Join Apalachicola Riverkeeper
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It's been a busy time at the Apalachicola Riverkeeper.
The oil spill continues to focus our attention.
Meanwhile, the "normal" business of protecting the river basin and bay continues as well.
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Philippe Cousteau Visits Apalachicola Bay
Philippe Cousteau is briefed by Riverkeeper Dan Tonsmeire prior to a tour of Apalachicola Bay. Left to right: Philippe Cousteau, Dan Tonsmeire, Mia DeMezza, COO of EarthEcho, and Brayn Hughes, EarhEcho communications staff.  | Philippe Cousteau, CEO, President and Co-Founder of EarthEcho made a visit to Apalachicola Riverkeeper to get a firsthand look at the pristine ecosystem that is the Apalachicola Bay. Cousteau's visit included a tour of the Bay by local oystermen Toby Dalton and Leroy Shiver. You can reach EarthEcho's web site Here. Read Cousteau's story Here
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Apalachicola Riverkeeper (AR) has several
roles this crisis:
1) Planner/Trainer - AR staffer Dave McLain
provided
early assistance in Franklin County's preparations for the spill. In
addition, he created a pre-training course for local boat owners to
prepare
them to participate in boom tactics; Dave continues to lead our
efforts.
Also, we were involved extensively in the development of the County's
Boom
Contingency Plan, which is posted on the Oil
Spill Recovery
website;
2) Emergency Support Function-15 (ESF-15)
- Franklin County designated AR as the lead agency for
the County's Emergency Support Function 15 to coordinate volunteers and
collect
cash and in-kind donations related to the oil disaster;
3) Monitor - we are
developing a plan for monitoring the impacts to the environment and the
effectiveness of the County's response.
Emergency Support Functions
ESF-15:
AR attend most of the State Emergency
Operation Center briefings held
each day on a statewide conference call. We coordinated a
countywide, pre-impact beach and shoreline cleanup that engaged 270
volunteers
who removed 16,660 pounds of trash. We created the Oil Spill Recovery
website. In May the website brought in $2,926 in donations from 13
individuals and some in-kind materials for cleanups. This funds
come under our name and 501(c)(3) tax deductible designation and are
deposited
through PayPal into an Oil Spill Response bank account we created at
Gulf State
Community Bank. We are developing a "disbursement protocol" with
the Franklin County E.O.C. Director.
OSPREY I & II:
During
MayRiverkeeper
Volunteer Coordinator Robin Vroegop showing the OSPREY monitoring kit.
Kit contains a GPS, a video recorder, maps, and reporting and
recordkeeping forms.  | , Robin
Rickel Vroegop and Becky
Blanchard joined us as full-time volunteers. Robin
developed and is implementing our volunteer OSPREY (Oil Spill Recovery)
photo-monitoring program. Robin has trained a dozen
volunteers, equipped them with OSPREY kits, and assigned them to
specific
locations to document pre- and post- impact status. The field kits
include portable video cameras donated by the Waterkeeper Alliance, GPS
units,
which we purchased, forms and protocols. Robin has established an
online repository to store photo-monitoring data. In addition, we
have purchased an ACER Netbook for data storage. We will also purchase
an
external hard drive for data storage.
Becky Blanchard has been
in our community for over
a year working on the data collection for her PhD thesis in anthropology
at the
University of Florida. In May, she devoted almost all of her time
to the Apalachicola Riverkeeper and developed OSPREY II, a human impacts survey
of the impacts of the spill on Franklin County. Becky
returned to UF in June, but will continue to coordinate OSPREY II this
summer.
The first group of OSPREY volunteers are:
Cameron Barton and daughter Collins, Mary Balthrop, Van Lewis, Mary Bird Simms and daughters Holly and Melissa, Pat
Tollifson, Beth Appleton, David Harbaugh, Robin Bailey, Luke Beekman,
John Provenzano, Terri Cannon, Robin Vroegop, Jeff Illardi, Beth Wright,
Larry Covell, David McLain, Lee Norris.
Monitoring Subcontract:
Riverkeeper staffer Dan Tonsmeire particpating in a 40 hour hazardous materials training class. Dan is taking the class along with Volunteer Coordinator Robin Vroegop as part of Riverkeepers oil spill monitoring project.  |
On May 18, 2010, the Franklin
County Board of County Commissioners directed that the Apalachicola
Riverkeeper
be engaged in monitoring the implementation of the County's boom plan
and
response. We have been working on a subcontract for monitoring for
the last month and a half with Calvin, Giordano & Associates (CGA),Franklin
County's contractor for the County's response to the Deepwater Horizon
Tragedy. Securing the contract will enable us to hire at
least six additional employees in a comprehensive on-the-water
monitoring
program.
FSU Coastal and Marine Laboratory(FSUCML)
AR staffer Dan Tonsmeire
is working
with staff at the FSUCML to expand the "official" monitoring efforts of
the
Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve (ANERR). ANERR has been
charged with the state's official baseline pre-impact monitoring
program, which
is comprised of water quality and sediment sampling at 7 sites in
western and
central Franklin County. With FSUCML we seek to increase the number
of sites, type of sampling, and geographical coverage. We are
hopeful the Lab can procure funding for the expansion. We hope to
provide logistical support, such as having watermen to transport scientists and
students to
the expanded sites, and financial resources, such as funds for sample
analysis
through our subcontract with CGA.
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| The Ongoing Mission of Riverkeeper...
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Apalachicola Riverkeeper Dan Tonsmeire opens meeting Corps Of Engineers' briefing on the Status of Apalachicola Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers. Left to Right: Col.Steven Roemhildt, Commander Mobile District; Dan Tonsmeire, Apalachicola Riverkeeper; Major General Todd Semonite, Commander South Atlantic Division; Felicia Coleman, Ph.D, Director, Florida State Coastal and Marine Laboratory; Seth Blitch, Director, Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve; Charlie Mesing, Biologist, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.
US Army Corps of Engineers: Riverkeeper Sponsors Briefing on River Issues
On June 15 and 16 AR Hosted the Corps' Commanders for the South
Atlantic Division and the Mobile District. Dan Tonsmeire, Dave McLain, and Neva
Watford have set up the program, which included presentations, a
reception, and a dinner on Tuesday and a full day on the water on
Wednesday. This is a major coup and gives us a great opportunity to
promote our agenda for the Corps' management of the ACF reservoirs.
It will also provide an opportunity for the community to express their concerns
and suggestions for how the Corps might help the response to the oil spill with
ideas such as closing Sikes Cut and increasing flows in the Apalachicola.
The two-hour session included reports on the status of and threats to the Apalachicola River basin from Lake Seminole to the continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico. |
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ACF Litigation:
Executive Director Andy Smith spent June 7 and 8 in Jacksonville working with the Florida Apalachicola-Flint-Chattahoochee Litigation team and observing the Phase II oral arguments before federal
judge Paul Magnuson in the Middle District for Florida.
Through Motions
for Summary Judgment in Phase II: 1) Florida seeks, in a citizen's suit
under the Endangered Species Act, to re-open the US Fish & Wildlife
Services' biological opinion and get us more in the Apalachicola; 2) Georgia seeks, through
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to get the Corps to do "the most
robust, far reaching environmental impact statement ever" by a date certain; 3)
Alabama seeks, through NEPA, to get the Revised Interim Operating Plan thrown
out, but to stay the effects of such an order to sometime in the future; 4) the
Southeastern Power Customers seeks an order requiring the Corps to release
water sufficient for SEPC to generate on-peak power; and 5) the City of
Columbus seeks slows sufficient to dilute their domestic wastewater pollution.
Judge Magnuson excoriated the Corps for diddling
while the lives of people all up and down the ACF are at stake. He
also made it clear that he would not order any agency to do specific tasks in
the execution of their statutory roles (AR had considered asking the Judge to
get involved in the specifics of the Corps' "critical yield analysis").
"My prediction is that Judge Magnuson will deny
everyone of the Motions for Summary Judgment, which will keep the ACF process
on the timeline and focus he established in his July 17, 2009, order - which was to work out
a "re-authorization" plan in Congress or through agreement (with congressional
approval) among the three states and the feds," Smith said
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Unspoiled: Writers Speak for Florida's Coast
Unspoiled is a book that should be read by all who love Florida and its natural beauty.
And as you read it reflect on what we stand to
lose through the unfolding oil spill tragedy...things we've taken granted for years. Things
like the wild birds, the clear water, jumping dolphins, fishing, boating, and
kayaking.
Read third-grader Grace Jackson's poem "The Gulf of Mexico"
on page 69 to put it into perspective. She says it better than we can.
The Red Hills Writers (Tallahassee) project thought it would
be a good idea to have authors and other artists that love Florida write and
share stories and essays about the state, particularly our beautiful
coastlines.
They were inspired to undertake this mission when, during the
last legislative session, some legislators decided it was a good idea to open up Florida's waters to offshore
drilling...offshore meaning out only 10 miles in the Gulf of Mexico and three miles into the Atlantic Ocean..
The editors of Unspoiled: Writers Speak for Florida's Coast
hoped it will send a message about what we stand to lose if things went awry.Writer Connie May Fowler reading from her Unspoiled essay.  |
Then, the Deepwater Horizon happened. The rest, as they say,
is history. How prophetic.
The book's unveiling occurred on June 11 to a packed house at the Dixie Theater in
Apalachicola.
The event also was a fund raiser for Riverkeeper and generous supporters donated nearly $2,400.
AR Executive Director Andy Smith addresses the Upspoiled audience at the books unveiling on June 11. Riverkeeper staff pictured left to right : Robin Vroegop, Volunteer Coordinator,; Kayd Seldon, Office Manger; Dan Tonsmeire, Riverkeeper, and Andy Smith.  | A special thanks to Downtown Books in Apalachicola that sponsored the event. You can purchase your copy from there: Downtown Books, Commerce Street, Apalachicola FL, 32320 (850-653-1290).
You can check out the Unspoiled web page here.
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More fund raising...
And a Big Thank You to the Onyx Group in Tallahassee for holding a fundraiser for Riverkeeper on June 11 in Tallahassee. The event called "The Sweeter Side" had sweets and wine tasting. They raised $3,400 for the Riverkeeper. Thanks to all who donated and thanks to the Onyx Group for having it.
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A Reminder-We Are Still Open for Business
The activities and planning described here for Franklin County are
contingency plans. No oil has reached our beaches and we hope and pray it does
not come. Our beaches and bays are open
and as pristine as ever.
We are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst with the hope the
worst case scenario doesn't materialize.
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Hands Across the Sands
Hands Across the Sands St. George Island June 26, 2010  | Over 100 people joined the event to on a beautiful, hot, summer day. "Hands Across the Sand is a movement made of people of all walks of life and crosses political affiliations. This movement is not about politics; it is about protection of our coastal economies, oceans, marine wildlife, and fishing industry. Let us share our knowledge, energies and passion for protecting all of the above from the devastating effects of oil drilling." The movement, now international, started in Florida on February 13, 2010. It was founded by Dave Rauschkolb, a surfer and the owner of 3 restaurants on the beach in Seaside, Florida, located on the northern Gulf Coast between Pensacola and Panama City. |
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