Gulf Pollution Article

[CBulla]

Given that most of us who dive the Gulf have had one experience with pollution or the effects one way or another, especially beach divers ( i.e. Red Tide or Bacteria around Venice Beach), I find the timely release of this article interesting considering that anyone checking conditions last week knows of Venice's closure yet again to Bacteria.

news-press.com | Southwest Florida | The News-Press
Jun 26, 4:28 PM EDT
Environmental report: Gulf is 'Florida's Toilet'
By BILL KACZOR
Associated Press Writer

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- What Floridians already are doing to the Gulf of Mexico is 100 times worse than the risk of pollution from offshore drilling, the leader of an environmental group said Thursday.

Linda Young, director of the Clean Water Network of Florida, said poorly treated sewage being flushed into the Gulf is turning it into "Florida's Toilet."
That's the title of a new report issued by Young's organization. It says the Gulf and associated waters are being fouled in part because sewage treatment facilities have failed to keep up with growth. Weak laws and lax enforcement also share the blame, the report concludes.

It comes amid renewed debate over domestic oil and natural gas exploration after Gov. Charlie Crist dropped his long-standing support for a federal moratorium on offshore drilling.

Crist has endorsed a proposal by Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, to let each state decide whether to drill offshore.
"I'm not pro-drilling," Young said at a news conference. "I never have been and never will be, but I'm a lot more concerned and worried about the sewage that we are inadequately treating and irresponsibly disposing all over the state."

The report details violations of environment standards by sewage systems from Pensacola to Key West from 2003 to 2008. It concludes that violations of water quality standards, leaky pipes and accidental spills were the rule rather than the exception.

The excessive nutrients and bacteria have been linked to red tide and other harmful algae blooms, fish kills and contaminated beaches and seafood.
"You don't poop where you eat, and that's what we're doing," said Jack Rudloe, director of the Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory, who joined Young at the news conference.

The report recommends tougher enforcement and stronger laws, advanced treatment of all sewage, and more money for wastewater treatment. It also calls for bans on discharges into surface waters and on new connections to out-of-compliance systems and growth limits in areas without adequate sewage facilities.
It criticizes the Department of Environmental Protection for inconsistent and ineffective enforcement, citing a recent report by another group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

The PEER report shows about two-thirds of domestic wastewater cases last year were settled by the payment of fines without monitoring or other follow-up or lawsuits. The average penalty also dropped by about 60 percent.
"It's what we call a traffic ticket mentality or pay to pollute," said PEER's Florida director Jerry Phillips.

He said that trend has accelerated although the agency promised to get tougher after Crist took office last year.
Department spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller said in an e-mail that "99.99 percent" of all domestic wastewater in the state - 1.7 billion gallons a day - is handled without incident.

"DEP stands by its enforcement record," she wrote. "While wastewater spills are abnormal events that sometimes happen, DEP takes all wastewater spills seriously and follows up with any necessary enforcement action."

The department is working with utilities to eliminate direct discharges into surface waters and encouraging the reuse of treated wastewater for such purposes as irrigation, she added.

 

[perdidochas]

Given that most of us who dive the Gulf have had one experience with pollution or the effects one way or another, especially beach divers ( i.e. Red Tide or Bacteria around Venice Beach), I find the timely release of this article interesting considering that anyone checking conditions last week knows of Venice's closure yet again to Bacteria.

Well, beaches weren't surveyed regularly for bacteria until fairly recently. IMHO, if we could test the beaches of 30 or 40 yrs ago, I bet we would close the beaches back then.

 

[W3tWilly]

A big cause of the bacteria up here is actually the seagulls. The beaches are almost guaranteed to be closed after a long period of dry weather followed by a day or two of rain, as the rain water washes all the seagull poop into the water, drastically raising the bacteria count.

 

[CBulla]

I hadn't thought of the bird poo part. CoolTech brought up an interesting idea of other ways as well such as the dead animals, etc., the collect in said drainage or near, and when the rains flush it out so comes the dead critter and bacterias that are collected in the decomposition process.

I actually called Linda mentioned in the article that I quoted. She's signed up on :sblogo: and should be posting sometime in the future as cleanwaterwoman.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Collin asked me to repost a thought I wrote in a previous thread.

Venice Beach, Fl. recently red-flagged their beaches due to contaminated water. The question was raised in the thread as to how the bacteria found it's way into the water from Venice Beach common all the way to the pier south of the beach.

I was south of VB (Alhambra public entrance) the day after a heavy rain and noticed the following (The beach was closed that afternoon);

There are 3-4 sets of double pipes from VB common all the way down to the pier (One can see from Venice Beach down to the pier with regular vision). These pipes drain run-off water from the streets of Venice. Most days these pipes drain at a drizzle, or not at all. One can only imagine what builds up on the streets and common areas of Venice Beach during dry periods... Lawns that have been sprayed, trash from drivers, bike riders, walkers, etc., animal excrement, decaying animals....

On this day, the pipes were flowing with a brownish color water. The tide was up, and the water was at pipe level. All of the run-off water drains directly into the Gulf of Mexico through these pipes. Later in the day when the tides receded, the run-off had cut a trench down to the water line, and brown water continued to pour into the Gulf of Mexico...

There are varied issues raised concerning beach closing in Venice Beach, Fl... My opinion: Some of contamination must be attributed to the street drain off from the first real rains of the season. Venice has their street drain pipes draining into the Gulf at various points down the beach (darned unhealthy if you ask this uneducated diver)... my 2 psi

I am NOT an expert! I do not claim to be an expert, or even educated in these matters. Once the tide receded, and the pipe drain off slowed, I wonder if the pipe water that collected at the hole created by the earlier flow was tested for contamination? I'd love to see a report on that!

It took several days for the contamination to be gone through testing. It is my understanding that the Venice Beach area only received light rain during that time frame.

Again, I am NO expert and do not claim to be, but common sense tells me there is something to raw drain off into the Gulf of Mexico that is not healthy in today's chemical-enhanced society. Am I going to stop having my beautiful lawn treated? Heck no... So, perhaps someone needs to lobby for communities to stop draining potentially unhealthy run-off directly into the Gulf of Mexico without treating it first?