Miami River Quality Action Team
Annual Report 1996-1997
Envrionmental Protection
Solution: Modification of flood
gates, improved public awareness, fendering systems.
In 1997, the SFWMD and USACE installed a reversing device
on the flood gates at the Miami Canal. This device incorporates
a state-of-the-art piezoelectric switch which upon sensing an
object in the opening will cause a closing gate to reopen. A
similar device is planned for installation in gates on the Tamiami
Canal this year. These reversing devices are expected to significantly
reduce or even eliminate the risk of a manatee being killed in
the water control structures.
The Dade County Manatee Protection Plan requires existing
ship termimals and other facilities providing mooring for large
vessels to install fendering systems which will prevent manatees
from being crushed between the ship's hull and the bulkhead.
By the end of 1998, all facilities will be required to come into
compliance. To increase public awareness of manatee protection
regulations and services available, FDEP and DERM completed a
Biscayne Bay boaters guide and mailed it to all registered boaters
in Miami-Dade County in 1997.
PROBLEM: How to involve the marine community and marine
facilities in better management practices?
SOLUTION: The Marine Operating
Permit Advisory Board and Best Management Practices.
More than 80 facilities on the Miami River and its tidal tributaries
are regularly inspected through DERM's Marine Facilities Program
which was implemented in 1990. These facilities include shipping
terminals, recreational docking facilities, boatyards and boat
repair facilities, boat manufacturers, commercial salvage operations,
and commercial fishing operations (see list on page 12). One
goal of the program is to encourage facility managers to utilize
Best Management Practices (BMPs) that were developed specifically
for waterfront facilities in order to minimize wastes and reduce
pollution. Examples of BMPs include the installation of sewage
pumpouts for vessels, control techniques such as tarpe protection
for pressure cleaning, bottom paint removal and sand blasting/spray
painting of vessels, as well as separate storage/disposal alternatives
for waste oil, fuel, solvents, and waste paint. Over the last
year, approximately 90% of these facilities were found by DERM
to be in compliance with environmental regulations relating to
waste management and pollution control.
Baynanza
As part of Baynanza, Miami-Dade County's annual celebration
of Biscayne Bay, volunteers assist in the clean up of four sites
along the Miami River: Jose Marti Park, Sewell Park, Curtiss
Park, and the North Fork of the River. More than 140 volunteers
participated during the last year. Everything from shopping carts
to tires to derelict vessels have been removed from these public
parks under this volunteer program. Baynanza will be expanded
this year with another site added along the Miami River.
Crime Stoppers
Recently the Dade County Office of the State Attorney joined
with Miami-Dade Solid Waste Management and Miami-Dade County
Department of Environmental Resources Management and decided
to include environmental crimes in the Crime Stoppers program.
The agencies believe that environmental crime is the most serious
and potentially damaging environmental problem our community
faces today.
Through the Crime Stoppers program, citizens are encouraged
to anonymously report incidents of illegal dumping, spilling
or release of hazardous waste or other environmental crimes.
If the caller's tip leads to an arrest and filing of charges
against felony offenders, the caller is eligible for a reward.
Crime Stoppers is manned daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. by members
of the Crime Stoppers Unit. At night and on weekends an answering
system is used to record information.
The Crime Stoppers number is 305-471-TIPS.
|
