Ichetucknee River In The Media
From the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection website. August 28 2001.
LINK
Governor, Cabinet Take Further Action To Protect Ichetucknee
--Kirby Mine ceases operation in five days—
TALLAHASSEE – In a landmark decision, Governor Jeb Bush and the Florida Cabinet today approved the purchase of 302 acres within the Ichetucknee Trace Florida Forever Project, which feeds into the world renowned Ichetucknee Springs. A highlighted feature of this $10 million Columbia County purchase agreement is the naming of the Trust for Public Lands group as the recipient of $1,250,000 from the sellers, Kirby Development, Inc./Kirby, to be used for acquiring additional properties within the Ichetucknee Trace, Florida Forever project.
Initial plans include restoring the damage and erosion caused by years of limerock mining. In addition to protecting the crystal clear springs, the purchase removes the threat of groundwater contamination by further limerock mining. The only active mine remaining must cease activities on September 2, 2001 – five days from today.
"People come from all over the world to visit this famous pristine spring, which is also a favorite recreation spot for Floridians," said DEP Secretary David B. Struhs. "Now, they can be assured that their children and grandchildren to come will have the same opportunities to experience its natural beauty. The Governor and the Cabinet are to be commended for recognizing that the Ichetucknee is one of Florida’s most valuable natural resources and must be protected. Today, it is undeniable that the Ichetucknee Spring and River are better off today than they were yesterday."
Environmentalists have long held that Anderson Columbia’s Ichetucknee Trace Mine, which the state purchased last year, along with the Kirby mine posed the greatest threat of permanent damage to the Ichetucknee Spring and River. In five days, with today’s approval of the Kirby mine purchase, the dynamite blasting and rock drilling within the Ichetucknee Trace will stop – forever.
The end result of this restoration will be a public park and fishing area that will be managed by Columbia County’s Division of Recreation and Parks along with the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Mine to grow near pristine river.
State environmental concerns won't halt mine, but push back cement plant opening.
By JULIE HAUSERMAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 25, 2002
BRANFORD -- Four years after Gov. Jeb Bush canoed the aqua-blue Ichetucknee River and vowed to protect it, his administration is about to permit a nearby limestone mine to grow by eight times despite ongoing environmental violations.
The mine is part of the Suwannee American Cement plant near Ichetucknee State Park, a controversial project that Bush and the Department of Environmental Protection denied in 1999 but approved a year later after the company sued.
The state permit will allow the mine to grow from 100 acres to 800 and operate for 100 years.
Permitting the mine expansion is so politically sensitive that Bush and David Struhs, secretary of the DEP, abruptly slapped new restrictions on the cement plant after the St. Petersburg Times began asking questions.
Bush initially said he was unaware of the mine expansion, although the DEP has been reviewing the permit for two years. After a briefing, he and Struhs decided to permit the mine but bar the cement plant from opening for two years. The plant was supposed to open late this year.
Delaying the plant opening allows the state to "turn the mining story into the object lesson you want it to be," Struhs said Bush told him.
The lesson: The state's hands are tied by weak laws.
In March, DEP inspectors discovered that air quality monitors at the cement plant construction site hadn't worked for months. The monitors were supposed to measure background air quality before the plant opened. The company paid a $16,000 fine.
That violation will delay the plant's operating permit, Struhs said.
The company expressed surprise at the decision and said it had been working with the state on the problem. "We've gotten the problem solved," said Jim McLelland, spokesman for Anderson Columbia, Suwannee American's parent company.
But it's not the only violation, records show:
In August 2001, sinkholes opened under a stormwater pond on the plant property. The company alerted DEP and hired an engineer, who found a pond was dug 2 feet deeper than the state permit allowed. More sinkholes could form, the engineer said, creating a "natural pathway for unfiltered surface water to mix with groundwater." The company filled the new sinkholes with
concrete, but the engineer noted: "The potential for future collapse . . . will continue to be a factor." The DEP didn't fine the company.
Suwannee American has a small cement plant at the construction site to make material to build the new plant. In February, state inspectors discovered that equipment to catch pollution from the small plant had blown off. The company paid a $4,000 fine.
The company has had other violations in the Panhandle. In February 2001, the DEP fined Anderson Columbia $178,000 for pollution at a construction project on Highway 98 in Santa Rosa County. The company is challenging the fine.
On Wednesday, the company agreed to pay $3,250 for pollution from road work on Interstate 10 in Escambia County.
Four years ago, Struhs and Bush said a company's environmental record should be considered when it applies for a permit. Struhs said road builder Anderson Columbia had such a bad environmental record that it was too risky to allow the cement plant in a water-rich part of Florida.
"Air quality permits will not be issued to demonstrated high-risk applicants in high-risk areas at this DEP," Struhs wrote in a memo.
Struhs later said the DEP was on shaky legal ground because loopholes in state law make it hard for the DEP to deny permits based on a company's record. Facing a lawsuit, the DEP reversed itself and issued the permit.
During secret negotiations, the DEP extracted concessions from the company, including an agreement to sell another mine the company owned in Columbia County to taxpayers for $23-million to protect the Ichetucknee headwaters.
But that mine is 21/2 times smaller than the one the company now wants to build. The company quietly applied for a permit for the bigger mine in October 2000, four months after it got the cement plant permit.
On Thursday, Struhs told the St. Petersburg Times that he and Bush had reviewed the company's record and decided to delay the cement plant's operating permit. They planned to act next month but accelerated the decision because of the newspaper's inquiries.
"What really drove our decision was not wanting to have our issuance of the mining permit misperceived as overlooking what our obvious and well-known compliance problems are with this company," Struhs said.
On May 1, the state published a legal notice about its intention to let the mine expand in the twice-weekly Suwannee Democrat in Live Oak. The time for public comment expired this week.
A few local environmentalists knew about the bigger mine, but didn't mount much opposition.
For one thing, their fight against the cement plant had been frustrating and bitter. At one point, protesters chained themselves together outside the governor's office. Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth intervened on behalf of the citizens, and lost.
The citizens who filed suit against the cement plant were shunned in Suwannee County, where leaders wanted the 100 jobs and property taxes the plant would provide. After the citizens lost, Suwannee American sued the citizens to make them pay the company's legal bills. A judge refused.
"We tried to find a way to challenge it, but the mining regulations in the state are extremely lax," said Kathy Cantwell, chairwoman of the Suwannee-St. John's chapter of the Sierra Club.
Struhs agrees. "We cannot legally deny the permit to expand the mine," he said. "We've got to change the laws."
This year, Struhs lobbied legislators to make environmental history count when a company applies for a permit, but the bill didn't go anywhere. Bush didn't publicly push for the law, as he did with other legislation.
In Suwannee County, neighbors worry that the giant mine will threaten underground water. Heavy equipment will tear limestone out of the earth near the Ichetucknee, Santa Fe and Suwannee rivers -- all ranked as Outstanding Florida Waters. Ichetucknee Springs State Park draws 200,000 visitors a year. The DEP's mining bureau says the mine "is not perceived" as a threat to the park.
Groundwater beneath the mine flows toward the Santa Fe River, not the Ichetucknee, state scientists say. The Santa Fe connects with the Suwannee and flows underground for part of its length. The state is just starting to study how water moves in the area. The mine will be 2 miles from the Santa Fe at its closest point.
"Will the mine affect the flow of groundwater? Absolutely," Struhs said. "Will it contaminate the groundwater? That depends on how you define contamination."
The permit says if the company punches through limestone, workers will stop, report it and plug the hole.
"When they mine, they are going to break through these caverns," said Svenn Lindskold, president of Save Our Suwannee, an environmental group. "When a dragline that's working below the surface breaks through, who is going to know? Who is going to call? How are they going to plug it?"
On an empty stretch of U.S. 27 near Branford, the cement plant's giant smokestacks are rising above the treeline.
"It's going to be the big landmark in the area," said Clarence McNamee, a nearby resident who challenged the plant.
The plant will burn coal and tires and release about 3,100 tons of pollutants every year, including 97 pounds of mercury, which
environmentalists say could taint fish in the three nearby rivers. The DEP says the plant will have more pollution controls than any other cement plant in Florida.
Among those who tried to stop the plant, there's bitterness about allowing heavy industry in one of Florida's finest places.
The DEP issued the cement plant permit in secret negotiations with the company, prompting charges of back-room dealing. The company's chief negotiator was Steve MacNamara, a top aide to then-Florida House Speaker John Thrasher. DEP staffers later complained that they thought MacNamara was representing Thrasher, and didn't know he was also on Anderson Columbia's payroll. The state Ethics Commission found probable cause that MacNamara violated ethics laws. He is appealing.
Anderson Columbia has figured in several political scandals. At one point, it had two lawmakers on its payroll, former House Speaker Bolley "Bo" Johnson and former Lake City Rep. Randy Mackey. Both were convicted of tax fraud for failing to report Anderson Columbia payments. Johnson served time in federal prison and Mackey is free while he appeals.
"This was a highly political case," said Patrice Boyes, a Gainesville lawyer who represented plant opponents. "It's kind of hard for citizens to combat that kind of pressure. The speaker of the House's aide was on the company's payroll. It leaves one with a bitter taste of cynicism."
