Sunday, December 20, 2009

Times They Are a Changing - Environmentally Speaking Anyway

Being a resident in the panhandle of Florida, I am of course concerned, but unfortunately not shocked or in anyway amazed, by the recent water quality study conducted by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). The study found that water tested in the metropolitan area of Pensacola Florida (serviced by Emerald Coast Utilities Authority, ECUA) has the worst water quality among one hundred of the nation's largest water systems. While only the water serviced by ECUA was included in the study, I would imagine that the water of the surrounding smaller utility companies is of similar quality. The one item I can think of which might yield cleaner water in areas of the city and surrounding areas is the location of public drinking water wells near sites of centralized pollution.

I did some online research a couple of years ago about the landfills in the northwest Florida area and found many Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) reports and studies available via Google search. Some very disturbing reports and studies of pollution contained in the heart of metropolitan Pensacola. There are reports of the monitoring of plumes of underground pollutants. There was even one of the largest pollution related residential relocations which occurred off of Davis Highway and Fairfield several years ago. So depending on the proximity to a site of source pollution, the study could be somewhat biased in relation to the area serviced by ECUA and the areas serviced by other utility companies; however, the study is certainly indicative of a serious problem.

But really, is it that hard to believe that an area where the only protection which the aquifer system has from pollutants is sand and topsoil combined with one of the larger concentrations of Super Fund sites in the Country has bad water quality. There is little to no bedrock to filter the rainwater as it flows through the various Superfund sites and other sites of source pollution.

I do have to say that progress has been made in recent years to help improve the standards of health in the area. But as with anything, more needs to be done. Maybe instead of issuing bonds for the Waterfront Park, the City of Pensacola could issue bonds to help ECUA and other utility companies install more sophisticated watering filtering and processing systems.

I would love to be able to say that ECUA and other utility companies need to provide us with clean water but ultimately those costs will have to be passed down to the consumer which means more expensive water. I, personally, would not be opposed to offsetting some of the costs of better water purification technology with local taxes (which will be assessed anyway, it's just a matter of allocating the taxes to where they need to go). We as a people need to let our local government know that we want clean air, water, ground, and a safe place for our residents to live.

But, we, the people of the community, must accept that the water quality is as much our own fault as anyone's. We have allowed the government to not properly enforce pollution standards and not properly fine polluters. We have washed load after load of dishes and clothes using soaps which will place "harmless" chemicals into our groundwater. We need to take responsibility for the clean up. We need to tell our local politicians that we want the money we pay in taxes to go to the greater good of the community and we need to take personal action and use organic soaps, wash fewer loads of dishes and clothes, use less soap n the shower, stop pouring our used motor oils on the ground, install more and better drainage systems to filtering road runoff before it can leach into our water supply. We are a part of the cause, we need to be a part of the solution and we need to stop blaming someone else for problems that we are an integral part of. We need to act and make change.

Now, here are a few links to get you started in your research of the local problems. Only after you have knowledge of the problems will you be able to provide solutions. Please post links to additional research that may be helpful others -- thanks.

Water Quality Study:

General Pollution in Northwest Florida:
Despite the horrific nature of some of this pollution, there are efforts being made to clean it up. For instance, Escambia County, Florida has recently entered into a contract with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) which will require the County to clean up a local landfill within 24 months. The source of the pollution is the Saufley Construction & Demolition Debris Facility at 5660 Saufley Field Road, Pensacola, Florida. The facility was a privately owned facility which was not able to pay for the cost of proper closure and the required long-term care closure monitoring. Currently, the site is sitting with little remediation activity being performed due to ongoing legal issues, including the owner being fined and jailed for his lack of care with the ensuring proper closure of the facility. The County is actually attempting to acquire the land and if it can Acquire the land, the County will be obligated to the FDEP to clean it up. In my opinion, this is a nice proactive move by the County and gives me some confidence in our local government's ability to identify sources of pollution and remediate them somewhat efficiently and timely.
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