[Coral-List] Sewage Continues to Flow Unchecked

[Todd Barber]

Dear Palm Beach County Reef Rescue,

First of all, thank you for your continued posts to the Coral-List.  The 
Reef Ball Foundation has reviewed your website and we find the response from 
the sewer authority is reprehensible.  As most of us on the Coral-List well 
know, nutrient stresses are the main cause of coral reef decline in the 
south Florida reef track.  Not only does sewer outfalls create cyanobacteria 
blooms, it also tips the balance in favor of coral boring sponges, 
contributes to coral diseases, and changes entire ecosystems.  We have 
witnessed, firsthand, the changes to the Florida Keys reef systems since 
1980 and know this to be a fact.
Numerous studies also have proven this as fact.   Just ask this list and you 
will probably be sent a plethora of pdf files documenting nutrient damages 
to reefs!

Florida, itself, will face a population boom starting in two years as the 
"baby boomer" reach retirement age.  This means that all sewage treatment in 
the South Florida area needs to be upgraded to the highest available 
standards if our nation expects to retain our only coral reefs available to 
our residents from the mainland.

Your work in helping to document the local problem has important relevance 
to all of our nation.  Please continue your work and, if necessary, extend 
your work to include legal action.  Actually, even the FDEP's request for 
just more monitoring really does not go far enough.  Monitoring when the 
facts are already well know and without action is just an excuse to delay 
further the inevitable conclusion that something needs to be done at the 
treatment level.

For the Palm Beach County Reef Rescue to continue monitoring is important to 
alert everyone to the issue....but for the sewer authority to do its own 
monitoring is simply the fox guarding the hen house.

If you want to know what your reef will look-like with continued nutrient 
loading simply go to 
http://www.reefball.org/album/belize/placenciapeninsula/eiareview/coralmonitoring/index.html 
and look at an area of would be pristine coral reef that has been nutrient 
overloaded from banana plantations and shrimp farming.  The nutrient levels 
there are comparable to what South Florida will be facing in the next decade 
without more stringent sewer treatment requirements.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks,

Todd R. Barber
Chairman, Reef Ball Foundation
3305 Edwards Court,
Greenville, NC 27858
941-720-7549 Cell
252-353-9094 Direct
Skype Toddbarber
MSN messenger reefball at hotmail.com
reefball at reefball.com (email address)



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Etichscuba at aol.com>
To: <coral-list-request at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>; 
<coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Cc: <Jules.Craynock at noaa.gov>; <John.Proni at noaa.gov>; <Jim.Hendee at noaa.gov>
Sent: Friday, May 26, 2006 5:56 AM
Subject: [Coral-List] Sewage Continues to Flow Unchecked


>
> Here are links to newspaper articles published this week written in 
> response
> to the latest FDEP rejection of the permit renewal application for  the
> Delray/Boynton sewer plant. The sewer plant's permit to discharge 
> millions of
> gallons a day of partially treated sewage from it's Atlantic Avenue  ocean 
> outfall
> pipe expired December 2005. This is the 5th time  the FDEP has rejected 
> the
> permit as incomplete in the last year.  The  reason it is incomplete is 
> the
> plant's failure to address the most basic premise  of the federal "Clean 
> Water
> Act" - they must show they are not degrading the  receiving environment, 
> which
> in this case is an endangered coral reef.
>
>
> Sun-Sentinel (Thurs., May 25, 2006)
> Delray, Boynton told to increase monitoring of wastewater dumped  into 
> ocean
>
> _http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pwastewater25may25,0,738
> 5264.story?coll=sfla-news-palm_
> (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pwastewater25may25,0,7385264.story?coll=sfla-news-palm)
>
> Palm Beach Post (Fri. May 26, 2006)
>
> Divers fret as algae threaten coral reef
>
> _http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbcsouth/content/local_news/epaper/2006/05/26/s1
> c_reef_0526.html_
> (http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbcsouth/content/local_news/epaper/2006/05/26/s1c_reef_0526.html)
>
>
> Palm Beach County Reef Rescue
> PO Box 207
> Boynton Beach, FL 33425
> (561) 699-8559
> _www.reef-rescue.org_ (http://www.reef-rescue.org/)
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list