uncommon for people to be swimming right next to a sewage outfall pipe and not even realize it.”
In recent years Florida has seen unprecedented durations of red-tide and other harmful algal blooms, massive fish kills, and contaminated beaches – all of which can be linked to excessive nutrients and bacteria. Sewage plant discharges contain both pollutants and while all of Florida’s water quality problems do not originate from domestic wastewater facilities, the report clearly demonstrates that by its sheer volume,
sewage plant discharges (to groundwater and surface waters) are a major contributor to polluted coastal waters.
As citizens across the state watch more of their local waters become unsafe for swimming and more frequent incidents of overflowing manholes, they search for elected officials who will take action to prevent or correct infrastructure problems in their communities. While money is always an issue, some community leaders find creative ways to get much needed improvements funded and under construction. Other utility violators get adept at the cat and mouse game with DEP. Unfortunately, DEP is like a cat without claws or even a sense of smell – often ignoring glaring violations and cries for help from beleaguered citizens.
“In Wakulla, we sometimes see raw sewage over-flowing from manholes and running into nearby ditches and creeks,” said Rich Johnson, a local concerned citizen. “We were lucky to find a health department official who said he would help us track down the problems and start looking for solutions.”
Over-whelmed or inadequate sewage systems are not just an inconvenience for would-be swimmers, they affect our fisheries, shell-fish waters and tourism industry as well.
“Unless Florida comes to grips and acknowledges that our leaky sewage infrastructure is turning our pristine rivers into sewers, we will continue to have polluted beaches,” said Jack Rudloe, director of Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory. “We are already witnessing the demise of aquaculture with toxic dinoflagellates infecting shrimp hatchers. How can you grow shrimp, clams and oysters in waters that are over enriched by sewage, which contributes to toxic blooms of red tide organisms?”
In a more perfect world, operators and owners of sewage treatment plants would make concerted efforts to stay within the limits of their permits and would avoid major problems with regular maintenance and prevention programs. However, many of Florida’s wastewater facilities are struggling to keep up with the over-whelming increases in flows from rampant growth and have little or no time to think about improvements. The regulatory consequences for spills, overflows, upsets and outright destruction of important resources are minor if they exist at all.
“The results shown in this report, while troubling, are entirely expected due to years of lax enforcement,” said Jerry Phillips, Director of Florida PEER and a former enforcement attorney with the FDEP. “The FDEP’s own data confirms that the agency has changed from an agency that once cared first about the environment and enforcement of Florida’s laws to one that is now more concerned about quick settlements that do not require additional agency oversight. To the great delight of polluters, ‘Pay-to-Pollute’ continues to be the agency’s policy.”
Citizens who want more information about sewage treatment and disposal in their communities can contact Clean Water Network of Florida at 850/222-8701 or cwnfl@earthlink.net.
Clean Water Network of Florida have more than 200 group members and thousands of individuals who work together to protect Florida’s springs, wetlands, rivers, estuaries and coastal waters.
Caribbean Conservation Corp Sues Fisheries to Protect Loggerhead Sea Turtles
http://www.cccturtle.org/pressreleases.php?page=n_CCC_NMFS_Loggerheads
Groups Sue National Marine Fisheries Service to Protect Loggerhead Sea Turtles
Date: December 21, 2009
Contact: Marydele Donnelly
(352) 373-6441
Tallahassee, Fla, Fla. – Caribbean Conservation Corporation (CCC), along with five other conservation groups, went back to court today in their continuing battle to protect imperiled sea turtles from death and injury in the Gulf of Mexico bottom longline fishery.
The conservation groups say that the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) latest assessment of the fishery’s impact on loggerhead sea turtles is based on incomplete science and that new regulatory measures will fall short of giving the species the protection it needs to survive and recover.
Bottom longline fisheries use hundreds or even thousands of baited hooks along miles of fishing lines that stretch down to the reef and Gulf floor. The fishing hooks target species like grouper, tilefish and sharks, but also often catch other fish and wildlife, including endangered and threatened sea turtles. Injuries from these hooks affect a sea turtle’s ability to feed, swim, avoid predators and reproduce. Many times the turtles drown or die soon after being released because of the extreme physiological stress.
These same conservation groups had previously filed lawsuit in April, which contended that NMFS was required to close the bottom longline fishery and address the new data on sea turtle capture in a new biological opinion. The new biological opinion, released in October, would allow it to injure or kill six to seven hundred loggerheads every three years – more than seven times as many as the bottom longline fishery vessels were allowed to capture or kill under the previous plan.
“We have major concerns about the agency’s new biological opinion, such as the omission of detailed information about the presence of turtles in the fishing area year-round. The agency has no basis for thinking loggerheads are not currently at substantial risk from this and other fisheries,” said Marydele Donnelly, a biologist with the Caribbean Conservation Corporation.
The new lawsuit challenges the agency’s new biological opinion as unlawful and incomplete. Conservation groups charge that NMFS omitted important new science from its analysis and failed to back up its flawed finding that the bottom longline fishery would not harm the loggerhead sea turtles’ chances at survival and recovery.
NMFS’s 2009 Loggerhead Review Team issued a report in August finding that loggerheads are in danger of extinction. The report also found that capture by vessels in commercial fisheries is a primary threat to the loggerhead population. Loggerhead nesting in Florida has declined by over 40 percent over the past decade, with 2009 the fourth lowest nesting year recorded.
“All evidence points to the fact fisheries are the smoking gun in the decline of the loggerhead sea turtle,” said Donnelly. “The Obama Administration needs to restore good science to decision-making by NMFS, and it needs to do this now.”