Surfrider's Efforts in Rincón Featured Around the Island

The Surfrider Foundation's ongoing efforts in Rincón, Puerto Rico are being recognized by Puerto Rico's academic community and in Puerto Rico's top newspaper.

The Interdisciplinary Center for Coastal Studies (CIEL in Spanish) at UPR Mayaguez recently highlighted Surfrider's extensive outreach and education program.

"Education is an essential component of the success of an MPA. Integration of school children and teachers is a vehicle to incorporate the larger community into the conservation efforts, and keep everyone posted on the new developments. At the Tres Palmas Marine Reserve there are two educational programs in place, carried by community members, sponsored by Surfrider Foundation and the Steering Committee for the Reserve. "  For more info about these efforts and the CIEL, please go to: http://amp-pr.org/blog/?p=129

And in the news...

Acropora palmata, conservation of coral reefs, Land Use Planning, community participation, Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, the municipality of Rincón, Surfrider Foundation and the scientific community are interwoven in a newspaper article in El Nuevo Dia - Puerto Rico's top newspaper.  Read the story at:  http://surfrider.org/rincon/Heroe_Submarino.pdf

Surfrider Foundation all over Washington's Largest Clean-up

Last Saturday, april 22nd, the Olympic Coast Clean-up (www.olympiccoastcleanup.us) brought hundreds of people to Washington's outer coast to collect debris, walk the beautiful shore and enjoy an absolutely gorgeous day.  Every Surfrider Foundation chapter in Washington played a role and this weekend also saw the first action of a new group of Surfrider activists based out of Bainbridge Island.  The grand totals are still being tallied, but we estimate that we had at least 500 people out, and that at least 40 tons of debris were gathered from over 100 miles of shoreline.  Special thanks go to Gary Meikle, Eran Afner and Matt Hornland of the Seattle Chapter, Bill Riggs and Abby McKinley of the NW Straits Chapter,  and Lynn Wells from Bainbridge Island.

 

High School Surfrider Club Wins EPA Award

On April 18 in San Francisco, U.S. EPA Regional Administrator Wayne Nastri presented plaques to three dozen organizations and individuals throughout the Pacific Southwest in recognition of their efforts to protect and preserve the environment in 2005, including the Surfrider Club at Laguna Beach High School, which is a project supported by the Surfrider Foundation's Laguna Beach Chapter.

"These organizations and individuals have applied creativity, teamwork and leadership in addressing many of the West's most sensitive and complex environmental challenges," Nastri said. "Thanks to their efforts, our air, water and land will be cleaner and safer for generations to come. The winners set an example for all of us to follow."


The Laguna Beach High School's Surfrider Club was selected for its initiative in testing ocean water quality on a weekly basis, and posting results for public access. Southern California beaches are used by millions more than the rest of the country combined so providing this vital information helps people maximize public health protection and feel assured of reliable information regarding ocean water quality. The students provide regular data, as well as helpful tips and information on everything from the increased polluted runoff that exists near storm drains to higher bacteria rates following rain storms. The club has an established and important link with the community, and has sought to resolve problems regarding beach water quality with the city. Web address: http://www.surfrider.org/lagunabeach/waterquality.htm

The photo shows Surfrider Club founder Margaux Thomas (2nd from left), current Club President Marshall Thomas and EPA Region 9 Administrator Wayne Nastri. 

Making Progress in San Clemente

Regrouping after their Dana Strands Campaign the South Orange County Chapter is coming back full-force. Over the last three months the chapter has increased the amount of attendance at their monthly meetings from six to 20+ and last week had over thirty. April meeting attendees enjoyed a presentation from world-renowned surf forecaster and Surfline.com  founder Sean Collins, about his book California Surf Guide: The Secrets to Finding the Best Waves and heard updates on Surfrider Foundation’s Save Trestles Campaign. Autographed copies of Sean’s book were made available for sale at the meeting, with a portion going back to the chapter to help with the SAVE TRESTLE CAMPAIGN.  Five lucky attendees won a copy of the book through a raffle, which was made possible by chapter activists Jim Cucolo. Others purchased the book and close to $500 was raised in virtually fifteen minutes!

Not only was it a great fundraising event, we recruited volunteers for several local events including Earth Day,  the San Clemente 5K Barefoot Beach Run and The 9th Annual Doheny Blues Festival! All these events contribute to the Save Trestles Campaign in numerous ways.

So what made this chapter meeting so successful compared to others? We planned ahead -  we passed out volunteer sign up sheets with specific requests, provided Save Trestles information sheets, kept the meeting short, supplied a raffle opportunity for anyone who attended and promoted our guest speaker through local newspaper calendar listings, email blast and website postings!  We followed the direct action organizing principles layout in the Surfrider Foundation Chapter Resource Book and not only had a series of great action oriented meetings, but are turning around the chapter and making great strides in the Save Trestles Campaign.

Do You Remember Your First Snorkeling Experience?

For many of us, time "on" and "in" the water is a given.  But for lots of kids (and adults), the marine environment is as foreign an environment as the moon. 

Rincón is home to the Tres Palmas Marine Reserve, yet most of the children of this small coastal community in Puerto Rico have never experienced the magic of the ocean.   Surfrider has been actively engaging local school kids in a marine education program to raise awareness about the unique natural resources found in the nearshore waters.  So far this year, Surfrider volunteers have logged over 250 hours in the Jorge Seda Crespo Middle School. 

Students have enjoyed classroom and field activities.  Most recently, the kids have been able to experience the Marine Reserve first hand with "Pasadias Familiares" at the Reserve.

For many students, these outings were their first snorkeling experiences.   Check out the photos at: www.homepage.mac.com/fundacionsurfrider/PhotoAlbum19.html

Many thanks to Taino Divers for providing the equipment.

Jack Johnson Supports Surfrider Brazil

Jack Johnson teamed up with Surfrider Foundation Brazil during his recent tour in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, April 7 and 8, 2006.  Surfrider had promotional booths at both concerts, raising awareness to more than 60 thousand people who attended the concerts.  Over 3,000 fans signed a petition in Rio demanding the government stop dumping raw sewage into the ocean.

In Rio, before Jack went on stage, he spent time with members of the Surfrider Brazil Executive Committee and Bocao, a community leader with the Rocinha Surf School, located in Rio’s infamous Favela (slum), as well as one of his students, Felipe. Bocao utilizes surfing to help children from the Favela improve their lives.  They presented Jack with a trophy, thanking him for his support. The trophy, made from a recycled surfboard, had the Brazilian flag on one side and a view of the Favela on the other.

 

Jack asked if Bocao could return the following day and bring more children from the surf school. According to Surfrider’s representative, Sergio Mello, it was a very emotional and inspiring encounter. The children were “stoked” and “in heaven” meeting Jack, who spoke with them about the importance of having dreams and determination in their struggle against all odds.  Jack said the next time he was in Rio he would spend some time there, and would like to surf with the children from the school. The kids couldn’t stop clapping with their enthusiasm.  Jack definitely made a difference in the lives of these children, simply by giving them love and attention.
 
Jack will be making donations to Surfrider Brazil and the Rocinha Surf School.

 

 

Waikiki Surfer Contracts Bacterial Infection - Blames Sewage Spill

Woman's bacterial infection blamed on polluted waters off Waikiki hotel

A 40-year-old Waikiki woman claims she contracted a bacterial infection from sewage-polluted waters while surfing at a popular break off of the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Lisa Kennedy hired attorney Rick Fried to investigate why signs were not posted earlier to warn public of the massive sewage spill that occurred a few days before she went surfing.

During the mid-morning hours of March 28, Kennedy surfed at a spot called Kaisers with her boyfriend, Keeliko Lopes, and two of her friends visiting from the mainland.

Kennedy suffered a gash on her buttocks after she fell on coral. Fried described her wound to be about two inches wide, four inches long and an inch deep. Kennedy went to The Medical Corner in Waikiki before she was transported to the Queen's Medical Center.

Fried said she received five stitches at the hospital.

But Kennedy was readmitted to Queen's on April 3 after her gash worsened and a culture taken showed bacteria that is detected in fecal matter.

According to Fried, Kennedy's infection is caused by five types of bacteria: two of Escherichia coli origin, which is also known as E. coli; proteus, enteroccocus and aeromonis. Four of the five types of bacteria are consistent with fecal matter, he said.

"Those make it pretty clear that it's from the raw sewage," Fried said.

Dr. Keith Stephenson, who treated Kennedy at the Medical Corner and advised her to return to Queen's, said copious amounts of pus were dripping on the floor from her wound.

"If I had a wound like that and I was swimming in the ocean and someone had cultured me, I would be highly suspicious that the water was contaminated," Stephenson said.

An estimated 48 million gallons of raw sewage were diverted into the Ala Wai Canal after a 42-inch force main ruptured on Kaiolu Street in Waikiki on March 24, described as the largest sewage spill in state history.

According to Fried, Kennedy said there were no warning signs posted off of Kaisers the day she went surfing, four days after the spill occurred.

Kurt Tsue, spokesman for the Department of Health, said signs were posted at Fort DeRussy and Kahanamoku Beach on March 29, the day after Kennedy suffered a gash.

"Within 24 hours, certainly by Sunday, they should have known what was in the water," Fried said at a news conference yesterday.

Kennedy, who remains at Queen's, said she was on sedatives yesterday and declined comment. Fried said she is currently on a morphine drip and is taking antibiotics intravenously. Kennedy is also attached to an apparatus that is draining out the infected area.

Fried said Kennedy and her boyfriend were unaware that a massive sewage spill had occurred. And they had not heard they were supposed to avoid entering the waters -- despite continuous daily news coverage of the spill.

"They tell me they had not seen that," Fried said. "Whether they had or not, there would've been no indication not to go into the area they were going."

The Department of Health said it "exercised its best judgment based on the best information we had at the time" on decisions to post warning signs.

"We sympathize, but that remains to be seen," said city spokesman Mark Matsunaga on whether her infection was caused from the sewage spill.

Matsunaga said they had immediately informed the public after the spill occurred to be cautious of the water condition. He also noted that drift tests taken soon after the spill had showed sewage waters from the canal heading straight out to sea, not at the shoreline.

Slow Motion Disasters

When a plane crashes, we react.  Why don’t we react to slow-motion environmental disasters?

 

About 20 years ago I was in a plane crash. It was a real, legitimate plane crash; our front landing gear wasn’t working, there were three attempts to fix it while we circled Boston’s Logan airport and all attempts failed, the airport was closed, we dropped our fuel in Boston Harbor, the runway was “foamed”, I said my prayers and accepted the thought I may die, we assumed crash position… and then the pilot crashed the plane. There were flames streaming past the windows as the metal and concrete set the plane on fire, people were screaming, we slid down emergency exit ramps and ran away from the burning plane due to a potential hydraulic explosion, etc. It was a disaster.

 

 

Today, off the coast of Los Angeles they are finding fish whose gender are flipping (going from male to female) due to bottom-settling chemicals. There is a persistent “dead zone” (places where nothing lives but slime) the size of Rhode Island off the coast of Louisiana (it was there before hurricane Katrina). In Vancouver, Canada the city is only offering “primary sewage treatment” which means they essentially “filter the solids” and dump everything else straight into the ocean and into a burgeoning surf population. We no longer tell our children to go into the ocean to let the ocean clean a cut, in fact some high school surf teams require Hepatitis B shots before kids can join… due to poor local water quality. Fish populations appear to be on the rise in the Hudson River, but with levels of Mercury that put them into a category where eating them is a threat. The list goes on and on.

 

 

When a plane crashes we react with horror, fear and anger. It is not an acceptable disaster.

 

My point in comparing these disasters isn’t to suggest that one is worse than another but to point out that our sense of “something wrong” is a bit tweaked. Our techno-fueled, WiFi/Bluetooth-everywhere, 24 hr news world makes us react to “fast motion disasters” but completely miss the “slow motion disasters” that are happening all around us. Recent “fast-motion” environmental disasters like the tsunami or the recent hurricanes have reminded us that our planet’s natural muscle is much stronger than ours. In my opinion we reacted to those two disasters due to their CNN-worthiness… that is, they made good action television… they were “video-able”. How many of us would sit and watch a two-hour documentary on how coastal development, and related silt, are killing coral reefs all over the world? (Ok, if you’re reading this you may in fact watch that and you’re the exception). As I gain more perspective on issues from my travels and experiences with the Surfrider chapter network I’m seeing these larger, more important issues more clearly. Two statistics set up a tension and cause of some of these slow-motion disasters:

 

• “75% Americans will live within 80 miles of a coast by 2025” Source: Pew Ocean Commissions Report
• "By 2030 one half of the buildings in the US will have been built after 2000" Source: Brookings Institute

 

This equates to a whole lotta’ action at the coast… every coast. I’ve seen rapid new home growth along the Pacific Northwest in the far-reaches of coastal Oregon and Washington. I counted 82 people on the peak of Swami’s during a recent swell hitting San Diego. I’ve recently experienced island cultures on places like Puerto Rico and Nantucket continue the oxymoronic challenge of embracing development while fighting to protect the natural resources put at risk by that very development. I don’t mean to suggest there are binary answers to many of these issues as there aren’t. But, if we collectively had an increased sense of awareness of what we’re doing then my sense is we’d act a bit differently. If we had a greater long-term perspective we would act more intentionally and with a sense of protecting the very coastal resources that drew us there in the first place.

 

The Surfrider Foundation is engaged in over 100 environmental campaigns in the United States, we also have operations on five of the six continents and have a faction of free-roaming emissaries on beaches all over the globe. Being frank… our collective efforts are a drop in the bucket. It’s an important drop to be sure and perhaps in some locales it’s much more than a drop… but our efforts, fueled by local volunteers everywhere, need to scale. We need to maximize every possible tool, leverage every possible partner, invest every cent available, educate every person possible on issues related to protecting local coastal neighborhoods. We’re fighting slow-motion disasters.

 

As curt as it sounds… a disaster is a disaster; natural resources are put at risk, lives are potentially lost, sustainability of a region is questioned. Some are faster than others, some are slower than others. The speed shouldn’t dictate a subject’s worthiness of our time, energy and investment. Slow down. Turn the TV off. Look outside. Walk around your neighborhood. Take a walk on a local beach. Paddle out into the ocean.

 

Understand what’s at risk. Then work hard to protect it.

 

Jim Moriarty

Executive Director / Chief Executive Officer

 

(from the Spring, 2006 Making Waves issue)

 

Bringing down the Dam

I recently got to travel to Ventura, CA to visit with our Southern California Chapter leaders. 

 

During the workshop Paul Jenkin (chapter activist extraordinaire) took us all on a visit to the Matilija Dam.  Paul has been working for over a decade to have this dysfunctional dam removed to allow the sediment trapped behind it to travel to the beaches of Ventura County where it belongs. 

Here you can see behind the dam where the greatest depth of the water (remember this was intended to be a reservoir) is only seven feet.

I was able to grab a quick video clip of Paul talking about the dam and his project to bring it down (sorry for the noise but it was a windy day).

Mark Rauscher
Assistant Environmental Director

New Snowrider Project concepts hit the slopes

It was wet, it was raining - perfect sprint conditions in the Pacific Northwest.  Despite it, it was a momentous day.  This Saturday April 8th the Seattle Chapter's Snowrider Project ran its first event at the Summit at Snoqualmie with a new suite of watershed education and litter education products.  The ideas were the product of month's of work involving the Seattle Chapter's Snowrider Project Coordinator Mike McCann, Washington Field Coordinator Ian Miller and the staff of Publicis.  Publicis,  a national public relations firm, has devoted thousands of dollars of staff time and resources to helping the Pacific Northwest chapters of Surfrider get their name out and grow.  Some of this stuff is great and our intention is to make it available to other interested chapters as soon as we can.

Testing the Water Test

Scientists question test of beach water

Scientists and government officials debate whether methods used to flag sewage-contaminated ocean water are flawed.

Somewhere on the Southern California coast, almost every day, signs go up warning swimmers of possible sewage in those rolling, beckoning waves.

Explanations for these persistent signs of bacterial contamination have ranged from leaky sewer pipes to homeless camps near storm drains.

But the latest theory could be among the most controversial: Maybe some of that contamination isn't really there at all. More

Lack of Committment to Ocean Issues

A university student writing a paper called me yesterday and asked if I was surprised by the low grades given to the present administration by the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative.  I told her no. After the release of the U.S. Ocean Action Plan, it's been a little bit of show, but very little go. Below is an example of that.

- Rick Wilson

NOAA faces 6% decrease

The president’s proposed FY ’07 budget for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) totals nearly $3.7 billion, which is a drop of $227 million or 5.8% from the agency’s FY ’06 funds enacted by Congress. Although some basic functions of NOAA—such as satellite upkeep, tsunami and hurricane monitoring, and marine transportation safety—are slated to see more money, funding for NOAA’s overall R&D efforts would decline by 6% from $546 million in FY ’06 to $533 million. More

Update: No Offshore Drilling

An update from DC Surfrider:

 

Our deepest thanks for reacting to news that Virginia legislators were trying to open the coast to natural gas and oil drilling.  Because of your efforts, Governor Tim Kaine sent the bill back to the Virginia legislature without provisions seeking to end the moratorium on natural gas and oil exploration, development, and production.

 

“Thanks to Surfline posting an Action Alert, and the efforts of the DC and Virginia Beach chapters of Surfrider, many surfers and coastal enthusiasts were alerted to this Mid-Atlantic coastal threat” said Ed Eads, Chair of the Washington, DC, chapter of Surfrider. “We know people don’t want natural gas or oil drilling off their coasts.  The trouble is spreading the word; bills like this can slip through the cracks.”

 

To many, Virginia has been seen as a domino that could create a chain reaction leading to drilling on every coast.  A similar attempt to open Virginia’s coast to offshore drilling last year was vetoed by then Governor Mark Warner.  At the same time, laws were proposed in Congress to open all of America’s coasts to offshore drilling.  Thankfully, those efforts failed, but pro-drilling advocates have not stopped pushing their agenda.  The bill Kaine sent back to the legislature in Virginia is just one of the current threats to our coast from offshore drilling.  Kaine also inserted language into the bill that supports a federal survey of the waters 50 miles or more off the coast to determine what natural gas deposits exist. 

 

“We applaud Governor Kaine’s decision.  He stood up to special interest groups and sent a clear message that Virginia’s coast will not just be given away,” said Eads.  “At the same time, he clearly signaled that we are still going to have to both fight for and prove the worth of our coast.”

 

Last summer pro-drilling members of Congress managed to add a provision to the national Energy Bill that requires an underwater seismic inventory of the entire outer continental shelf.  This type of survey uses blasts from an air gun to identify if petroleum deposits are under the sea floor.  This dangerous exercise will have a direct impact on whales, dolphins, and other sea life. 

 

The current attempts to open the United States’ coasts to petroleum exploration, drilling, and production by pro-drilling advocates revolve around ending the Outer Continental Shelf Moratorium.  The moratorium, enacted by Congress in 1981, prevents the leasing of coastal waters for oil and natural gas development.  It has been renewed every year since then with bipartisan support.  An additional layer of support was added in 1990 when President George H.W. Bush (Sr.) deferred new leasing until 2002, which President Bill Clinton then extended to 2012.

 

While Kaine’s decision was a victory, Virginia’s coast is not saved from drilling; and nor is any other coast.  In February, the Minerals Management Service released its 5-year leasing proposals for the outer continental shelf, including waters off Virginia, Florida, and Alaska that are currently protected by the moratorium.  This proposal boldly assumes that both the moratorium and the presidential deferrals will be dismantled.  The Minerals Management Service also changed state boundaries for leasing purposes, thereby altering who can influence these proposals.  For instance, New Jersey would have had a say in any plan to lease the areas off Virginia, but it doesn’t under this “re-districting.”  The Surfrider Foundation along with 22 other non-governmental organizations signed a letter to the Minerals Management Service opposing both the boundary changes and the new leases.  This Monday is the last chance for comments on the proposal.  Comments can be made electronically at: https://ocsconnect.mms.gov/pcs-public/do/ProjectDetailView?objectId=0b011f8080057d2b

 

Our coasts are being targeted - three pro-drilling bills are pending in Congress right now.  The only chance we have is to stand up for our waves, our beaches, and our coast before it is too late. Tell your congressional representatives that drilling is not an option.  You can find out who your representatives are and send them a message at www.house.gov/writerep/ and www.senate.gov.        

 

“At DC Surfrider (www.dcsurfrider.org), we have adopted the simple yet clear slogan, No Offshore Drilling,” said Eads. “Oil slicks don't respect state boundaries, our beaches, or our right to clean, publicly accessible beaches.”

 

 Photo courtesy of www.marinephotobank.org

 

Community Follows Surfrider's Lead in Long Beach, NY

There was an awesome showing of organized community support at a Long Beach, NY public hearing last week.  This meeting was packed with 500 people and most were opposed to the Army Corps’ massive dredge and fill beach replenishment project.  Not all of them were Surfrider Foundation members, but many were there because Surfrider made this an issue in the community.  Read more here.

Jeff Kupferman of Long Beach, NY speaks out against an Army Corp project.

 

Jeff Kupferman, a lifelong resident of Long Beach who has been leading the community against this project, was one of dozens who spoke out against it. “We don’t want anyone to think we are against this project just so we can ride a bunch of waves.”  Jeff pointed out that concerns about swimming safety, bayside flooding, altering and degrading the beach and marine environment, and the loss of fishing habitat all played a role in people’s opposition to the project.  While Jeff lead the way the last few months, activist Ericka D’Avanzo did a superb job in organizing support outside of the typical surfer circles early on.  The New York City Chapter leaders like Cat Began and Joel Banslaben have spent years working on this and Chris Manthey provided invaluable technical support and advice.

 

 

A packed house in Long Beach, NY

 

At the end of it all the surfers came across as sensible not selfish, caring not complacent, and helpful not hindering.  IThe community got a much different imptressin from the Army Corps. 

 

 

The New Surf City?

No, not Santa Cruz or Huntington Beach but Yakutat, Alaska!

The City of Yakutat recently passed a resolution endorsing surfing that states, “We appreciate that surfers enjoy, rather than exploit the natural resources of our beautiful home, and we would be very happy if more of you came to visit. You’re our kind of tourists. With love, Surf City, Alaska.”

Link to a great photo of surfing in Alaska.

Link to New York Times article, OUTDOORS; Off Secluded Shores, Another Alaskan Rush (fee required) from 3/26/2006

Man dying after fall into polluted Ala Wai: Oliver Johnson has flesh-eating disease

Man dying after fall into polluted Ala Wai: 34-year-old mortgage loan officer Oliver Johnson has flesh-eating disease

State reopens Waikiki beaches

Few diseases after rain, spills

By Rod Antone  rantone@starbulletin.com

A 34-year-old mortgage loan officer is near death with a flesh-eating disease after falling into the polluted waters of the Ala Wai Boat Harbor last week, according to his friends.

Friends of Oliver Johnson said his doctors at the Queen's Medical Center diagnosed him with necrotizing fasciitis, a Group A streptococcal infection that "destroys muscles, fat and skin tissue," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The disease forced the amputation of his left leg above the knee Monday, his friends said. His body also went into Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome, which causes blood pressure to drop rapidly and all major organs to fail, they said.

"Oh, my God, you can't even recognize him anymore," said Zobel Dela Cruz, a friend of Johnson. "He's all swollen up and he looks like he's 350 pounds.

"We just want everybody to know so they don't go in the water."

more

 Shown in this Dec. 2005 Star-Bulletin photo, Oliver Johnson has flesh-eating disease and is fighting for his life after falling into the polluted Ala Wai Boat Harbor.

photo:  CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM

 

SANDY BEACH APARTMENTS VIOLATE CLEAN WATER ACT

Rincón, PR – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a cease and desist order to Wilfredo Vilá Suro, developer of the Sandy Beach Apartments, for violating section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The violation resulted from altering and filling the creek (quebrada) adjacent to the project without a permit. The action was taken following an investigation that was instigated by complaints filed by Surfrider Foundation and residents of Barrio Puntas.

Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, anyone who proposes an activity that would discharge dredged or fill material into public water ways is required to apply for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. If the activity is regulated under Section 404, then a federal action (the permit process) is required before the activity can proceed.


March 29, 2006 - A six foot swell at medium tide
and the ocean has reached the corner of the property

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers supports numerous environmental programs and is responsible for the regulatory oversight of dredge and fill projects on Puerto Rico’s public beaches or in waterways.

This cease and desist order initiates an enforcement case. Complaints were also filed for various violations with ARPE, DRNA and other agencies, but no action was taken. The questionable legality of the permitting process has led to a congressional investigation lead by the Honorable Jose Chico Vega.

"Now that the Army Corps has initiated an enforcement case, we hope that DRNA will finally take our complaints seriously, investigate and take the actions necessary to protect our public beaches," said Larry Sweeney - resident Barrio Puntas.

Protection of the quebrada was a key element of the legal agreement Vilá made with the Surfrider Foundation, which he later ignored. This subsequent alteration of the quebrada resulted in the violation of the Clean Water Act.

"We are grateful that the Army Corps has prioritized this investigation into Clean Water Act violations by Sandy Beach Apartments," said Leon Richter of Surfrider Foundation.


Clean Water Act violations

Local residents and Surfrider Foundation have been fighting the Sandy Beach Apartment project from the beginning when it was initially approved without the required public notification or public hearings, denying the community its right to public participation. Because of the proximity of the project to the beach it should have never been approved to begin with. The inappropriate location of the project also creates a serious public risk that will likely result in a request for coastal armoring that will have deleterious effects on the local beach system and could perpetuate further erosion and armoring along Sandy Beach.

As a result of the scale and location of the project, Sandy Beach apartments threatens the character of the neighborhood, is not consistent with the zoning in the area, threatens the water quality of the quebrada, beach access, threatens the condition of the beach, and could alter the recreational surfing areas immediately offshore.

Click here to read the story as reported at PRWOW.

Click here to read the story as reported in El Nuevo Día

INCOMPATIBLE SAND EQUALS WASTED BEACH DOLLARS

Despite numerous, well-informed letters of complaint and underwater images from the scientific community and recreational stakeholders, the Town of Palm Beach (Town), Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) continue to ignore dredging project violations. The Town and its consultant Coastal Planning & Engineering--the same company that “oversaw” the bulldozing of mud onto St. Lucie County beaches—are wasting tax dollars, harming Palm Beach County’s priceless reefs and creating human life and safety issues. The Palm Beach County Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation and allies are demanding that state and federal regulators stop dredge-and-fill operations at Mid-Town Beach and Phipps Ocean Park.

 

“The problem with these re-nourishment sands is that they have nothing to do with native beach sand and will not survive there,” said Wanless. “The beach fill has a huge amount of material that is finer than 250 microns, but coarser than 62 microns.  This is also material that will move quickly off of the beach (an economic waste) and pollute the adjacent marine environment.”

 

“This project has become a massive waste of millions of tax dollars, which gives beachfront residents and business owners a false and dangerous sense of security,” said Palm Beach County Chapter Chair, Tom Warnke. “Plus, the dredge-and-fill operation is destroying and degrading priceless environmental resources, including the beach, nearshore and reefs and surf breaks, which the 2001 NOAA study showed to generate over $505 million dollars in reef-related expenditures and $194 million in income to Palm Beach residents.”

 

 “Anyone can write a permit, but permits don’t mean a thing unless you enforce their conditions,” says Warnke. “And this habitual lack of enforcement is costing state and federal agencies the public’s trust.”

 

Sewage Spills and Spoils Waikiki Beach

          

   Oahu had the wettest march in over 50 years, with 40+ days straight with rain.  This is straining our leaky sewer system and the results have been catastrophic, with many sewer spills including some 48 million gallons of raw sewage spilled and then pumped into the Ala Wai canal from our worst spill ever recorded. The Ala Wai flows into the ocean directly adjacent Waikiki. 

           

You can probably imagine how having to place 103 warning signs at one of our state’s main economic engines is frowned upon by all.  On the plus side, our chapter’s work with the Department of Health before and during the spill has prompted the first water quality testing done in the line-up at surf spots to see how they are being affected. (Articles on water monitoring and spill below.)

 

         

 

Aloha,

Scott Werny

Oahu Chapter   ...waiting for the sun...and clean water...

_________________________________________________

SEWAGE SPILL LEADS TO UNPRECEDENTED WATER MONITORING

March 30, 2006

Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

 

As a sewage spill in Waikiki drew national attention and threatened tourism marketing, health officials began water quality tests they've never done before.

 

The Hawaii Department of Health's Clean Water Branch says its personnel and Honolulu city officials are monitoring water quality stations from Kewalo Basin, west of Waikiki, to Diamond Head, east of the tourist district.

 

While water quality has long been monitored closely in fishing areas, it was the first time the Health Department had monitored water quality at surf spots.

 

This came in response to a sewer pipe break that forced the dumping of effluent into the Ala Wai, a canal that forms the inland border of the entire Waikiki hotel district before turning to the ocean at the west end.

 

Officials are testing water at 10 sites from Point Panic to the surf sites off the coast at the Sheraton Waikiki as well as at six beach stations. They also are monitoring five stations along the Ala Wai itself, and another dozen stations from Kewalo to Diamond Head.

 

Signs were posted Wednesday warning people to stay out of the water from Magic Island and Ala Wai Yacht Harbor to Fort DeRussy Beach in front of the Hale Koa. Surfers were warned of elevated levels of indicator bacteria in the surf in front of the Sheraton Waikiki, Royal Hawaiian and Moana Surfrider hotels.

____________________________________________________________

March 30, 2006; Honolulu Star Bulletin article:

48 Million Gallons Spill in 6-day Sewer Break

Officials urge people to remain clear of pollute ocean waters

A total of 48 million gallons of raw sewage flowed into the Ala Wai Canal during the six-day spill that is apparently the city's worst ever, Mayor Mufi Hannemann said yesterday.

The amount is more than double the estimate of more than 20 million gallons cited Wednesday by city Environmental Services Director Eric Takamura.

"I want to say again that the city had no other choice," Hannemann said of the diversion of sewage from a 42-inch main into the Ala Wai Canal from last Friday until repairs were completed Wednesday.

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