STOP ICHETUCKNEE CEMENT KILN: It makes us SICK.
It's 3:39 AM. I awoke furious remembering the time in my life
when I was
most violated. I had just moved to Caracas and was living in
the home of the
superintendent of the private school where I was teaching until I found
my
own apartment. In the middle of the night I awoke to discover
the night
watchman of my host kneeling beside my bed with his hand under my covers;
he
was tickling my bare thigh. The watchman had even made friends
with my dog,
who slept in my room. Worse than raping me, the stranger who
was hired to
protect the house was trying to make love with me. I screamed
bloody murder,
but none of the sleeping people in the house awoke.
WAKE UP. We are about to be raped by one of the slickest operators
in the
business. Rumors are flying that Joe Anderson is negotiating
with the
Department of Environmental to build his cement kiln on the Ichetucknee
River. Anderson is offering deals, but why should we trust the
very person
who was denied a permit because of previous violations? DEP is
our hired
night watchman. The people are trusting them to keep their promise
to
protect us in the dark era of creeping industrialism threatening North
Florida's most pristine waterways.
Joe Anderson and the various disguises he wears, changing his name from
Suwannee/American to Anderson/Columbia, is still trying to make deals
to
plant a noise, light, air, and water polluting cement plant only 3
miles from
the pristine Ichetucknee River.
By chance I happened to swim down the Ichetucknee River yesterday at
sunset.
The Ichetucknee River doesn't go underground from Labor Day to Memorial
Day.
I spent the day hydrobiking on the Santa Fe River, watching the reflection
of
subtle golden yellows and oranges from the defoliating cypress trees
in the
mirror-like waters of the clear Santa Fe River. From the hydrobike,
I
watched bass and mullet schools scoot under rocks to obscurity.
Fishermen are warned that Santa Fe River fish already are contaminated
with
mercury. Mercury is absorbed more directly by fish in pristine
waterways
than in the rivers, which are already polluted. We cannot afford
any more
depositions of mercury into the pristine Santa Fe, Ichetucknee, or
Suwannee
Rivers, all of which are within 3 to 5 miles of the proposed cement
plant.
Suwanee/American promises to emit 160 pounds of mercury into the air
from
their kilns.
Don't forget light and noise pollution. Don't forget that in summer
thousands of cars are lined up on Rt 27 to enter the Ichetucknee State
:Park.
Once the cement kiln is lighted for around-the-clock, year-round
operation,
the right to a dark sky is lost. Don't forget that 690 additional
vehicles
will be roaring over the narrow little bridge over the Ichetucknee
River,
depositing their polluting emissions and disturbing noise. No
longer will be
hear the ripple of the water, nor the coos of the Sandhill Cranes overhead.
Don't forget that Joe Anderson has violated so many DEP rules that
DEP did
not grant him a permit to build the plant.
The timing for the sneaky insider dealings is perfect. Two weeks
before our
second biggest holiday, and nestled, along with the sugar plums, right
before
Christmas. We are all peacefully sleeping, thinking DEP is protecting
our
vulnerable park, peacefully resting this winter.
If you forget that mercury, light, noise, air and water pollution, and
heavy
truck traffic are products of a cement kiln, remember the Ichetucknee
Experience. Yes, the clear, blue waterway is only a short, slim
line on the
Florida map, but it is Florida's crown jewel.
On December 1st Bill Ogle argues that Suwannee County officials
violated of
the Comprehensive Plan in not changing from agriculture to industrial.
Now
Darabi delivers Anderson's message: don't change the zoning so the
entire
area will not become industrial. Come on.
DEP, SOS, the Sierra Club, and SISTER are trying to protect the Ichetucknee
River. The cement kiln is not buried. Show your support
for the case by
showing up at the Live Oak Court House at 9 AM December 1st and 2nd,
and at
the DEP hearing in Gainesville starting on December 6th. Write,
e-mail, or
phone Governor Bush, the ultimate watchman of the State.
Lovers of the Three Rivers area must be the watchman. We need
government in
the bright Florida sunshine; we need to be at these hearings with our
eyes
wide open. Contact Save Our Suwannee or SISTER turned S.I.C.K. for
more
information.
Virginia Seacrist
S.I.C.K.
Gainesville