Jacksonville Waterways Commission

Reggie Brown, Chair

JACKSONVILLE WATERWAYS COMMISSION

Thursday, June 10, 2010

City Council Chamber

9:00 a.m.

The monthly meeting of the Jacksonville Waterways Commission was called to order on Thursday, June 10, 2010, at 9:05 a.m. in the City Council Chamber by the Chair, Council Member Reggie Brown.

In Attendance: Council Members Brown, John Crescimbeni, Warren Jones; Commissioners Lane T. Burnett, Caryn E. Carreiro, Edward J. Fleming, Edward R. Grey, Jr., Scott Shine, Penny Thompson. Commissioners Stephen Busey and Richard Hartley were excused; Kristina Nelson, Assistant General Counsel, Dylan Reingold, Assistant General Counsel; Dr. Quinton White, Dr. Gerard Pinto, Jacksonville University; Captain Jim Suber, Waterways Coordinator; Eric Hjort, Florida Sod Growers Coop; Derek Busby, Geoffrey Sample, Christi Valeta, Environmental Protection Board; Ron Littlepage, Florida Times-Union; Paige Johnston, Rogers, Towers; Derek Busbee, St. Johns River Water Management District; David Kaufman, JaxPort; Lisa Rinaman, Mayor’s Office; Jody McDaniel, Planning & Development Department; Nate Rezeau, Recreation & Community Services/Waterfront Management; Dr. Dan McCarthy, Jacksonville University; Captain Mike Getchell, Jax Marine Transportation Exchange; Ralph Hodges, Sierra Club; Captain John E. O’Neil, Jr., Jacksonville Historic Naval Ship Association; Officer W. T. Mauldin, JSO Marine Unit; Marilyn Allen, Legislative Services; John J. Jackson, Council Research Division.

The minutes for the May 13, 2010 meeting of the Jacksonville Waterways Commission were approved.

Lieutenant Brett Major, United States Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville, Planning & Force Readiness, made a PowerPoint presentation entitled 2010 Port Heavy Weather Plan for Northeast and Eastern Central Florida. Lt. Major discussed the contents of the Port Heavy Weather Plan, hurricane readiness conditions, port preparedness, the reopening of ports, post-storm surveys and operational priorities. Hurricane readiness conditions ranged from points when there are sustained gale force winds from 32-63 mph from a hurricane force storm predicted within 72 hours with the port remaining open; to sustained gale force winds from a hurricane force storm predicted within 48 hours with the port remaining open; to the condition where a hurricane force storm is predicted within 24 hours that makes the port status restricted; and Hurricane Status designated Zulu when a hurricane force storm is predicted within 12 hours and the port is closed.

Lt. Major noted that the Ports of Jacksonville, Canaveral and Fernandina are not considered safe hurricane havens since surrounding low topography does not provide adequate windbreak. All commercial, ocean-going vessels and ocean-going tug/barge combinations over 500 tons will generally be required to depart the port when hurricanes approach. No vessels are allowed to remain at facilities which are within one half mile of any bridge. About 8 hours prior to the predicted arrival of sustained gale force winds, most bridges will be locked down and not reopened until severe weather has passed. He noted that it is critical that vessels intending to evacuate the Port of Jacksonville via the St. Johns River or the IntraCoastal Waterway depart early to avoid being blocked by bridges.

Lt. Major listed the priorities of the Coast Guard in the immediate aftermath of a severe storm that included, in rank of importance: reopening access to King’s Bay Naval Sub Base; reopening access to Naval Station Mayport, USMC Blount Island, and Jacksonville northside generating plant docks; restoring ocean access to Jacksonville oil terminal and dry cargo docks.

Commissioner Grey noted that the Coast Guard’s hurricane preparedness plans seemed to focus on large commercial vessels; he asked if the Coast Guard was concerned about unregulated commercial vessels anchored or moored in our waterways. Lt. Major replied that the Coast Guard’s preparedness plans applied solely to commercial vessels. Commissioner Grey suggested that the Commission have someone from Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission come to the next meeting and apprise the Commission of that agency’s preparedness plans for recreational vessels in hurricane situations. The Chair concurred.

Captain Suber added that the City of Jacksonville’s Emergency Preparedness Department had a complete evacuation plan in place and that the department coordinates its planning with federal and state authorities and the Coast Guard. The Chair suggested that we should have someone from the Emergency Preparedness Department come before the Commission to share their planning information with the Commissioners.

Next on the agenda was a presentation by the St. Johns Riverkeeper, Neil Armingeon, who had previously requested permission to appear before the Commission to comment on the observations made and information submitted by JEA officials at the May meeting regarding EPA’ proposed numeric nutrient criteria. Mr. Armingeon entitled his PowerPoint presentation, Polluters Opposition to EPA’s Criteria: Myths and Untruths.

Mr. Armingeon indicated that over the past ten days, he had been going about documenting fresh algae bloom and dead fish in the river. He began by stating that he should have added the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to the PowerPoint’s title because many of the myths and untruths about the nutrient criteria are developed with the assistance of the Florida DEP. DEP has been a part of those opposing meaningful nutrient reduction.

Myth #1 was something that he said was often heard at public hearings and that was why do we need any additional regulations in Florida? Why was there a need for nutrient standards? What we’re doing in Florida is working. Extensive algae bloom in the river and its tributaries were depicted in slides. The recent rash of fish kill from Lake George to Jacksonville was cited and illustrated. Myth #2 was that TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Loads) was all we needed to do. The only reason Florida has TMDLs is because of public pressure and a lawsuit. TMDLs do not have numeric standards. He defined TMDL as the amount of pollution you are allowed to put into a body of water without literally killing that body of water. It is not the be all or the end all, but a step in the right direction toward

healthier bodies of water.

Myth #3 was that the federal government was getting into Florida’s business, that the EPA is singling Florida out. In 1998, the federal Environmental Protection Agency told all states that they must have numeric nutrient standards if there was going to be any chance of addressing what the pollution problems were. Myth #4 was that EPA sits up there in Washington using a one size fits all approach to cleaning up our waterways. Myth #5 is that EPA is using bad science. Myth #6 is that the public opposes nutrient standards. Mr. Armingeon says that there is a state-wide, ad hoc, coalition of 107 environmental, fishing, and hunting organizations and foundations; homeowner and community associations; consumer networks and businesses in support of the EPA’s proposal to establish numeric nutrient standards in Florida. Recently, we see that those opposed to establishing numeric nutrient standards include Florida Attorney-General McCollum, the Agriculture Commissioner, Georgia-Pacific and all of the major utilities, the sugar cane league, the citrus league, associated businesses and those whose financial interests entail polluting Florida’s waterways.

Myth #7 says that establishing numeric nutrient standards would cost too much; that it would cost upwards of $50 billion to upgrade Florida‘s sewage treatment plants. EPA statistics show that the cost of upgrading all the sewage treatment plants in the entire United States from 1988 to 2007 was only $58 billion.

Mr. Armingeon indicated that we cannot honestly think that spending money to clean up the waterways of Florida is too costly. He said that this summer, Florida will fully understand the value of clean water. He felt that we had a clear choice: numeric nutrient standards or the status quo.

Commissioner Shine cautioned that we should be careful in our definition of polluters. The reality is that we are all polluters; we all buy power from JEA and use water. We cannot put it all on JEA and Georgia-Pacific. We need to re-frame the conversation to engage citizens and make citizens realize that we all need to start owning this problem.

Paul Steinbrecher, Director of Environmental Services, Permitting & Assessment for JEA, followed with a presentation, NNC (numeric nutrient criteria/TMDL (total maximum daily load) Follow-Up, that provided an update on developments and JEA’s position on the EPA’s proposed numeric nutrient standards. At the outset, he indicated that divisive observations and comments were not helpful or best for the community when everyone is concerned with the health of the river. There have been tremendous efforts on the Lower St. Johns River and we are moving in the right direction. Mr. Steinbrecher vowed to always come before the Commission with numbers, graphs and facts.

In his update, Mr. Steinbrecher indicated that EPA & Earth Justice agreed to extend consent decree deadlines on June 7th to provide two months of additional time for standards development for canals, marine, and downstream criteria. The extension time-line will have a significant impact on the Lower St. Johns River in Duval County. Extension of the time line recognizes the need to do significant additional science. It was also agreed to submit the next technical package of marine standards to EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) for review. The Science Advisory Board was highly critical of EPA’s reference stream methodology for deriving numeric nutrient criteria that will ultimately be adopted for standards.

Mr. Steinbrecher then proceeded to update the Commission on regulated point sources for loadings. When we talk about or refer to the Lower St. Johns River, we are talking about a 100 mile stretch of the river, a third of the river, from Jacksonville to Deland. In illustrating how much nitrogen is deposited into the river, he indicated that 2/3rd or 62% of the biogradable nitrogen, the nitrogen that can turn into algae, comes from the upper 200 miles of the river. About 1/3 of the nitrogen comes from our section. Today, JEA’s portion of the biogradable nitrogen is half the amount that it was a decade ago.

Mr. Steinbrecher concluded that the state of the river is significantly better today than it was previously. Nutrient loads have gone down dramatically, especially since we, as a community, began focusing on the problem in 2000. JEA used to remove 80% of the nitrogen from waste water; it now removes 90%.

The Commission considered and took action on the following legislation:

Ordinance 2009-864, Amend Chpt 656 (Zoning Code) (Landscape & Tree Protection Regs), Ordinance Code. Mark Shelton of the Planning & Development Department made a presentation explaining the provisions of the proposed legislation. Enactment of the bill would include Florida-Friendly landscape practices and irrigation design standards into the City’s landscape code. After Mr. Shelton’s PowerPoint presentation and remarks from Lisa Rinaman and Paul Davis, Council Member Crescimbeni suggested that in light of comprehensive nature of the legislation, he felt that the Commissioners needed more time to digest the proposed legislation. He encouraged the Administration to reach out and explain the proposed legislation to the Commissioners, and, satisfied that deferring the measuring would not have a negative impact, moved that action on the bill be deferred. A recommendation on the bill was deferred.

Ordinance 2010-375, Adopt Semi-Annual Amen to FLUM Series, 1900 Wambolt St & 1901 Hill St. The Commission voted 9-0 to recommend approval.

Ordinance 2010-395, Adopt Semi-Annual Amend to FLUM Series Yellow Bluff Rd, N of Starratt Rd, the Commission voted 9-0 to recommend approval.

Ordinance 2010-441, Approp $90,088 to use in Joint Proj by UNF & JU to Produce a Report on Health & State of St. Johns River, the Commission voted 9-0 to recommend approval.

In his monthly update on the status of the St. Johns River, Dr. Quinton White followed up on the remarks of Mssrs. Armingeon and Steinbrecher by adding that when we talk about water quality, there are numerous variables in a very dynamic system. As an example, he cited the wave of bitter cold weather that we had that resulted in vegetation die-off; the decaying vegetation releases nutrients into the system that, in turn, becomes a non-point source of pollution.

Dr. White noted that we have a blue-green algae bloom in the river. He said that there are two different species involved and that these two species will produce a toxin. With regard to the dead fish, Dr. White said that this is a multi-species kill running from Astor to Mayport with a heavy concentration from Beauclerc south to Doctors Inlet.

On Memorial Day, Dr. White noticed the blue-green algae north of Palatka and said that it was somewhat alarming because it is so early. He said that the fish kill was related to the algae, though we cannot completely make the link. The Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission has taken dying fish from the river, frozen them and have taken the fish to St. Petersburg to laboratories for analysis.

Dr. Gerard Pinto reported that on a June 2nd aerial survey, 84 manatees were sighted in the river, most of them south of the Buckman Bridge. A large number of them were around Mandarin Point. 6 manatee deaths were reported in May, 2 of the deaths designated as water craft related; the water craft related fatalities occurred near the mouth of the river in Mayport. There was 1 human-related fatality in the IntraCoastal Waterway near the Queens Harbor Yacht and Country Club area.

In New Business, Captain Suber reported on the previous weekend’s poker run. We hosted the Jacksonville River Rally Power Boat Poker Run. 80 boats came into town to participate. We worked closely with all the regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard, Florida Fish & Wildlife, United States Fish & Wildlife and Jacksonville University. We were able to successfully keep the boaters away from areas where there was a large influx of manatees.

In Public Comments, Derek Busbee of the St. Johns River Water Management District, Palatka, recapped some of the observations of the Riverkeeper and Paul Steinbrecher of JEA. On the numeric nutrient criteria discussion, he felt that we need to be looking at data across the board. He indicated that we did not have all the point source information that we need yet and that SJRWMD is trying to determine how best to approach the non point source information. Mr. Busbee announced that there is currently $150 million allocated for numerous capital improvement projects underway in a number of locations along the stretch of the river that he oversees, projects such as upgrades for waste water treatment facilities that will reduce discharge into the river. As for the TMDLs, he suggested that no one expected that the TMDL levels were going to be static; things may have to be adjusted but we are moving in the right direction.