Roundtable discussion of St. Johns River pollution receives mixed reviews

After pledging to work toward healing the St. Johns River during his time in office, Jacksonville City Council President Jack Webb held a “River Roundtable” meeting in City Hall chambers last Thursday. Webb was joined by a panel of politicians and environmental agency representatives, including state Sen. John Thrasher, Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton, Councilman John Crescimbeni and others.

Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton

Reaction to the forum was mixed, with some praising the city’s efforts to get to the bottom of St. Johns River pollution and some questioning whether the city is prepared to take action to investigate the root causes of the river dead zones.

During a brief introduction, Webb called the meeting a “community conversation” meant to spark a discussion and work towards solutions. He made very clear that its purpose was “not to blame, but to create a dialogue.”

Sen. Thrasher, R-Jacksonville, compared the situation in the river to another water-based disaster: the oil spill currently wreaking havoc on the gulf. Thrasher seemed hopeful the river wouldn’t be overlooked due to the spill, but said that if we don’t take care of “assets like the river,” a similar situation could occur. Thrasher also likened the river to the Florida Everglades, saying that both were great assets to the state and more needed to be done to protect them.

Panel members were careful not to point fingers at any particular agencies and, even during the public comment period, tended to be harsher on the general public than big business. Much was said about the importance of using native plants and green fertilizing techniques when caring for one’s lawn. Webb reiterated what he said during an earlier interview with The Florida Independent, suggesting that a “paradigm shift in attitude” is needed before any real change can be made.

Jan Landsberg, of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Greg Strong, of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, both stated that there were low levels of toxins in the river and neither agency had detected unusually low levels of oxygen — usually a side effect of algal blooms. However, each made clear that further testing would be required to determine the root cause of this year’s overwhelming fish kills.

Landsberg did point out that there had been a spike in salinity in freshwater near the end of May, which likely caused algal blooms to die off, releasing various compounds as a result.

One problem facing the scientists investigating the fish kills is time. Landsberg said the agency took samples four weeks into the fish kills, after dilution and tidal patterns had disrupted the affected areas. And during a PowerPoint presentation, Landsberg showed photos of many of the fish samples — each with bloody eyes and internal tissues, as well as congested gills. After speaking of the FDEP’s test results, Strong seemed wary of taking too harsh a stance on algae: “Algae are an important part of the food web. [It would be] detrimental to rid the river of them entirely.”

Independent congressional candidate Troy Stanley, who has been harsh on his Republican opponent, incumbent Rep. Ander Crenshaw, when it comes to river matters, directed his question at FDEP’s Greg Strong during the public comment period: “I don’t want to politicize the issue, but it is political. [What are the] point-source limits for industry runoff?”

Though he stated that the FDEP looks at “35 points-of-source” on a “daily, weekly even annually” basis, Strong failed to list any particular agencies, and made no mention of the EPA’s numeric nutrient standards, part of which are set to be implemented in October.

He said the vast majority of nutrient runoff comes from the upper and middle basins of the river, and is then absorbed by Jacksonville’s lower basin. “The next frontier,” Strong said, “is to look at non-point-source polluters.”

Quinton White, a professor and scientist at Jacksonville University Marine Institute, said the fish kill was not a “normal event” and said it was disheartening that the only analysis of the river took place after catastrophic events like the one in question. During the public comment period, White said he thought both water withdrawal and river dredging would further aggravate the algal blooms.

Also in attendance was the CEO of one of Jacksonville’s most highly criticized businesses, JEA.

Mayor Peyton commended CEO Jim Dickenson for his efforts to reduce JEA’s nutrient discharge. Dickenson joked about being one of the often-accused polluters of the river, but cited a 50-percent reduction in nutrient runoff as clear evidence that the city-owned utility was doing its part to lessen its impact on the environment. He spoke of recent electric-rate hikes as a necessity to further reduce nutrient runoff.

One overarching theme of the river discussion? The need for more funding.

Sen. Thrasher repeatedly stressed he would do everything in his power to get funding to agencies like the FFWCC, which —according to Landsberg — covered its response with its normal budget. Strong said the FDEP had shown they can “walk and chew gum at the same time” with their dual investigations into the gulf oil disaster and the St. Johns River.

While Thrasher’s promises to garner more state funding to investigate the problem was good in theory, many audience members were quick to point out the unlikely possibility of more money. During the public comment period, one citizen speculated that each agency represented at the roundtable would likely have its budget slashed exponentially within the year.

St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon said that he had hoped for a meeting like yesterday’s for quite some time, and that the solution for healing the river comes from each citizen and visitor to the river. And, while clearly thankful for the discussion, Armingeon made clear that sometimes protection comes at a cost. Addressing the panel, he said: “We stand ready to assist any of you, but sometimes that means pushing you.”

Following the River Roundtable, Armingeon told the The Florida Independent that he was impressed with the forum: “From our perspective, anytime the community comes together to talk about the river is a good thing. Overall, I left with a sense of hope and encouragement.”

Armingeon says the upcoming election cycle is adding more publicity to problems with river pollution, but that actions speak louder than words: “The bottom line is, we’ve got to make some fundamental changes. It’s easy to just talk about it; it’s harder to actually get down to business and make the changes.”

When asked about the failure of anyone on the panel to mention the EPA’s proposed numeric nutrient standards, Armingeon seemed discouraged: “I look at it as a missed opportunity. We are still very much supporting that, and it’s very important to do more about the levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the river. You have all these people at the podium talking about what they’ve done in terms of bettering the river but, in reality, they are all fighting over regulations.”

Gwendolyn Shangle, who also attended Thursday’s meeting, was less impressed by the meeting. “I thought it was interesting, though I’m not sure how productive it was. I didn’t hear any grand resolutions,” she said.

Shangle, who testified about getting ill from the toxins released by the algae, is concerned about the lack of attention being given to the health issue. “Information from the [St. Johns River Water Management District] is disseminated to the Florida Department of Health, and it then becomes the duty of the counties affected to a issue health advisory,” she said. “Duval County issued an advisory June 15, but Clay and St. Johns did not.”

Shangle cited a study discussed in the meeting, in which red blood cells were exposed to the algal toxins, as evidence that the algae pose a serious health risk: “There was a 98- to 99-percent death rate in the cells exposed to the water at Julington Creek. Julington Creek is directly across the river from Clay County, and yet no advisory was issued. One of my neighbors was put on antibiotics because of symptoms she experienced. She could have been suffering the effects of a sinus infection, but I know that she had been knee-deep in that water putting out a dinghy, because she didn’t know she wasn’t supposed to be.”

“The health department needs to disseminate this info,” she continued, echoing those of other River Roundtable attendees. ”It should be part of a daily ‘river report’ during the local news so that people who don’t regularly visit the Duval County Health Department’s website can be informed. But most importantly, the fact that there is no criteria for what goes into the river is incredibly dangerous. The issues are made at the discretion of the individual counties and agencies. There are no rules and regulations. There are no standards.”