I-TEAM: Environmental group levying fines for coal ash spill

2 years ago 249

9,300 pounds of ember ash spilled into the water disconnected the seashore of Jacksonville

With barge salvage cognition connected hold, concerns equine implicit toxic ember ash connected board

Environmental groups and present authorities entities are taking a basal against ember ash being transported disconnected the coastline of Jacksonville. This comes aft the Department of Environmental Protection announced it is levying fines against the companies liable for spilling 9,300 pounds of ember ash disconnected the Bridgeport Barge into the water successful the spring.

The News4JAX I-TEAM has been pursuing the spill since March erstwhile the Bridgeport Barge deed the jetties and became stuck disconnected the seashore of Atlantic Beach. This caused a ember ash merchandise called Agremax to spill into the ocean. The metropolis of Atlantic Beach, the Jacksonville Waterways Commission and environmentalists are present trying to prohibition the offshore transport.

″There was ne'er a nationalist notification that went retired oregon signs connected the formation that said this is what’s going connected and what’s happening, and that was a root of vexation for me,” said Atlantic Beach Mayor Ellen Glasser.

Glasser is hoping to nonstop a beardown connection to the manufacturers and transporters of ember ash who person been utilizing the waters disconnected the seashore of Jacksonville to determination their product. She wants the section transport of ember ash banned, aft the Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced $38,000 successful fines.

DEP is fining AES of Puerto Rico, the institution which generated the ash; Morgan Towing, the proprietor of the barge that deed the jetties; and Dann Ocean Towing, whose barge was pulling the ember ash erstwhile it became stranded retired astatine sea.

″Atlantic Beach does person a solution that we are considering adjacent week, to inquire the powers that beryllium not to beryllium allowed to transport done our waters.” Glasser said. ”I anticipation it gets immoderate attention. It whitethorn beryllium symbolic successful nature. A batch of it comes down to however it’s classified by the EPA.”

The Jacksonville Waterways Commission besides precocious approved a solution calling for an extremity to ember ash shipments, pointing retired that Puerto Rico and Osceola County person some banned the ash from being dumped successful their landfills, adjacent though the Agremax merchandise is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency arsenic nonhazardous.

“I deliberation the word hazardous, you person to support that successful context, it’s not classified arsenic hazardous discarded but it requires a batch of peculiar controls successful a landfill,” Glasser said. “Shouldn’t we person akin controls erstwhile it’s transported?”

Glasser said her metropolis and surrounding coastal communities dodged a slug due to the fact that water h2o trial results revealed determination wasn’t immoderate evident biology risk. She wants her coastal assemblage to beryllium cleaner and much liable successful the future.

″It is my content that we indispensable bash thing locally to propulsion this question along. I deliberation a constituent was made successful the Jacksonville Waterways Commission and I deliberation it’s a bully one: Does Jacksonville truly privation to beryllium engaged successful moving ember ash? This is simply a messy business. JAXPort doesn’t woody successful it. Should we?” Glasser said.

The Jacksonville Waterways Commission solution was precocious approved and volition adjacent spell to the metropolis council. The metropolis of Atlantic Beach volition sermon its solution banning the transport of Agremax disconnected the coastline aboriginal this week. Both resolutions are nonbinding, which means they cannot beryllium adopted into law.