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Marine Business Journal, 10-99
Cleaning up the Miami River
Saving a River by Bo Hodiak
Home to one of the state's busiest ports and its most polluted
river, the city of Miami, Fla. has the opportunity to take advantage
of federal clean-up funds. Historically, local government was
reluctant to become involved.
Dredging and cleaning up the Miami River-Florida's fifth largest
port has been talked about for decades. Now, with the recent
announcement that the federal government will pay for most of
the cleanup, state and local officials have never had a better
opportunity to restore Florida's most polluted river.
But they only have a few months to come up with an estimated
$20 million as their share of the costs. Such funds are allocated
on an annual basis and if local officials do not commit to their
share then " We'll have to use the money elsewhere. We have
people knocking on our door to fund their projects," said
Jerry Scarborough, project manager for the U.S. Army corps of
Engineers.
Getting local officials to come up with their share of the
cost will take some doing. The Miami River Study Commission held
14 public hearings and spent nearly five months studying the
problem. In a report issued last year it said:
"The single greatest problem facing the Miami River to
date is a total lack of political leadership from the City of
Miami Commission and the Miami-Dade County Commission."
It pointed out that contamination in the Miami River now threatens
Biscayne Bay, the region's boating playground, surrounded by
attractive hotels, office buildings and residences. "The
Miami River is the most studied yet least understood and most
neglected feature in South Florida. Yet not one campaign theme
of any politician deals with the impending crisis," the
report stated.
Despite this, the Miami River handled some $4 billion in cargo
last year and was visited by more than 1300 vessels representing
80 ports of call throughout the Caribbean and the America's.
The Corps has calculated that sediment is narrowing the river's
channel by a foot a year. Captains report they are having trouble
getting their ships to the dock. At low tide, cargo vessels sometimes
sit on the bottom at precarious angles. In some places the river
is so shallow ships can depart only at high tide. And, even then,
they cannot carry a full load.
The river has been the home of the legendary Merrill Stevens
boatyard since 1923. Jones Boat Yard, with more than 1,200 feet
of bulkhead waterfront, also flourishes there.
There are 66 piers, wharves and docks, and seven boat repair
plants on the river. It was last dredged in 1935. The commercial
part of the river stretches 5.5 miles from Biscayne Bay and then
continues to Lake Okeechobee.
In 1991 a Miami-Dade County grand jury report concluded the
river had become a "cesspool unfit to be utilized for drinking,
fishing, or swimming."
The biggest pollution comes from contaminated storm water
runoff. The river serves as drainage for some 69 square miles
of land. With the vanishing of grass and unimproved land the
water has no place to go but the Miami River. As it moves, it
picks up industrial waste, pesticides, oil and chemicals. Lead
is a particular problem in the river, Scarborough said.
The dredging is estimated to cost $13.5 million and the disposal
of the sediment about $50 million. The non-federal share
to be spread out over several years is estimated at $13
million plus about $7 million to purchase 55 acres of land near
the river. Some one million cubic yards of sediment will be dumped
here to dry out before it is transported. The government won't
permit dumping in the ocean because the sediment is too contaminated,
Scarborough said.
Until the 1970's, untreated sewage flowed freely into the
river. Sewage overflows were common until the late 1980's, according
to U.S. Rep. Ilena Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami. She is trying to get
$5 million in federal funds for a general cleanup of litter and
toxic sediment along the riverbanks. Her office helped organize
a Miami River Cleanup Day on Aug. 28 when volunteers coasted
on boats, using nets to lift cans, paper and other trash out
of the water.
There are hopeful signs that officials are finally beginning
to cooperate. The Florida Legislature last year established the
Miami River Commission with members coming from business, city,
county, state and federal government. Its vital function will
be to get agreement from the 36 agencies that have some influence
over the river.
The big question now is "Who's going to pay what,"
said Phil Everingham, chairman of the commission's Marine Council.
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