# Divers needed for Bayou Chico turning basin



## oldflathead (Oct 3, 2007)

Please read my post "Bayou Chico dredging". 

Anone interested in a good community service project and the possibility of some salvaged anchors and chain, please contact me 572-1225. I am going out to the turning basin today to try and snag with my grapnel and mark some of the anchors and chain left by Mr. Ivan.

If any of you want a free trip and the salvaged anchors we recover, give me a call. I will take you out and use my work boat's A-frame hoist to raise the anchors that you attach some chain to. You get what you salvage.

My goal is to help clear the Bayou Chico turning basin between Joe Pattis and Pensacola shipyard of chain, etc. that may foul the cutterhead on the dredge. This will delay the dredging process and limit the amount of main channel that will be deepened.

BTW, I will provide the after dive refreshments. I have a large ladder from a dive boat that I will attach to my workboat, for your access. Plus I have a hookah rig, but only 50' of hose if needed. My health problems preclude me getting in the water - s__t!

Tom Vandiver:mmmbeer


----------



## Capt. AHO (Oct 2, 2007)

I can help Friday. :usaflag


----------



## Clay-Doh (Oct 2, 2007)

When are the dates Flathead??


----------



## benandunnit (Mar 5, 2008)

Better wear a drysuit.Chico is one of the most polluted bodies of water in the state if not the country, especially the bottom. The spoils of the dredging are going into the old clark sand pits off of Navy Blvd, next to a residential neighborhood and just upstream from a well operated by peoples water. The whole thing should be illegal as hell, but money has spoken, and the danger has been conveniently overlooked.


----------



## oldflathead (Oct 3, 2007)

I wonder where you got your information on pollution in Bayou Chico?

The Peoples Water well is no longer used. They tried to raise an issue, but EPA, DEP and the others said it was BS. Peoples water was trying to extort money from the government, i.e., the taxpayer, us!

Bayou Chico may have been polluted 40 years ago, but regular tests prove otherwise. I often get porpoises swimming and feeding off the end of my dock. Porpoises do not like polluted water.

Tom:hoppingmad


----------



## benandunnit (Mar 5, 2008)

<P align=left>For Starters, a quick google search on batou chico turns this up....<P align=left>*Sediment and water pollution in Bayou Chico, Pensacola, FL.*<P align=left>*Dr. Carl J. Mohrherr*<P align=left>*Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation*<P align=left>*University of West Florida*<P align=left><P align=left>*Dr. Johan Liebens*<P align=left>*Department of Environmental Studies*<P align=left>*University of West Florida*<P align=left><P align=left>*Dr. K. Ranga Rao*<P align=left>*Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation*<P align=left>*University of West Florida*<P align=left>Review of the scientific literature shows that the quality of the water and sediments in<P align=left>Bayou Chico has been and still is affected by an assortment of pollutants. In the 1970s organic pollutants were found to be many times the typical values for coastal sediments. PCBs and dioxins were first studied in the 1990s and detected at high levels. A recent PERCH study found elevated levels of PCBs and dioxins/furans in seafood from the Bayou. <P align=left>Trace metals were studied by a series of investigations and invariably were found to be elevated in the main part of the Bayou and between two topographic constrictions in the northern half of the Bayou.<P align=left>Organisms are affected by the pollution of the Bayou and show diminished density and diversity.<P align=left>Two nearby industrial sites have well documented environmental problems but their impacts on the Bayou are not well known.<P align=left>The present study initially used existing environmental data to examine the location and concentration of contaminants affecting water and sediment quality of the Bayou. The data were incorporated into a geographic information system (GIS) and were utilized in prioritizing research efforts based on perceived gaps in the existing information.<P align=left>*<U>Several gaps were found to be present in the existing information about the environmental state of Bayou Chico, even though the Bayou has been studied extensively</U>*. One outstanding question is if relationships exist between the elevated PCB and dioxin/furan levels encountered by another PERCH project in seafood from the Bayou and pollution of the Bayou?s water and sediments. The presence of petroleum storage tanks and human activities that use petroleum products suggest that petroleum contamination may be present in the Bayou, but this has not been fully addressed by any other study. The present study focused on two polluted industrial sites that are located close to the Bayou. The pollution at these sites has been studied, but the potential influence of the pollutants on the Bayou has not been thoroughly evaluated.<P align=left>Plans exist to dredge the navigation channel of Bayou Chico and to dispose the dredge spoil in a sand pit a short distance north of the Bayou. Because of the geology of the area the sand pits may hydrologically communicate with groundwater and additional consideration of the potential implications of the pollution of the sediments that will be dredged is warranted.<P align=left>The fieldwork of this project took place June to October 2005.


----------



## benandunnit (Mar 5, 2008)

And this, from the DEP's OWN PERMIT NOTICE!!!!<P align=left>"Originally, the material was to be hydraulically dredged and placed in the south Clark Sand Pit.However, due to concerns about groundwater infiltration at the south pit, the applicant later changed the disposal site to the north Clark Sand Pit (sand pit), which is located northwest of Bayou Chico, and north of Jackson Creek."<P align=left>http://bcs.dep.state.fl.us/env-prmt/escambia/pending/0182865_Bayou_Chico_Maintenance_Dredging_and_Disposal/001-DF/Final%20Documents/Bayo%20Chico%20Intent,%20final%20version.pdf<P align=left><P align=left>Check it out for yourself!


----------



## benandunnit (Mar 5, 2008)

<P align=left>Or these Quotes from: <P align=left>NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS ORCA 117*<P align=left>Magnitude and Extent of Sediment Toxicity in Four<P align=left>Bays of the Florida Panhandle: Pensacola,<P align=left>Choctawhatchee, St. Andrew and Apalachicola.*<P align=left>...? In 30 independent trials (6 samples, 5 toxicity tests), 23 (76.7%) of the tests showed highly significant results in Bayou Chico. This area was clearly the most toxic region of the study area.<P align=left>...Overall, the highest incidence of toxicity among all tests combined occurred among the Bayou Chico samples,<P align=left>...Samples from Bayou Chico had especially high concentrations of many substances.<P align=left>...Bay. Concentrations of PAHs were relatively high in samples from Pensacola Bay (especially in Bayou Chico)<P align=left>...The data from this survey indicated that sediments in some regions of the area were contaminated relative to background conditions and effects-based numerical guidelines, that toxicity occurred throughout the entire region as measured in the most sensitive tests, that the most severe toxic responses and the highest incidences of toxicity occurred in Bayou Chico, that the toxicity test results generally paralleled the concentrations of potentiallytoxic substances in the samples, and that different mixtures of toxicants were associated with toxicity.<P align=left>...All of the Bayou Chico samples were toxic in the sea urchin development, Microtox?, and Mutatox? tests performed in 1994; all were highly toxic in the urchin development and Mutatox? tests; and all except one sample were highly toxic in the urchin fertilization tests. In addition, the only sample that was highly toxic in the amphipod survival tests was collected in Bayou Chico.<P align=left>...Amphipod survival was less than 80% of controls in only one sample, which was collected from Bayou Chico.<P align=left>Need More? http://www.ccma.nos.noaa.gov/publications/techmemo117.pdf


----------



## benandunnit (Mar 5, 2008)

Not trying to be an a**hole, but there are peoples futures at stake here, and we owe it to them to make sure we're not screwing this up! 

If you as a private citizenpetitioned the DEP or Corps of engineers to conduct a project like this on your own property, do you think that they would permit it?


----------



## David Ridenour (Sep 28, 2007)

> *benandunnit (3/26/2008)*Not trying to be an a**hole, but there are peoples futures at stake here, and we owe it to them to make sure we're not screwing this up!
> 
> If you as a private citizenpetitioned the DEP or Corps of engineers to conduct a project like this on your own property, do you think that they would permit it?


I don't have a dog in this fight but it appears the studies and data you cite are from 1997. Not discounting the terrible findings, but is the pollution still occurring? It appeared to be mostly from the 70's.If not then I would think the EPA would have weighed the risks of disturbing this sediment embedded and covered with water with moving it to a sand pit and possibly leaching into the ground water. Will it be better in the long run to clean up the Bayou by removing this setiment. I guess time will tell.If it hasn't effected the ground water thus far it seems it would settle in the pit and remain in the same state unless disturbed.The real threat may be disturbing it and what it may do to the Bayou itself in an aqueous state.


----------



## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

I have to agree with Flathead. I came to Pensacola in 1976 and have done all the Diving for Runyan's shipyard in Bayou Chico up until a few years ago when they went under. I have been 6 feet down in the mud airlifting the mud and sand off the three ways that were there and I have dove at Browns marine where you had to dig through the mud to get under there tugs. And I haven't got any medical problems yet and that has been over thirty years of diving in Chico. So I would say it's not that polluted.








:doh


----------



## benandunnit (Mar 5, 2008)

the UWF report is from 2005-2006.

There's plenty more info out there. If the DEP decided that the south pit was too risky, how can they truly say that this is safe and a good idea if we use the North Pit? 

Most importantly, why is it so important that this get done NOW, before we really know the long term effects?


----------



## Evensplit (Oct 2, 2007)

I know 2 professional boat cleaners that wound up having surgery to address infections that they got after diving in Chico. I haven't seen or heard of any problems from any other body of water locally. I also know a guy that was diving for the company that built the new chico bridge, and he had persistent infections in his hands and face for years after he was done. Looked pretty nasty, but he never went to the Doc that I know of. I personally wouldn't dive in Chico simply because it's not worth any level of riskto me. 

I don't understand how the county can get grants to take care of derelict vessels and buy the land, anddo the dredging project but they have to look for volunteer diversto clean up the bayou? Sounds fishy to me - heh.:letsdrink


----------



## oldflathead (Oct 3, 2007)

Thanks to all of you for all of your sincere concerns.



We have called the diving "adventure" off. Yesterday we drug a large grapnel with 25' of chain at dead slow speed for three hours through this area. We caught a piece of anchor line, about 25' 1/2" nylon, a choker and a man's belt. So, we figure any anchors or chain are buried too deep or have been recovered.



Thanks to the volunteers, but it is canceled. I owe you volunteers a dive trip after it warms up. Give me a call.



Tom


----------



## GMan (Oct 17, 2007)

Hell I swam in the Tigris not on purpose though. Not to mention I have been knee deep in shit half my adult life. If you guys change your mind let me know.I will help out any way i can.


----------



## oldflathead (Oct 3, 2007)

Thanks again!

Divers are good folks! We just need some reason to go down.

I have been eating fish from Bayou Chico and diving to clean boat bottoms since 1992 and so far no proble......................?

:letsdrink

Tom


----------

