Huge threat to Palm Beach reefs brings me back to rec.scuba :-)

My apologies for not being active on rec.scuba for several years
now--though many old timers have no doubt enjoyed my absence.
I just found out that the town of Palm Beach is planning on a dredging
project, one which could be more destructive to Palm Beach diving than
any threat we have ever imagined. Most disturbingly, it will likely
destroy the most beautiful and pristine of all the Palm Beach county
reefs--specifically Horseshoe Reef. I will be trying to get local TV
stations involved, to try and gain attention of the public, and to help
"push" the Army Corp. of Engineers away from the permit...but for right
now, rec.scuba could help with it's numbers, interest level, and
support.

According to the plan, a fine, "muddy" sand will be dredged from
off shore and allowed to drift along the long shore current in the
effort to create new deposits of sand along the beach. The grade of
dredge dirt being considered for this project is much finer than the
golden sands we know at Lake Worth Beach and is dark gray. Dredging and
subsequent deposition of this grade of sand along our beach will lead
to the destruction of the Horseshoe and Casino reefs. It will also make
nesting more dangerous for sea turtles and cloud the waters used by
Lake Worth swimmers and divers. In the long term, it may also
adversely affect wave quality for surfers.

Last year, the Lake Worth City Commission denied the town of Palm Beach
the right to drive their trucks over Lake Worth's beach property for
the purposes of delivering sand to their beachfront properties which
border Lake Worth beach to the north and south. Since they were denied
access, they have opted for offshore dredging. Apparently, the Town of
Palm Beach believes it has the right to adversely impact our
environment and quality of life in defiance of our wishes.

For the moment, it seems our wealthy neighbors will do as they wish
despite Lake Worth's objection to the project. It is hoped that the
media and Palm Beach County's commissioners will respond to Palm
Beach's threat to our reefs and beach, and compel the Army Corp of
Engineers to refuse the permit for the dredging project.
For the moment, the only recourse is through the Surfrider
Foundation....visit
http://surfriderpbc.org/
and you may be able to help.

With that, how are all you solo diving, non-DIR guys doing ?

Regards,
Dan Volker
www.sfdj.com

"DanVolker" wrote

> Thanks Lee. I have seen Ed is doing a huge job on the sewage outfall
> issue..I don't know if he is on the re-nourishment issue yet.
> As to freediving/spearfishing, I am looking into what would be the best
> boats to use here for horseshoe and nearby. Splashdown won't let
> spearfisherman shoot off their boat---I have a few friends with boats,
> but counting on private boat rides is not ideal either.

Hmmm. If Lynn won't let spearfishmen on the boat, I assume that means that
she and Terry aren't the friends they once were? As far as I know, she only
started allowing spearfishermen aboard after she married Terry.

You're right about depending on private boats for spearfishing rides. Hell,
I've got three of them and I don't even get to go. Actually, I quit
spearfishing locally when it became obvious that there weren't as many of
the fish I hunt as there used to be. It's been a long time since I've seen
legal grouper at moderate depths, and I've only seen one hogfish big enough
that I'd shoot it in the last few years. Interestingly, I ran into the
hogfish off Hollywood on one of the very few dives that I took my speargun.
My buddy, who is the head of a local police dive team, no longer dives just
for the fun of it, but does enjoy hunting. Generally, he out hunts me by a
bit. That day, I got my revenge.

Other than the Tortugas trips, I can't remember the last time I took a
speargun on a pay for the ride boat. It's entirely possible, I never have.

Lee

Thus spake "DanVolker" <dan@sfdj.com> :

>My apologies for not being active on rec.scuba for several years
>now--though many old timers have no doubt enjoyed my absence.

Yup, welcome back.

>I just found out that the town of Palm Beach is planning on a dredging
>project, one which could be more destructive to Palm Beach diving than
>any threat we have ever imagined. Most disturbingly, it will likely
>destroy the most beautiful and pristine of all the Palm Beach county
>reefs--specifically Horseshoe Reef. I will be trying to get local TV
>stations involved, to try and gain attention of the public, and to help
>"push" the Army Corp. of Engineers away from the permit...but for right
>now, rec.scuba could help with it's numbers, interest level, and
>support.
>
> According to the plan, a fine, "muddy" sand will be dredged from
>off shore and allowed to drift along the long shore current in the
>effort to create new deposits of sand along the beach. The grade of
>dredge dirt being considered for this project is much finer than the
>golden sands we know at Lake Worth Beach and is dark gray. Dredging and
>subsequent deposition of this grade of sand along our beach will lead
>to the destruction of the Horseshoe and Casino reefs. It will also make
>nesting more dangerous for sea turtles and cloud the waters used by
>Lake Worth swimmers and divers. In the long term, it may also
>adversely affect wave quality for surfers.

Um, why isn't the EPA involved? And, if the turtles are an endangered
species, I would imagine that the appropriate authorities there
would/should be involved.

>
>Last year, the Lake Worth City Commission denied the town of Palm Beach
>the right to drive their trucks over Lake Worth's beach property for
>the purposes of delivering sand to their beachfront properties which
>border Lake Worth beach to the north and south. Since they were denied
>access, they have opted for offshore dredging. Apparently, the Town of
>Palm Beach believes it has the right to adversely impact our
>environment and quality of life in defiance of our wishes.
>
>For the moment, it seems our wealthy neighbors will do as they wish
>despite Lake Worth's objection to the project. It is hoped that the
>media and Palm Beach County's commissioners will respond to Palm
>Beach's threat to our reefs and beach, and compel the Army Corp of
>Engineers to refuse the permit for the dredging project.
>For the moment, the only recourse is through the Surfrider
>Foundation....visit
>http://surfriderpbc.org/
>and you may be able to help.

What can I do? Petition, phone call, letters, money?

>
>With that, how are all you solo diving, non-DIR guys doing ?

Still alive and bitching.

>
>Regards,
>Dan Volker
>www.sfdj.com
--
dillon

If you can't figure out how to unmunge my
address, email me and I'll explain it.

"DanVolker" <dan@sfdj.com> wrote in message
news:1161023345.067573.158810@h48g2000cwc.googlegr oups.com...

> My apologies for not being active on rec.scuba for several years
> now--though many old timers have no doubt enjoyed my absence.

I dont think you will find one here matching that description.

Welcome back.

> I just found out that the town of Palm Beach is planning on a dredging
> project, one which could be more destructive to Palm Beach diving than
> any threat we have ever imagined. Most disturbingly, it will likely
> destroy the most beautiful and pristine of all the Palm Beach county
> reefs--specifically Horseshoe Reef. I will be trying to get local TV
> stations involved, to try and gain attention of the public, and to help
> "push" the Army Corp. of Engineers away from the permit...but for right
> now, rec.scuba could help with it's numbers, interest level, and
> support.
>
> According to the plan, a fine, "muddy" sand will be dredged from
> off shore and allowed to drift along the long shore current in the
> effort to create new deposits of sand along the beach. The grade of
> dredge dirt being considered for this project is much finer than the
> golden sands we know at Lake Worth Beach and is dark gray. Dredging and
> subsequent deposition of this grade of sand along our beach will lead
> to the destruction of the Horseshoe and Casino reefs. It will also make
> nesting more dangerous for sea turtles and cloud the waters used by
> Lake Worth swimmers and divers. In the long term, it may also
> adversely affect wave quality for surfers.
>
> Last year, the Lake Worth City Commission denied the town of Palm Beach
> the right to drive their trucks over Lake Worth's beach property for
> the purposes of delivering sand to their beachfront properties which
> border Lake Worth beach to the north and south. Since they were denied
> access, they have opted for offshore dredging. Apparently, the Town of
> Palm Beach believes it has the right to adversely impact our
> environment and quality of life in defiance of our wishes.
>
> For the moment, it seems our wealthy neighbors will do as they wish
> despite Lake Worth's objection to the project. It is hoped that the
> media and Palm Beach County's commissioners will respond to Palm
> Beach's threat to our reefs and beach, and compel the Army Corp of
> Engineers to refuse the permit for the dredging project.
> For the moment, the only recourse is through the Surfrider
> Foundation....visit
> http://surfriderpbc.org/
> and you may be able to help.

We have the same shit (pun intended) going on here, in a different way.

One bunch of wealthy waterfront land owners want to stop the ferries that
move people around the sound because they claim the wake is eroding their
waterfront.

Nevermind the millions of working people who depend upon the transportation
of the ferries, nevermind the pollution spared by the millions of miles not
driven by commuters, the waves are hitting my beach and I dont like the
noise of the ferries. They will get shot down in flames, but until they do,
the tax payers have to pay lawyers to argue it all in court.

The other issue is that people who buy vacation property here lie on their
permits, like syaing that the septic system will only be used by 4 people
for three months.
Then then move here permanently, dont upgrade the septic, with the
predictable result.

Our neighborhood has 8 to 12 regulars year around, but for three months each
year, there are 75 to 80 people living here. The sepitcs cant handle the
influx, the canal gets polluted, low dissolved oxygen is the result, and
fish die by the thousands.

Several of the beaches were closed here due to e. coli contamination, and
there were sever shell fish closures as well.

Love to contribute to yours, but we have a battle of our own to worry about;

http://www.hoodcanal.washington.edu/

http://www.hcseg.com/x204.xml

> With that, how are all you solo diving, non-DIR guys doing ?

<cough>

On Oct 16, 5:01 pm, "Scott" <pugetsounddi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> "DanVolker" <d...@sfdj.com> wrote in messagenews:1161023345.067573.158810@h48g2000cwc.g ooglegroups.com...
>
> > My apologies for not being active on rec.scuba for several years
> > now--though many old timers have no doubt enjoyed my absence.I dont think you will find one here matching that description.
>
> Welcome back.
>
>
>
<snip>

Hi Scott, Glad to see you are still here fighting the good fight
With all the time elapsed, I imagine you have turned popeye into a GUE
instructor by now..right ?

Sorry to hear about the Hood Canal issue. Almost everywhere you look,
decisions are being made that hurt the public, for the benefit of a
few.
At least we had many decades of awesome diving. Some of the kids coming
in to this now will be lucky to have a fraction of what we did.
I will do what I can for now, and if it does not work, I'll be
traveling farther for diving, and doing more cycling and mountain
biking. The scum from Palm Beach can't easily mess up the Smoky
Mountains of North Carolina

Regards,
Dan

>
> Love to contribute to yours, but we have a battle of our own to worry about;
>
> http://www.hoodcanal.washington.edu/
>
> http://www.hcseg.com/x204.xml
>
> > With that, how are all you solo diving, non-DIR guys doing ? <cough>- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -

"DanVolker" <dan@sfdj.com> wrote in message
news:1161035285.683413.121770@m7g2000cwm.googlegro ups.com...
>
>
> On Oct 16, 5:01 pm, "Scott" <pugetsounddi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > "DanVolker" <d...@sfdj.com> wrote in
messagenews:1161023345.067573.158810@h48g2000cwc.g ooglegroups.com...
> >
> > > My apologies for not being active on rec.scuba for several years
> > > now--though many old timers have no doubt enjoyed my absence.I dont
think you will find one here matching that description.
> >
> > Welcome back.
> >
> >
> >
> <snip>
>
> Hi Scott, Glad to see you are still here fighting the good fight
> With all the time elapsed, I imagine you have turned popeye into a GUE
> instructor by now..right ?

Hah! Hardly.

He does fine at what he does.

> Sorry to hear about the Hood Canal issue. Almost everywhere you look,
> decisions are being made that hurt the public, for the benefit of a
> few.

It is typical. If they can sit on their porch, look out over the canal and
not see anything bad, it is all good.

> At least we had many decades of awesome diving. Some of the kids coming
> in to this now will be lucky to have a fraction of what we did.
> I will do what I can for now, and if it does not work, I'll be
> traveling farther for diving, and doing more cycling and mountain
> biking. The scum from Palm Beach can't easily mess up the Smoky
> Mountains of North Carolina

Problem is after they fuck up their new locale, they bitch about it being
"not like it used to be" and move on to trash the next.

Those of us who give a shit just have to get more active and more noisy, and
make sure our "representatives" here from us.

In light of the upcoming elections, shitbags from both sides are hopping on
the "Save the Canal" band wagon and promising to "do better."

Scum of the earth.

They are going to do whatever gets them the most money, period.

> For the moment, it seems our wealthy neighbors will do as they wish
> despite Lake Worth's objection to the project. It is hoped that the
> media and Palm Beach County's commissioners will respond to Palm
> Beach's threat to our reefs and beach, and compel the Army Corp of
> Engineers to refuse the permit for the dredging project.
> For the moment, the only recourse is through the Surfrider
> Foundation....visit
> http://surfriderpbc.org/
> and you may be able to help.
>
> With that, how are all you solo diving, non-DIR guys doing ?
>
> Regards,
> Dan Volker
> www.sfdj.com


Surfrider is involved, but not accomplishing much.

Give your support, time, and money to Reef Rescue.
http://www.reef-rescue.org/

Mike,
It's almost good to hear from you as well
Are you still going out on Splashdown, or are you on a different
boat---last few times I've been out with them I did not see you.
Regards,
DanV

On Oct 16, 7:04 pm, mike gray <omg...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> > For the moment, it seems our wealthy neighbors will do as they wish
> > despite Lake Worth's objection to the project. It is hoped that the
> > media and Palm Beach County's commissioners will respond to Palm
> > Beach's threat to our reefs and beach, and compel the Army Corp of
> > Engineers to refuse the permit for the dredging project.
> > For the moment, the only recourse is through the Surfrider
> > Foundation....visit
> >http://surfriderpbc.org/
> > and you may be able to help.
>
> > With that, how are all you solo diving, non-DIR guys doing ?
>
> > Regards,
> > Dan Volker
> >www.sfdj.comSurfrider is involved, but not accomplishing much.
>
> Give your support, time, and money to Reef Rescue.http://www.reef-rescue.org/

"DanVolker" <dan@sfdj.com> wrote

> My apologies for not being active on rec.scuba for several years
> now--though many old timers have no doubt enjoyed my absence.

Yeah, left me in a definite minority here.

Good to see you here again.

Curtis

On 16 Oct 2006 18:40:43 -0700, "Grumman-581" <grumman581@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Oct 16, 4:01 pm, "Scott" <pugetsounddi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> The other issue is that people who buy vacation
>> property here lie on their permits, like syaing that
>> the septic system will only be used by 4 people
>> for three months.
>> Then then move here permanently, dont upgrade the
>> septic, with the predictable result.
>
>What type of septic system are they using over there? The house that I
>owned over in Slidell had one of the aerobic septic systems (i.e. no
>field lines)... It output clear water with no smell to it whatsoever...
>I think all my neighbors had similar systems... Some let the outflow go
>into the local ditches where it dried up readily enough... Some had
>sprinkler systems where it kept their yard watered...


then there's the Lectra-San
http://www.raritaneng.com/products/w...lectrasan.html

evaluation at:
http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/...ort-jun02.html

It isn't perfect, but if minimal discharge is the game, the technology is
certainly there.

Galen Hekhuis NpD, JFR, GWA ghekhuis@earthlink.net
We are the CroMagnon of the future