So what does Gainesville, Florida and Portland, Oregon have in common with Pensacola? You would be surprised.
The big difference is Government. Government develops and enforces the ordinances that reflects what our leaders think that we want; what's in our best interest. Has anyone from our local Government asked us what we want? No one has come knocking on my door.
Having a green community offers many benefits to the public. Let's talk about what we do have for a minute: (Physical Attributes)
A beautiful beach
Downtown amenities, like sports, restaurants, bars, art galleries and museums.
Flooding
Blight and abandoned homes/businesses
Dumpster overload
Weeds and invasive species everywhere
Poisonous insecticides and fertilizer
What do we not have:
Green spaces
Updated stormwater infrastructure
Clean, healthy water for recreational activities
Enough recycling
Pervious pavement
Enough parks
Attractive bioswales
Rain gardens
Green rooftops
Enough sidewalks
Good lighting
Family recreation
Green transportation
Rich tree canopy
These are only a few things to mention. If our community wants this to change, then the common thread between a progressive city like Gainesville and Pensacola is the wants of the people, and that common thread must change the laws and ordinances to reflect that.
We must be the voice for the people. Citizen action groups like Emerald Coastkeeper try to do just that. It's about the grassroots effort to educate and empower the people to demand a clean, safe, green, recreational community for our families, both now and in the future.
Please join us on our website and social media. Find out how YOU can make a difference in your neighborhood, how you can make a difference in your community.
For more information, go to Emerald Coastkeeper. For a current community project, go to the Carpenter Creek Restoration contest. Voting begins April 12th through May 12th. You may vote up to once per day. This contest through USA Today and Gannett could provide $100,000.00 for a project in the heart of Pensacola, your community!
You can help make a difference, we are here to support that difference.
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Save Carpenter Creek
The
Lost Creek
It’s a hot, balmy afternoon
in August and I just got home from work. I needed to check my email, which at
times can be a process because as a Waterkeeper, you have several email
accounts. Some are set up for information, some are set up to report pollution
and others are set up for direct contact.
I opened my “report
pollution” email account first as I always do. After all, that’s my job. I received an email from a woman who lived
along Carpenter Creek. She stated that there was a large amount of trash
accumulating in her back yard, washed down from upstream. Large trees had
fallen into the creek and the trash was piled up in a logjam. My heart sank. How could this be? Innocent residents, going
about their business and they wake up to this? How did it get there? Who is
responsible, if anyone? Can you imagine? You go into your back yard and see a
nasty, smelly health hazard? Beer bottles, smelly soiled diapers, Styrofoam
cups, plastic bags, chicken bones, and much more were sprawled along the creek.
In my investigation, I spoke
with the City and County offices, trying to obtain information towards the
resolution of the problem. Both offices stated that they could not remove the
logjam because it was contained on the residents’ property. Therefore, the
residents were required to clean it up. So now we have downed trees, garbage
and 10’-15’ of property erosion and no one can help them. What’s worse, it’s not the property owners’ fault.
Coming up with the origin of
the trash was first on the agenda. Because Carpenter creek runs through the uptown of Pensacola, big box stores,
hospitals, and residential communities paint the majority of this five-mile
watershed. Of course, urban development
has everything to do with the problems. Urban development allowed in a riparian
zone destroys the natural ability for stormwater to recharge aquifers through direct
percolation. When you take away that
important watershed easement and build parking facilities, the stormwater has
no other choice then to run off into the lowest contour line, the creek. With
no percolation or filter, everything on the parking lots including floatables
and animal waste ends up directly in the creek, hence the reason why Carpenter
Creek is on the EPA’s 303d list of impaired water bodies. It eventually empties
into Bayou Texar, which is also on the list. High levels of Fecal Coliform,
Mercury and Nutrients were determined back in 2002. Significant erosion, only
exacerbated by the April 2014 flood is also a constant problem and creates the
felled trees, resulting in the logjams.
So how do we fix the problem
and give the residents along the creek some relief? Beginning with the City
Code Enforcement office, code violations have gone out to businesses and
apartment communities for harboring a significant amount of trash. These areas
are being cleaned up now. The next step is the Carpenter Creek Clean Up hosted
by Emerald Coastkeeper. As a Waterkeeper, I spent many hours walking the creek
and identifying other underlying issues, such as hardened creek stabilization,
old stormwater drains without the proper volume and velocity measures
implemented and a significant amount of trash and debris, such as rusted
shopping carts, tires, electronics, furniture, plastic, cans, bottles, tarps
and more. This clean up will be the beginning of the relief and repair of this
watershed.
The next phase will be to
remove the non-native plant species.
There are a variety of non-native plants that are choking out the native
species, such as privet, potato vines and popcorn trees. These will be removed
in phases due to the intricate nature and difficulty in their permanent
removal. These plant species provide no significant value to our ecosystem.
Education and outreach is
greatly needed for this community. We can all become mindful of our waterways
and continue to repair them so that the community can enjoy them once again as
a fun and beautiful recreational site. Did you know that folks used to dive off
of platforms and canoe and kayak down Carpenter Creek?
The most important and
exciting part of this watershed is the Carpenter Creek RESTORE project. Some
very special people in our community that have spent many years in this creek
helped put this project together. The
creek will become fully restored with greenways and noted historical artifacts
for everyone’s viewing pleasure! We have Pensacola Beach, we have Downtown
Revitalization and now we will have an uptown gem right in the middle of
Pensacola’s premier shopping district. How neat is that!
How can you help? We have a
lot of work to do! Pulling together as a community will make it a success! Our
clean up is this Saturday, December 3rd from 8AM to 3PM. We will
meet at the Publix Shopping Center on 9th Avenue. Emerald
Coastkeeper is providing gloves, bags, food and water. Let’s bring the Lost
Creek back to life!
I would like to thank the
following sponsors for their help in bringing this community effort together:
City of Pensacola (Sherri
Myers and Larry Johnson)
City of Pensacola Sanitation Department
Escambia County Sanitation
Department
ECUA
Publix Grocery Store
Ever’man’s Cooperative
Miller’s Ale House
Carmike Theater
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