Thursday, January 03, 2008

Mayor Alvarez Here is a Must Read: Straight Talk by Jim DeFede. By Geniusofdespair


The Miami Dade County Mayor does not see the need to stop disposing of our minimally treated wastewater out to sea even though the Department of Envrionmental Protection wants the practice stopped. And, John Renfrow, head of Water and Sewer is careful not to take a position either way, but for him, that is a strong statement. The Mayor should read the DeFede article in Miami Monthly South Florida's Dirty Little Secret - Divers call it the boil. It's also called the stink hole. DeFede begs to differ with our Mayor. Defede says:

“But it's my first time, and even though I am seeing it for myself, I still can't quite believe it. A roiling stream of minimally treated sewage flowing to the surface from a 56-inch-wide pipe, 107 feet below the surface. Every day from this one pipe, more than 41 million gallons of sewage is pumped into the ocean. To the south, off the coasts of Hollywood, Sunny Isles and Virginia Key, similar pipes spew at total 234 million gallons of sewage into the ocean every day.” And DeFede said:

“Before heading out, I watched a video of what an outfall pipe looks like up close. St. Jean, in her red swim fins, can be seen diving near the mouth of the pipe. I asked her what it is like down there.”"It's a little frightening actually," she says. "As you drop down, you see multitudes of fish feeding off the effluent coming out of the pipes. And as you drift toward the pipe you see this gray-brown horrid looking water just shooting up from the bottom. You try your best not to get into it as you swim toward the pipe, but it's like a nightmare. You go from crystal clear aqua blue water to this brown murk that's got all kinds of junk coming out of it."

Let’s not take DeFede’s word for it, let’s go to the video tape and see the pipe in action “UGH”:
Shit coming out of pipes: Known as the Stink Hole.

After viewing this video, Mr. County Mayor: Will you reconsider?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

holy crap..literally!
this video should be broadcast on every major news show across the world to show everyone what and who we really are..folks who just don't give a damn.

Anonymous said...

Maybe the Mayor has the intention to route the end of the pipe into the tunnel the county is planning to build. No wonder a newscaster called us "wacky Dade County".

out of sight said...

I don't think wacky is the word for the county; clueless or stupid is more like it. We need leaders who lead us in the direction that is gives us the best environmental quality of life. Even if that means taking a no growth stance.

Anonymous said...

John Renfrow, a scientist? He is an engineer, probably one that could never make it in the private sector.He couldn't care less what effect that these discharges may be having on the reefs or ocean water quality. His only concern is staying in the good graces of the BCC and his buddies at the LBA. He is as transparent as what spews out of the end of those pipes is opaque.

Anonymous said...

John is afraid of the mayor. He is the one who hires and fires people who don't think like him.

Geniusofdespair said...

John Renfrow is afraid of his own shadow. That is why it is so surprising that he was noncommittal. That silence is an endorsement that he thinks it is bad to be doing it.

out of sight said...

As Ben Franklin said: In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria.

In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli, (E. coli) - bacteria found in feces. In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop.

However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine & beer (or tequila, rum, whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting, not to mention the bacteria killing properties of alcohol.

Remember:
Water = Poop
Wine & Beer = Health.

Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of @#%!.

;o)

Geniusofdespair said...

In 2000, approximately 44% of Florida's domestic wastewater from centralized treatment systems is disposed through surface water outfalls and 22% through deep aquifer injection wells. The remainder is managed through other groundwater disposal systems, such as percolation ponds, sprayfields, and Rapid Infiltration Basins (RIBs).

Six facilities use Atlantic Ocean outfalls for wastewater effluent disposal. Approximately 260 facilities discharge to other surface waters. Nearly 50 facilities use deep aquifer injection.