Link to video shot Feb. 14, 2012.
This video is crazy I URGE YOU TO WATCH IT. I have never seen anything like this before -- a Miami Dade County truck spewing toxic water all over the city streets of Miami and dumping hazardous waste at the North Dade Landfill (there were 4 trucks in total). You would think your government was taking care of you? Hell no!!! They didn't even protect their own workers performing the dredging as you can clearly see in the video.
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| One man is dropping water/sediment on the bank with a net and another man is bending over sifting through it by hand (he does appear to have gloves on, not the guy with the pole). |
No location in Wagner Creek is unpolluted. The DEP said "Wagner Creek is the most polluted water body in Florida" August 2001 report. Dioxin was found there said a friend on the Miami River Commission. The spot where they did the dredging in the video is a bit upstream of the worst part that is near Jackson Memorial Hospital. They used to bury incinerator ash in that area years ago. $18 Million is needed to clean this part of the river and about $9 Million has been raised in the last 10 years. Until it is dredged, it is highly polluted. Sediment does not self-clean.
This dredging operation should have had some basic measures in place so that the turbidity in Wagner Creek didn't leave the work area (manatees beware). Additionally they should have taken measures to prevent the toxic liquid from the dredge spoil from leaking onto the surrounding pavement along the way to its destination (as this video clearly shows) to drop off the toxic sediment. I was once told there might be polio virus in the sediment. Who really knows, they never tested for that here. They did test for polio in the Keys and found it. If the County Public Works had a permit it would have had all kinds of caveats on the removal. This is not how it is done. I am told they did have a permit, have not seen it but assume they did.
When the removal was reported by my friend, who shot this video, this was the response from Miami Dade County Public Works:
"The disposal of material from any dredging project is governed by the type of contaminants that are found during the environmental assessment phase. Due to the minor amount of sediment which was scheduled to be removed as part of the County’s work very limited samples were taken. It is possible that other portions of the canal will have a different contamination profiles which may necessitate a different disposal method. The only way to know is to perform sediment testing. However, since Wagner Creek is under the jurisdiction of the City the testing would need to be initiated by them."
Passing the buck are we? This is such a dumb answer. Well, DUH, we know the sediment is contaminated in the entire area of Wagner Creek and we also know with what it is contaminated with because NOAA did an extensive study.
Why are they disposing of the "may be" toxic sediment - suspended in water that most probably contains bacteria like this? Spilling out of a county truck onto public streets. Why is their staff left unprotected? You can see them touching the dredge in the video with no masks on. Could there be bacteria in the sediment? I think public works doesn't believe that the sediment or the water is dangerous at all because they based their dredge disposal on, as they said, "limited samples". County Public Works Spokesman provided the videographer with a sediment study that I put under "read more" (most of the 29 pages are missing but you get the gist: no toxins). Anyway, I am not so sure. They call the sediment collection "Canal Banks" did they test the banks? I Don't know. They took two samples. I just wonder how could the sediment miraculously clean itself? I believe it can't. How could the "most polluted water body in the State of Florida" get pristine lab results? They did not test for fecal matter or waterborne pathogens in the lab test I think even if they got a clean bill of health for their limited testing" they would have taken an ounce of prevention in the collection and disposal since they didn't test the water or sediment for bacteria and this water body has chronically contaminated water.
I found this sediment study I had in my office about this very area. (hit to enlarge this):
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| Since this report, the rest of the Miami River was dredged but NOT in the area of video. I went to the hearing about the dredging in the Miami River years ago and there were all sorts of problems on what to do with the dredge fill -- as it was so contaminated. There was no money to dredge Wagner Creek/Seybold. |
The guy who made the video got the run-around. Well, this is his report - It finally gets to see the light of day. Thanks for caring fella, sorry you moved. We need people like you who care.
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| Also, besides hazardous waste, liquids are prohibited from being dumped at the landfill. |
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| Street view of where the removal took place. |
The Pages Are Out Of Order:
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20 comments:
DERM would be horrified if they saw this video. Even if they had a permit, this is not how dredge material is removed. Excellent job on the video!
All I can say is OMG
The water cleans itself somewhat of the toxins by going from the water into the sediment. Once they stir up the sediment like this, the water also becomes toxic. Nice job!
This disturbing video shows the complete lack of public safety exhibited by Miami Dade County government. Apparently one hand doesn't know what the other is doing. This is symptomatic of the bloated, inefficient way tax dollars are wasted. I would be interested to know what follow up by the regulatory agencies takes place.
Note to readers, if you don't bother watching at least 60 seconds of video, don't bother reading the post.
I live close to this and everyone knows how toxic that canal is. I would like to know why one article they wrote about the canal a few years ago says that sediment needed to be trucked out of state and yet this is being dumped right in our back yard. I know that the City of Miami and Commissioner Willy Gort and the Miami River Commission have been looking for funding to clean this up and that's why nothing has been done, but it certainly should not be spewed all over our streets.
Yuck, yuck, yuck! LOLZ. ROFL. We deserve whatever is coming with sea level rise. Only six feet of tide will eliminate the corruption, incompetence, and indifference. Oh I forgot, Marquito will rescue us! LOLZ.
DERM is not able to enforce regulations as under attack as they are. Thank you Carlos Gimenez for folding DERM into other departments and tying their hands.
That was some joy ride. !5 miles spewing toxins. Who has this County Commission District?
This is outrageous. If this truck were passing through a Coral Gables or Pinecrest neighborhood on the way to the dump, correct measures would have been taken. This video should be shown to the US DEP and OSHA.
They probably took the samples for the test on the bank. Or the tested for fecal instead of heavy metals. You know something fishy happened the way he worded his answer.
Everyone reading this blog, remember that sediment that may be toxic to marine life does not mean it is harmful or toxic to people.
The term toxic is always misused in cases like this. This is mismanagement of a waste that contains materials that have levels of contaminants in excess of exposure limits. What should have happened is the spoils needed to go in a container for dewatering with the water going back to the creek. Sediments can then be tested to determine proper disposal. Send the video to FDEP SE District office. This is a violation of North Dade's landfill permit. If the sediment tested non-hazardous for leachable metals or other listed wastes then it can go to a lined Class I landfill like South Dade or Medley. The caveat there is that it can"t have more than 20% moisture content. The stuff in the truck looked like a milk shake gone bad. Shame on the Solid Waste Dept for accepting something they know they should not. The video is enough proof to FDEP and maybe RER-ERM to take some action retroactively. Will it ever stop?
To the anon who said: "Everyone reading this blog, remember that sediment that may be toxic to marine life does not mean it is harmful or toxic to people."
Please give an example of a pollutant that is toxic to marine life that is not harmful to people. Can you name one?
The reader was right. Fish are in the water 24/7. Stepping in a puddle on a sidewalk is very different.
I've always been curious as to where Wagner Creek actually terminates. From the video, it appears to proceed under NW 20 Street. Looking at Google maps it appears to terminate at NW 20 Street. Is there any relationship to Wagner Creek and the large holding pond at the CEMEX USA plant on NW 21 Street?
The Miami River dredge required that the material be staged and de-watered before transport. Why would Wagner/Seybold sediment would be treated differently?
Barreiro's District? The landfill is in Monestime's district.
The head of Wagner Creek is located at Comstock Park (is it still called that?) near 28 Street and NW 17 Avenue. It is culverted, and essentially invisible, from 20 Street north until it reaches the park. A lot gets dumped into it in those short eight blocks.
Read Don Gaby’s definitive history of “The Miami River and its Tributaries.” It will break your heart.
This is officially Audrey Edmonson's district, as she gets pretty much all of Allapattah, including Comstock Park (now called Juan Pablo Duarte Park). If you enter the park on 28th Street just west of 17th Avenue NW, and then walk along the jogging path to the southeast corner of the park, there will be a little bridge crossing over the end of the canal. You can actually stand on the bridge and look into the culvert that is full of trash, running underground from there until it is visible again where the video begins.
Whether this "toxic" label is accurate or not, liquids should not be dumped in that dump the way that they were. I mean, isn't that what the sign says posted at the entrance? That just increases the leaching risk of it contaminating groundwater.
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