Environmentalists and researchers have long felt fear when confronted with a proposed pipeline that will carry waste away from a Palatka paper mill and into the St. Johns River. For at least one scientist, it’s a fear of the unknown.
During a Jacksonville city council meeting Monday, state Rep. Lake Ray, R-Jacksonville, spoke out against a resolution that would delay the construction of a four-mile waste pipeline from Georgia-Pacific’s Palatka mill to the St. Johns River. Ray, who also acts as the executive director of a business association that represents Georgia-Pacific, said a decision to delay the pipeline could be detrimental to securing Gov. Rick Scott’s help with other Jacksonville needs.
While intense community organizing and outreach effectively curbed the ability of private entities to withdraw water from the Wacissa River, a state bill filed last month would move to further protect an already strained Florida aquifer from corporate interests.
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