Environmental groups call for a halt to the Juno Beach nourishment project in the wake of Leatherback sea turtle death

Press Release
March 11, 2010 - Juno Beach, FL

Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Reef Rescue, Cry of the Water and a host of sea turtle conservation groups sent a join letter today to the US Army Corp of Engineers requesting an investigation into the death of an adult male leatherback sea turtle and asking that dredging in the area be suspended until turtle safeguards are implemented.

On March 9, 2010 the dive charter boat Narcosis responded to reports of an adult male leatherback sea turtle floating on the surface next to the dredge borrow area for the Juno beach nourishment project. The Narcosis crew arrived on-scene accompanied by a Florida Law Enforcement vessel. Due to the size of the turtle, estimated to weigh as much as 1,000 pounds, it could not be lifted onboard. Narcosis lashed the turtle to the stern and towed it to the Riviera Beach Marina where FWC took possession. The turtle was placed in a FWC truck with a forklift provided by marina staff. The turtle was transported to the University of Florida in Gainesville where a necropsy will be performed. There was no immediate evidence as to the cause of death, but blood was observed on the face of the turtle.

The location of the dead turtle next to the Juno dredge area raises concern

An apparently healthy adult male leatherback turtle found dead next to the dredge area causes the environmental groups to strongly suspect the dredge likely had a role to play in the turtle’s demise. On January 8, 2010 a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle was killed by the dredge in the same area prompting a shutdown of the project while a faulty turtle exclusion devise was repaired. “This well may be the second turtle killed in connection with the project that we are aware of “said Ed Tichenor, director of Palm Beach County Reef Rescue whose volunteers documented the recovery of the leatherback.

Little protection afforded for endangered sea turtles congregating offshore during breeding season

March 1 marks the beginning of turtle nesting season in Palm Beach County and beachfront residents are required to turn off lights or face penalties. However, the Juno project has been allowed to continue beyond March 1. The project which is months behind schedule and less than half completed is not expected to end until mid-April at the earliest. According to the permit issued for the Juno project increased beach patrols and nest relocation are added requirements the contractor must meet to protect nesting females after March 1. But according to the environmental groups these conditions are inadequate to protect male turtles (which do not come ashore) and females congregated in the nearshore environment during the day. In fact, sea turtles during the breeding season spend the majority of time in the coastal waters where they become vulnerable to dredging activities.


Link to US Army Corp of Engineers letter from environmental groups with attachments:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/28204519

Link to leatherback turtle recovery photo slideshow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W3Nn3R7v4E


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Palm Beach County
REEF RESCUE
Boynton Beach, Florida 33425
(561) 699-8559
Email: etichscuba@aol.com

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Environmental Racism and Environmentalist Solidarity in Palm Beach County

Hey all,
Below are recent links to some of the work that the PBCEC has been doing in solidarity with community activists in Riviera Beach and Lake Worth regarding environmental justice issues. Please feel free to pass them along. It would also be nice to see support through positive comments after the articles, if you have a minute to type a note.

While these issues are huge problems, we recognize that they are only skimming the surface of environmental racism in Palm Beach County, which is rooted firmly in the racist policies that resulted in a war to steal this land from Seminole communities 200 years ago.

It's time for a unified movement to address the these concerns and change the foundation of a society that is built on greed and racism.

-Panagioti Tsolkas
PBCEC co-chair

News on Riviera Beach FPL power plant
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/juice/2010/01/fpl_plant_deals_dirty_on_the_r.php

News on dirty waste Plant in Lake Worth's Osborne community:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/recycling-plant-county-vow-to-look-into-complaints-261853.html?showComments=true&postingId=271424#commentsList

Here is a video from the joint Riviera Beach Civic Association/PBCEC meeting:
http://www.wptv.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=17313@wp

These are the original 17 principles of Environmental Justice from the 1991 conference:
http://www.ejnet.org/ej/principles.html

Info on Environmental Justice and federal law (NEPA):
http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/ej/justice.pdf

Summary of the Feb 2010 PBCEC meeting

Here's a brief summary of the Feb 2010 PBCEC meeting which took place at the Quaker Meeting House.. Sorry if the editing is a bit sloppy. I'm in a rush to get on a plane and attend the Earth First! Winter Rendezvous and Organizers' Conference this weekend.. see y'all soon.

Next PBCEC meeting March 1st, 7pm, at Quaker Meeting House 823 North A Street.

For the wild,
panagioti tsolkas
PBCEC, co-chair
561-249-2071
pbcec.blogspot.com

p.s. don't forget to check out the calendar at the new 'Grassroots Activist Center' where PBCEC now has an office: www.myspace.com/theNightHeron

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-Scripps phase II plan:
We will be continuing to challenge this plan. The County will be presenting its application for comprehensive plan and land use changes. We are concerned about the impact to the 800 acre pine forest which is home to threatened and endangered plants and animals (including the hand fern, gopher tortoise and indigo snake); the sie actively used for horse trails by an adjacent equestrian community. We are also concerned about the ethics regarding public oversight, animal testing, toxic pollution and genetic engineering and corporate patenting.

*March 11 will be a pro-Scripps meeting at FAU Jupiter, 9am-12noon, PBCEC folks are encouraged to attend..
*March 13th, 4-6pm will a demonstration about Scripps development on the Briger Tract
*April 1st, 7pm (no joke) is the hearing to approve zoning and Comp Plan changes through the Palm Beach Gardens City Council

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-FPL in Riviera Beach and beyond
With new scandals around every corner, now is the time to expose FPL for who they are and what they have done to Florida: from tearing up the Everglades with power lines and frying endangered birds to sucking down the aquifer and re-injecting it with poison, to environmental racism, radioactive leaks, oil spills, explosions.. the list goes on.

We have been planning a series of educational events about energy options and alternatives to FPL, in collaboration with the Riviera Beach Civic Association's environmental committee. This week was an event in Mangonia Park with City Commissioners. We are looking to plan more like this across the County.

One of our focuses this year is on closing the Riviera Plant for good and keeping new fossil fuel out of town... Here's a link with a reminder about one of the reasons we fight these projects: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100208/ap_on_bi_ge/us_middletown_explosion
This plant under construction in Connecticut exploded recently, killing 5 people. It is the same model as FPL's 'state of the art' gas plants, but only 620 megawatts (about 1/6 of the size of the WCEC and 1/2 the size of the Riviera proposal)

From the article: "An explosion that sounded like a sonic boom blew out walls of an unfinished power plant and set off a fire during a test of natural gas lines Sunday, killing at least five workers and injuring a dozen or more. The explosion at the Kleen Energy Systems [such a convincing name!] plant in Middletown, about 20 miles south of Hartford, could be heard and felt for miles."

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-Hands Across the Sand
There is a growing movement against drilling for gas and oil off Florida's coasts. There are several events in the County, including one in Lake Worth this Saturday at 12 noon. For more info, check out:
www.handsacrossthesand.com

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Sun ('Recycling') Waste Damp in the Osbourne community in Lake Worth

Residents have been fighting this project for near 20 years. The project is a blatant, disturbing example of environmental racism, where a facility was zoned by Lantana in the backyard of Lake Worth residents in this historic Black community, which is already located next to the City's previous landfill.

The PBCEC will be joining with local folks on Feb 16, 1:30pm at the Solid Waste Authority (SWA) at 45th Street. A bus will be leaving from Lake Worth for people interested in attending, contact Javier del Sol for details on the bus 533-5287

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Amendment 4 = Hometown Democracy, Amendments 5 and 6 = Fair Districts.. Vote Yes.

PBCEC is an official endorser of Amendment 4. We are coordinating outreach efforts in the area, please get in touch if you are interested. This Amendment is the frontline of keeping developers at bay.

We were also given an update by Loxahatchee Sierra Club policitcal committee chair on Amendments 5 and 6, which relate to the jerrymandering of political districts. We are supporting a yes vote on all three of these Amendments.

We are also asking our participants to use this email signature for the next several months to help spread the word on Amendment 4 (do this by clicking on the 'setting' feature of your email):

"This November, Vote Yes 4 Florida Hometown Democracy, Give yourself a vote on growth!
www.floridahometowndemocracy.com"
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We are supporting the Voter League Fundraising Gala coming up with an Ad in their program book for their event this Saturday 6pm at Hurst Chapel, 1617 Silver Beach Rd. Supervisor of Elections, Susan Bucher, will be a keynote speaker. Tickets are $30

Our Ad will be a statement of our support for Amendment 4

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Earth Day
We will be looking into events to support/participate in. We have been invited to join the event at Busch Wildlife in April.. Sounds good.

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Announcements (sorry, my notes got sloppy with details here):

-March 20 Electoral Reform event at the UU Church in Boca Raton (time?)
-Progressive Candidates meeting at Howley's 7pm (when?)
-March 13 County Archeaologist Chris Davenport speaks at Busch Wildlife Sanctuary
-Feb 14, 3pm, Network of Spiritual Progressives meeting on the Global Marshall Plan

Tree Sit on Coal River Mountain! Can you help?

[Please offer your urgent support to our friends in Appalachia]

January 25, 2009

Dear Friends,

Three brave tree sitters are stopping blasting on Coal River Mountain right now. Massey is using dangerous sleep deprivation tactics to force them down and resume destruction of the mountain.

After four days 60 ft up in the air, the treesitters, David Aaron Smith, 23, Amber Nitchman, 19 and Eric Blevins, 28, are still going strong. Massey's sleep deprivation by air horn isn't making things easier, and the sleet, fog, mist, and rain aren't helping either — but every time that people have talked to them, they sound upbeat and steadfast. The sitters plan to endure the discomforts created by Massey security and the weather and hold out for as long as possible to defend Coal River Mountain.

Far from permanently ending blasting on Coal River, Massey has tried to harass the sitters into leaving through the use of the sound machine, hitting the platforms with a rope, cutting down nearby trees and constant flood lights. Some of the harassment has stopped, but the sound machine continues, potentially causing permanent hearing loss. We need to call demand they immediately stop illegally using noisemakers to harass the tree sitters. Join us in calling Massey's international headquarters Monday, Jan. 25, starting at 9 a.m to ask them to stop the blasting on Coal River Mountain and to stop the harassment of the sitters.


Can you call Massey headquarters in Richmond? 1-804-788-1800

Sample script:

"Hi, I am calling to demand that Massey Energy halt blasting on Coal River Mountain and the abuse of the three tree-sitters occupying Massey's Bee Tree property. Security personnel have been incessantly blasting noise from an air horn to keep the tree-sitters awake. This puts both the sitters and the miners at the site at risk for hearing loss, and could be considered a felony under West Virginia state law. Also at risk are the lives of the 998 people who Massey predicts will be killed should the 8.2 billion gallon Brushy Fork Impoundment fail. To dynamite in the surrounding area is to gamble with the lives of the people of the Coal River Valley. The mountains of Appalachia soak up water and act as a water filtration system for millions of Americans inside of and surrounding Appalachia. To release toxins into Appalachia's waterways puts the health of these millions in jeopardy. Please stop this abuse of our forests and our health and halt the blasting."

Once you have made the call, please tell us how it went here. [http://climategroundzero.net/2010/01/callmasseyonjan25/]

Thank you for standing up for our tree sitters and for Coal River Mountain! Now help spread the word!

Please help make the tree sit and the campaign a success by:

* Donating to the legal fund [go to www.climategroundzero.org and hit the orange "legal" button]

* Forwarding this email to your friends

* Posting this story on Facebook and twitter

Thousands of new people have come to the Climate Ground Zero website to watch the progress of this action, mostly through word of mouth networks. We're not a big organization, and we rely need every one of us to help tell this story to the world. We're making constant updates to our website, so check back for the latest updates on David, Amber and Eric's brave stand.

In closing, here are a few words on the importance of this struggle from a previous speech at a rally given by Eric Blevins, calling for the protection of Coal River Mountain

"The government must step in now to stop this killing, and if they don't, we will keep getting in Massey's way until this madness ends, and we will save Coal River Mountain and the Coal River Valley and our deep connection to divine creation."

Thanks,
Climate Ground Zero Team

Riviera Beach residents meet Monday to discuss environmental justice and energy options

For immediate release, 1-17-2010

Riviera Beach, FL-- Riviera Beach Civic Association (RBCA) will be joining with the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition (PBCEC) this Monday, January 18, Martin Luther King Day, at 6 pm in Newcomb Hall, 180 East 13th Street, to discuss environmental alternatives in the City of Riviera Beach.

Residents of Riviera Beach are currently living with one of the dirtiest power plants in the entire State of Florida. The meeting will feature local community and business leaders as well as energy experts and grassroots activists discussing this FPL facility and other issues.

Following the rejection of FPL's recent rate-increase request by Florida's Public Service Commission (PSC), FPL stated that it no longer intends to 'modernize' the diesel-fired Riviera plant. This leaves a new uncertainty around the contentious plant, which is 'grandfathered' to operate beyond Clean Air Act standards.

The environmental and public health activists also intend to address the issue of 'environmental racism' as it relates to the FPL facility.

"Environmental racism means that as a black person in America, we are 5 times more likely than a white person to live within walking distance of a power plant," said RBCA member Al Lark. Lark is chairperson of the Civic Association's Environmental Committee and is also involved with the PBCEC.

According to U.S. Census data, 68% of African Americans live within 30 miles of a power plant – and those 30 miles are the distance where the maximum effects of the smokestack plume are felt. For comparison, 56% of the white population is within 30 miles of a power plant.

EPA data shows that 71% of African Americans live in counties that violate federal air pollution standards, compared to 58% of the white population.

Lark and other activists across Palm Beach County hope that this meeting will begin the urgent dialogue needed to work towards clean, safe, renewable, decentralized energy options in the City.

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