From Charles McBurney, candidate for Florida House of Representatives, District 16

We all know mercury is a dangerous chemical and needs the concentrated attention of JEA. Like you, I am concerned about the alledged violations of the Clean Water Act and note that recent lawsuits have been brought to get some of these matters resolved.

As I am sure you are aware, many problems plague our river. Neil Armingeon, our St. Johns Riverkeeper, seems to be aware of the wastewater being discharged into the river and we applaud his "zero discharge" goal.

I plan to work for funds for the continual clean up of the St. Johns
River when I am elected to the State House of Representatives. I would take an active position of monitoring the efforts of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to ensure everything possible is done to give Jacksonville safe, clean water.

Thanks again for your inquiry. I commend groups such as yours who are concerned and work hard for the health and well being of all our citizens.

Yours truly,
Charles McBurney

JEA: Now Delivering Toxic Mercury Right to your Front Door?

By now, you probably know of JEA's abundant emissions of toxic mercury from its coal-fired power plants on the Northside. Just in case that wasn't heinous enough for you, JEA might now be sprinkling this toxic substance on the road in front of your house. According to a recent Folioweekly article (7/31/07, "Burning Questions: A JEA road project raises concerns about impacts to environment and health"), JEA is using a material derived from a coal ash byproduct in local road projects (basically some of the stuff left over after it burns the coal in its plants).

Folioweekly goes on to say, "Though the use of ash in concrete, gypsum board and road construction is permitted by the federal and state governments, and promoted as a green way to reuse waste, the ash does contain toxins, including mercury, lead, arsenic, and cadmium." And in one project in Mandarin, it seems like JEA basically sprinkled this toxic fairy dust on to the road and let it blow around for a few weeks in a residential neighborhood.

Of course, this isn't all a bad idea. Reusing waste saves money, time, and resources. But apparently JEA is selling this product, called EZBase, based on one test it conducted itself. There have been no independent tests, which for a product with this much potential toxic downside seems irresponsible. And it doesn't seem like the product is always applied responsibly, if its true that JEA as been letting this potentially toxic dust blow around a residential neighborhood in Mandarin.

Perhaps environmental advocate and mechanical engineer Nelson Helmuth said it best, "The greatest story never told is how we're polluting ourselves to death in this country. In the industrial world, the asthma rate is going up, the cancer rate is going up, the rate of children with attention deficit disorder is going up. We are poisoning ourselves."

The Wind: His Potential Is Ours

How about some wind power in Jacksonville? With the ocean and the river, we seem to have enough. And best of all, no expensive coal to buy and zero mercury emissions.