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Leatherback Turtles Might Lose Their Nests
In 2008, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, then governor of Puerto Rico, protected 3,000 acres of coastline known as the Northeast Ecological Corridor. It’s one of the most important U.S. nesting grounds for the critically endangered leatherback, the world's largest sea turtle, as well as for 50 other rare, threatened, endangered, and native species, like the brown pelican, Puerto Rican boa, and West Indian manatee.
Now the new governor, Luis Fortuño, is canceling the Corridor’s nature-reserve designation to pave the way for large-scale, unsustainable development in the area. Join the Sierra Club's Puerto Rico Chapter in telling Gov. Fortuño to protect this vital nesting habitat for the endangered leatherback sea turtle. Speak up now.
Waste Minimization Campaign Handouts Available.
The SC Florida Waste Minimization Team has been busy creating materials for you to use to educate the public on the waste problems in Florida. You can download the following handouts:
For information on the state-wide campaign and how you can get involved, go to the SC Florida webpage Waste Minimization Campaign
Virginia Key Updates for October, 2009
Virginia Key Dune Planting Oct. 24, 2009 - International Day of Climate Action. The Urban Paradise Guild invites volunteers to help plant the new dunes on Virginia Key. For information go to Urban Paradise Guild
GHOST OF TEDDY ROOSEVELT influenced Virginia Key Master Plan delay. The Miami City Commission voted 4-0 to defer Virginia Key Master Plan until May, 2010. This gives more time to public input and the opportunity to develop a plan that preserves the ecology, cultural and historic assets and beauty of the island. Miami Commissioner Tomas Regalado invoked the memory of conservation president Teddy Roosevelt to make his decision. "What would Roosevelt say?" Regalado asked, recounting the conservation president who created five national parks during his tenure. “I think he would say, if you want to make money from Virginia Key you don’t develop the place. There’s nothing else like this.” Regalado said preserving the island’s beauty and nature and restoring the Marine Stadium would bring people from all over the world to Miami, to photograph and visit the unique wilderness island next to a major city. "History will judge what we do with this island. We need to get it right," Regalado said.
MIAMI MARINE STADIUM one of 93 sites worldwide named to "Watch List" by World Monuments Fund. The stadium represents the modernity of a growing city and the international cultural influences that helped shape it. Miami Marine Stadium defined a significant shift in American architectural style from staid civic buildings to exuberant structures reflecting changing tastes and a desire to project the city as a forward-looking place.
JIMBO'S SENDS OUT AN SOS The restaurant and favored hangout is caught up in the battle over the land. Friends of Jimbo say that the city has reinstituted a $5 entrance fee even for those just going to Jimbos and this could drive Jimbo out of business. Details on this and the call for a protest and day of action Nov. 14 can be found at Jimbo's Place
Virginia Key - OpEd - October 2009
Let nature rule in Virginia Key master plan
Virginia Key is not just another piece of real estate. It is one of our community's special places, a sacred space, really, because it is our last, vast open greenness amid a sea of urbanity. We desperately need it to remain so.
Despite years of neglect, there is a power to this place. Much of it is untamed, a place of possibilities not programmed by the hand of man. Here, a dolphin might leap out of a wave or a manatee sidle up to a rower. And deep in the night, sea turtles nest in a ritual as ancient as the sea. Even a cursive glance at the expanse of sky and sea around the island from the top of Rickenbacker Causeway can momentarily take your breath away. It is that achingly beautiful.
When Miami began a master-plan process more than five years ago, I naively thought that once the consultants came to Virginia Key they would be equally inspired. Surely they would design a plan befitting of an island that had bestowed us with such amazing gifts. They didn't. But there is still time to correct that. On Thursday a proposed master plan for Virginia Key will be presented to the City Commission, and it will have an opportunity to weigh in. I'm hoping the commission's definition of ``highest and best use'' for Virginia Key matches mine: open spaces -- green forests and blue waterways, the kind of silence that lets the you hear the wind whisper, the flutter of bird wings, the ripple of incoming tides. Less is more when it comes to Virginia Key. Minimize concrete. Respect the wildlife. Preserve the views. Give people access to the waterfront.
We can't let this jewel languish amid the jumble of decay and commercial clutter it has become when no one was looking. For starters, we need to clean up the place. Plant a few trees. Park a few benches where the views are terrific and the salty breezes blow sweetly. Then we can sit down awhile and take it all in, in silence. Minimize the concrete. Respect the wildlife. Preserve the views. Give people access to the waterfront. Nature has a way of taking care of itself. If we just get out of its way.
- Blanca Mesa
Virginia Key Update - September 2009
The City of Miami may present a a "revised" Virginia Key Master Plan to the City Commission as early as October 8, 2009. The Sierra Club and other groups have asked the City for traditional public meetings to allow time for the public to comment on the revised plan and also provide more input. In the meantime, the Urban Environment League is organizing a public design workshop to come up with a new vision for the island that is environmentally sustainable. This public design workshop will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 26 at the Rusty Pelican restaurant on Virginia Key. Everyone who wants to save Virginia Key from destructive and intrusive commercial and other development needs to be there. Volunteer architects and students will create renderings of the new "less is more" vision for the island based on input received at the meeting. Look for more info at www.uel.org. Rsvp by email uelinfo@bellsouth.net or 786-472-0011.
The Sierra Club, Miami Group looking for volunteers to join the Virginia Key Campaign Team. If you are interested please contact Blanca Mesa at blancamesa@att.net or Debbie Matthews treehuggerdeb@yahoo.com.
August 2009 - FPL Expansion Update
Miami-Dade County managers have scheduled public meetings on the controversial plan to add new power lines in the county. These lines are part of the plan to add two new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point. In Miami-Dade the lines are planned along 18 miles of US1 from Palmetto Bay to downtown Miami. There are plans for three high voltage power lines on FPL land inside Everglades National Park. One of the public meetings is Monday Aug 31, 6:30-9:30pm at Homestead City Hall Council Chambers, 790 N. Homestead Blvd., Homestead. The second meeting will be Wednesday, September 2 from 6:30 to 9:30pm at the University of Miami Bank United Center in Hurricane 100 Room, 1245 Dauer Drive, Coral Gables. For more info call Miami-Dade Dept. of Planning and Zoning, 305-375-2835.
June 19 - Virginia Key Update
Mayor of Miami Manny Diaz, says go back to the drawing board. The Mayor has asked city planners and their consultants to take another look at the recent proposal to remake Virginia Key. The plan had drawn poor to awful reviews from residents, environmentalists and city advisory boards. The city had originally planned to put the new plan, which had cost around $1 million and took more than three years to draft, on a fast track to a commission vote. Critics had said that the intensity of the planned commercial and recreational development would overwhelm the ecosystem which includes bird and turtle nesting, manatee breeding areas, mangroves and a coastal hardwood hammock.
June, 2009 - FPL Quietly Plans for Nuclear Reactor Waste Storage
FPL is seeking to construct a storage facility in Miami-Dade County. They are trying to get it done without any zoning hearings or study. The Sierra Club Miami Group is asking for the Dept of Planning and Zoning to look into this matter. Here is the letter to the Director which voices our concerns.
TO: Marc C. LaFerrier, Director, Department of Planning & Zoning
It has come to our attention that Florida Power & Light (FPL) needs to construct a long-term storage facility, for high-level nuclear reactor waste, in Miami-Dade County. We believe that this is a zoning issue and should be handled as such so that public health, safety, and environmental issues can be studied and discussed.
It is true that Yucca Mountain, Nevada, was to be the national repository for nuclear reactor waste, but there are currently many problems with it. The position taken by President Obama is that a national repository at Yucca Mountain is no longer an option. This means that nuclear reactor waste will be stored in Miami-Dade County for many, many years, possibly forever. President Obama will give each state an opportunity to find its own solution for the interim storage of nuclear reactor waste. Complicating the storage issue is climate change and sea level rise. It seems the Nuclear Regulator Commission (NRC) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) have neither the rules nor the willingness to adequately address these important issues in their permitting procedures.
The Sierra Club, Miami Group urges you to decide that the construction of a long-term nuclear reactor waste storage facility is indeed a zoning issue. Such a decision would start a normal process for addressing important public health, safety, and environmental issues.
- How long will the casks (or vaults) stay at Turkey Point?
- Will the State of Florida provide an interim nuclear reactor waste storage facility?
- Can casks (or vaults) be transported?
- Will access roads to Turkey Point be flooded before the nuclear reactor waste is removed?
- What are predicted consequences of climate change and sea level rise for the Turkey Point area?
- How can the nuclear reactor waste storage facility be made safer?
- What mitigation would be appropriate?
We urge you to pursue a transparent zoning process where there can be contributions to a necessary base of information from the county staff, the FDEP, the NRC, FPL, the County's Climate Change Advisory Task Force, the public, and other interested parties. Respectfully submitted, The Executive Committee, Sierra Club, Miami Group
FPL Announces Plans for Two New Nuclear Reactors at Turkey Point
FPL is seeking approval to expand the Turkey Point site by two new reactor units by 2025. This would make it one of the largest sites in the Southeast. Forgetting all the issues with nuclear waste and the supervision and measuring of the existing aging reactors, these units need fresh water for cooling. So much water that it is an obvious question in these drought years, where are they going to get the water?
Mark Oncavage, Conservation Chair for the Miami Sierra Club was interviewed by the Miami Herald and was quoted as saying " That is one of the biggest problems I see, there is not enough water to build it." Mark has been the Energy Chair for the local Sierra Club for many years and testified at many of the hearings on the workings at Turkey Point. Over the years, issues of waste storage, security, and hurricane protection for the aging nuclear plant have all been in the news.
Virginia Key Master Plan to go to City
Commission in June
Is This the Plan our Community Wants?
The final proposed Master Plan for Virginia Key was unveiled May 20 and will go to the Miami City Commission June 25. The plan created by EDSA is a far cry from the vision of a resourcebased, environmentally compatible future for Virginia Key, the 1,000- acre environmentally fragile island in Biscayne Bay, home of the Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlife Area. And it certainly doesn't reflect the public input provided at numerous public meetings, including the wellattended planning charrette two years ago at La Salle High School, where the request was for "less is more" on Virginia Key. Although the planners included trails and wildlife observation decks, it also packed the island with dozens of sports fields with stadium lights near turtle nesting areas, parking garages and parking lots to accommodate thousands of vehicles, a conference center and other intensive commercial activities, including a shopping center.
The plan can be seen at www.virginiakeymasterplan.com. Also, please join the Friends of Virginia Key group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=88158191391 What you can do to help: Contact City of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz and City Commissioners http://www.miamigov.com/City_Officials/ Write to the Mayor and the City Commission! Tell them the EDSA plan doesn't reflect the community's vision for the future of Virginia Key. Tell them to scrap the proposed plan and go back to the drawing board to come up with a plan that is feasible, that benefits the community and protects the island's natural resources. Or, my personal favorite, turn the island over to a Conservancy to manage as the wildlife refuge that it really is. - Blanca Mesa, Sierra Club Miami
Everglades - US Sugar land acquisition and the Florida Legislature.
March, 2009. SFWMD will make yet another presentation on its purchase of 180,000 acres of US Sugar land to the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee March 17, 2009.
The legislature does not have direct input on whether the US Sugar land deal goes through or not as the contract is between SFWMD and US Sugar. However, the legislature can change the rules that affect the Water Management Districts and the funding that they receive for other projects. This gives legislators leverage over the WMDs in this situation.
The US Sugar land deal is dependent on SFWMD receiving permission to issue bonds to come up with the $1.34 billion needed to complete the purchase. They have gone to the court to “validate” the bonding process. The court is devoting Monday – Wednesday of the third week in March to hearings on the issue. We will probably know their decision by the end of the week.
2008 - Our Drinking Water and the Lakebelt Issue - We Have a Victory!
Rock Mining is an unfortunate fact of life in South Florida. What should not be, is having mining contaminate our drinking water. We knew we were in for a fight when the the industry successfully got everyone to refer to the string of giant open mining pits as a "Lake Belt". The public had another setback when the county passed an ordinance saying rock mining companies no longer needed to hold public hearings to get new permits. For 10 years we have been in a legal battle with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers just to get them to obey the environmental laws when permitting these mining operations. But, now, we have a winner.
Judge Hoeveler has ruled that the Corps was wrong, and did not take into account Endangered Species or the effects of mining on our drinking water, when they gave out permits for the mining. We don't yet have all the details for this web site, but stay tuned.
Here was a great newpaper write-up on the lawsuit from the Miami New Times. Click Here and read "Poisoned Well" - March 2008.
Global Warming Information
FOR TOO LONG, America has failed to take meaningful steps to address the serious problem of global warming, and some in government and industry want to deny the science behind global warming instead of taking responsible action. \However, we have the opportunity and the technology to cut our emission of the greenhouse gases which fuel global warming. The facts about global warming are in. The time for debate is over. We must act now. Visit www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming for more information and ways to take action.
“An Inconvenient Truth,” in theaters now, is an inspirational look at Al Gore’s crusade to halt global warming’s progress by exposing its myths and misconceptions. Find out more at www.climatecrisis.net and find a showing near you.
Help Keep the Environment a Top Issue in Florida
Please help push the environment to the front of the newspaper editors' attention in Florida. Something that you can do (and maybe even make you feel better!) is to write a letter to the editor of newspapers, both in your area and to others. The Internet makes this easier than ever. Even if your letter is not published, it is good for the newspapers to know that our issue-the environment-is at the top of peoples' concerns. Most papers require letters to the editor to include a full name, home address, occupation and daytime phone number, for verification purposes. The name, city of residence and, usually, occupation of writers may published. Send your opinions and share them with others.
Click on the links below to send letters to the editor
| Orlando Sentinel | Sun Sentinel | Gainesville Sun |
| Florida Union Times | Miami Herald | Naples News |
| Tallahassee Democrat | St. Petersburg Times | Tampa Tribune |
| Gulf Herald | Palm Beach Post |
CONSERVATION ARCHIVE
The Miami Group was founded in the 1970's and there have been lots of battles fought and won, or fought and fought. Some of those from the 1990's keep coming back. We have a small archive you can peruse, but, we would hope you will just JOIN US, and help us preserve some of the nature of South Florida.
If you have comments or suggestions, email the webmaster at Miami Group Webmaster