31 infected in FLorida waters so far.

Mr Ichi wrote:News: Escambia County Bayou Chico Plan Criticized by Experts

by Duwayne Escobedo
Some environmental officials say Bayou Chico residents' fears are justified about pollution harming them and their property from Escambia County dredging the waterway and dumping the highly contaminated soil in a nearby abandoned sand pit, which is now a pristine-looking lake.

The sediments in Bayou Chico are a veritable toxic soup, harboring some of the most dangerous contaminants known to man. From industry, residents and stormwater runoff over the years, Bayou Chico has accumulated high levels of compounds potentially toxic to humans, such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury and zinc, as well as pesticides (chlordane, DDD, DDT, endrin, dieldrin, Mirex), polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs), poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs such as benzo(a)-pyrene, anthracene, acenapthene).

Environmentalists say numerous tests on Bayou Chico sediments by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Northwest Florida Water Management District and others document elevated pollution levels.

Some experts are very critical of Escambia County's plans. They say its clear that the dredging material Escambia County wants to put into a lake near Bayou Chico should not go there. Any Bayou Chico sediment should be hauled to a hazardous waste disposal site, they say.

The Independent News highlighted Bayou Chico residents worries about the questionable Escambia County plans in its Thursday, Jan. 31 issue, "Residents Worry About County Polluting Area."

A Northwest Florida Water Management District study, "Sediment Quality in the Pensacola Bay System,"  prepared by William F. DeBusk, Irene Poyer and Iuri Herzfeld in April 2002 compiled sediment chemistry data acquired from research and monitoring studies conducted from 1975-1998.

Among its conclusions were: "As with copper and lead, the highest levels of zinc contamination were found in Bayou Chico" in the Pensacola Bay system.

Also the study reports "the areas of greatest potential concern with respect to sediment contamination" include Bayou Chico, lower Bayou Grande, upper Bayou Texar, mid- and upper-Escambia Bay and Pensacola Bay, primarily in the vicinity of the downtown Pensacola waterfront.

The 2002 water district study summarizes the other studies this way, saying "Among the more significant findings of the studies cited in this report are:

*The Florida Coastal Sediment Contaminants Atlas (FDEP 1994) indicated areas of heavy metal enrichment in sediments of Bayou Chico (cadmium, chromium, copper, lead and zinc), lower Bayou Grande (cadmium), and Pensacola Bay (copper); and nitrogen enrichment in upper Bayou Grande.

*NOAA (1997) found elevated levels of heavy metals in sediments of Bayou Chico (copper, lead and mercury), lower Bayou Grande (cadmium and lead), upper Bayou Texar (cadmium, copper, lead and mercury) and Pensacola Bay in the vicinity of downtown Pensacola (cadmium, lead and mercury); polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) enrichment in Bayou Chico and (to a lesser extent) in Pensacola Bay and Bayou Texar; pesticide enrichment in Bayous Chico and Texar; PCB enrichment in Bayou Chico; and phosphorus enrichment in Escambia Bay, mid-Pensacola Bay and lower Bayou Texar.

*USEPA (unpublished data, 1992) monitoring indicated heavy metal enrichment in lower Bayou Grande (silver, cadmium and lead), Bayou Chico (copper) and upper Bayou Texar (copper, lead and mercury); PAHs in Bayou Chico and upper Bayou Texar; hydrocarbons in Escambia Bay, Pensacola Bay and Bayou Texar; pesticides in Escambia Bay and Bayou Texar; and PCBs in mid- and upper-Escambia Bay, lower Bayou Grande, Bayou Chico and upper Bayou Texar.

*USEPA (unpublished data, 1996) monitoring indicated elevated levels of copper, lead, zinc and mercury in upper Bayou Texar, cadmium and lead in lower Bayou Grande; and PCBs, PAHs and pesticide (Mirex) in mid- and upper-Escambia Bay.

*USEPA (published and unpublished data, 1993) found high levels of copper, lead and zinc in sediments of upper Bayou Texar."

So what does the Northwest Florida Water Management District 2002 study say to do about all of the contaminated sediments in the Pensacola Bay system, including Bayou Chico?

The study concludes: "The appropriate management-related response to sediment contamination will depend to some extent on the projected natural duration of the impact. In cases where decomposition or other natural attenuation of sediment contaminants is not expected to occur during a reasonable time frame, remediation alternatives may include sediment removal, chemical stabilization or immobilization of contaminants, or no action at all. The option of sediment removal is usually based on the level of risk (public health or ecological) posed by the contaminant, the risk associated with the sediment removal process (e.g., from sediment resuspension and dispersal in the water body), and the technical and economic demands of the removal process. Physical removal or reduction of the contaminant source may be the most viable option where the areal extent of contamination is small, or where the contaminant is more highly concentrated, such in the urban bayous. Clearly, effective management and/or remediation of sediment contamination requires consideration of numerous factors, and is necessarily implemented on a case-by-case basis.

"Results of this study highlight several needs for additional (and) improved research related to sediment and water quality."
To view the NWFWMD study, click here

gulfbeachbandit wrote:http://local.msn.com/31-in-fla-infected-by-bacteria-in-salt-water

Scary stuff.

gulfbeachbandit wrote:http://local.msn.com/31-in-fla-infected-by-bacteria-in-salt-water

Scary stuff.

ZVUGKTUBM wrote:

gulfbeachbandit wrote:http://local.msn.com/31-in-fla-infected-by-bacteria-in-salt-water

Scary stuff.

I think you need to go swimming......

TEOTWAWKI wrote:Fukushima and all the other leaky old nukes will be killing us off and of course all our children will be effected. I see a die off in the next 50 years of beyond Biblical proportions....not to mention fracking up our ground water is going to kill millions more.