# Bayou Chico Dredging update



## oldflathead (Oct 3, 2007)

Well finally, after 20+ years of begging at the Federal Pig Trough, we are getting the main channel and turning basin in Bayou Chico dredged to 15 feet, starting maybe today.

We have been members of the Bayou Chico Association since we have been fortunate enough to buy a piece of dirt on the tranquil shores of the bayou. While we live up the west arm and our biggest boat draws 5 1/2' of water, we are able to come and go, IF we wait for high tide and accept the fact that winter low tides and north winds prevent us from moving a few days each year. We are "Pleasure Boaters" and are not dependent on our boats for a living, so we can wait for the tide. Many of our neighbors and businesses along the bayou are commercial enterprises and must move in and out, sometimes with barges, etc, so they cannot wait. Example - T-Gill Fuel Terminal just inside the bayou, provides a large amount of fuel for all of the Panhandle, so must be able to get in and out.

We had a meeting yesterday at Island Cove Marina of Bayou Chico residents, business reps, yacht clubs, marina owners, shipyards and the Corps of Engineers, Inland Dredge Co. and other interested folks.

Inland dredge has their equipment spotted near the north end of the bayou, between Joe Pattis Boat Storage and the Pensacola Shipyard, ready to start on the turning basin as soon as the north wind eases and allows them to continue laying pipe up to the old Clark sand pits, where the spoils will go. They could start as soon as today, but may be later, depends on WX.

I have volunteered to post daily with the location of the dredge, locations temporarily blocked by the dredge or pipe. As they progress down the bayou, sections of the pipe will be submerged to the bottom in the newly deepened sections. The submerged pipes are to allow recreational vessels safe crossing and will be marked by bouys. There may be times when access to the launching ramps, marinas or dry storage facilities are blocked.

Please be patient! You may call the barge "Kelly O" on VHF 7 and ask for information or call me ahead of time 850-572-1225, 0700 - 1900 seven days for barge location and blocked areas.

This work is being done for the local commercial interests who employ a lot of our citizens and must be able to move deeper draft vessels. Of course it will benefit all of us with better tidal exchange in all of the bayou, better flushing and easier deep draft main channel.

There have been limited funds appropriated for this project, so down time to allow recreational vessels passage will determine how far the dredge gets. This entire process should be completed in about three weeks, or by the end of April. So, if you must go fishing and your access is limited by the dredge, plan ahead and stage your boat down the bayou.

Tom Vandiver, 572-1225 or call Chico Limo on VHF16


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## LuckyLady (Oct 2, 2007)

I do not understand where they are dumping the spoil. Please clarify. Otherwise, great news for all. Thanks for the post!!


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## P-cola_Native (Feb 5, 2008)

Good, the dredging was needed.

Has your association looked into all of the derelict boats anchored/sinking in the middle of the Bayou? It seems like they were just left there after the hurricanes. I'm not being critical, just wondering if they have looked into it.


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## TCAT (Oct 9, 2007)

Bert,

They are discharging the slurry into the old clark sand pit sites located north of Barrancas. 

KJ


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## benandunnit (Mar 5, 2008)

The pits are north of Navy - right next to residential neighborhoods and next to a well operated by peoples water. This is likely going to be an environmental nightmare.


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## TCAT (Oct 9, 2007)

Sorry, I meant Navy :doh


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## P-cola_Native (Feb 5, 2008)

Say goodby to all of the bream and large mouth bass that lived in the pit. Hopefully the bayou will be cleaner as a result, but it could get worse stirring up all of that stuff.


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## benandunnit (Mar 5, 2008)

The same government groups that won't letyou build a reef will allow this BS to take place. Amazing what money can do isn't it? 

They say that it is safe and that the bayou is not polluted in that area "except for some dioxins" - I'd like the see everyone that approved the project take a swim in the pond after they fill it and take a drink out of that well. I betGene Valentinowould be too busy to make it that day.


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## Boatjob1 (Oct 2, 2007)

It really needs to be done, but there is some really nasty stuff that was dumped in there for a long time. My grandfather used to tell me when I was a kid that the locals used to take there boats into Chico and anchor them up for about 48 hours to kill all the growth and barnicles on the hull's. The water was so poluted it would kill any marine growth.

Also, that place played a MAJOR roll in the history of Pensacola way back in the 16 and 1700's. There is no telling what there going to find in there. I have some maps that I had scanned from the Clements Library a couple of years ago, and the history of that area is amazing.... I can't wait to hear what happens..........


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## jack 'em (Oct 5, 2007)

Is that why I saw dredge boats yesterday? they were headed East, going towards Destin pass.... Does anyone here know if the Destin pass will be dredged this year?


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## Boatjob1 (Oct 2, 2007)

Not in an attempt to derail, justan interesting fact pertaining to this post.

The following is a copy of part of a map from July 10, 1781 of the entrance and main channel to Bayou Chico. Back then it was labeled, "La Segunda Boguilla". The English version of the name was "Sutton's Lagoon". This is not a published map, so I doubt most have ever seen this. Enjoy, T










The following is from a different map maker from May 9th 1781


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## oldflathead (Oct 3, 2007)

Hi,

I appreciate you concern about the lakes and alledged polution, however, EPA, DEP and all of the others have approved this. 

As far as pollution in Bayou Chico TODAY, not 40 years ago, it is BS. 

I often get porpoises swimming off the end of my dock chowing down on menhaden and mullet. Porpoises do not inhabit polluted water.

The association has been trying to get the abandoned trash boats moved from their illegal anchorage since they started leaving them there shortly after Ivan. No luck. USCG, Fish Cops, County, Captain Arragant Turnip allsat on their hands and did not do anything. None of these derelicts have ever had their holding tanks pumped and people are living aboard. None of them have anchor lights, yet nobody tickets them. You try to anchor overnight at Fort McRee without an anchor light - $75 fine.

According to the Army Corps of Engineers, when the dredge gets to these boats, they will call the Coast Guard who will tow them and impound at great cost to the owner.IMHO, none of theses POS boats are worth the towing fees, so us honest tax payers take it in the shorts again.

Tom:hoppingmad


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## johnsonbeachbum (Oct 1, 2007)

> *jack 'em (3/26/2008)*Is that why I saw dredge boats yesterday? they were headed East, going towards Destin pass.... Does anyone here know if the Destin pass will be dredged this year?


Next week!

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/13109


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## johnsonbeachbum (Oct 1, 2007)

cool maps boatjob1

Are those dates suppose to be that close? If yes, the map makers saw different stuff didn't they?

Maybe one is after a hurricane?


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## Boatjob1 (Oct 2, 2007)

> *johnsonbeachbum (3/26/2008)*cool maps boatjob1
> 
> Are those dates suppose to be that close? If yes, the map makers saw different stuff didn't they?
> 
> Maybe one is after a hurricane?


 

I have no info on a storm between those periods, but that doesn't mean it couldn't have happened. AND yes, those dates are accurate.... 

The first map was done by a Spanish map maker when they were logging a trip from Havana to "Panzacola" Pensacola. 

The secondmap was done by a famous German Artist / Map Maker, Henry Heldring, Captain/ Lieutenant and acting Engineer of Pensacola in the 3rd Regiment of Waleck. I was heavy into some research a couple of years ago and accumulated this info when I had time to break out my metal detector. After reviewing several of Heldring's maps, I would bet heavily that the 2nd map (his) was more accurate.... 

Thanks to Tom's post (oldflathead) and info, we get to experience this project first hand....


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## Boatjob1 (Oct 2, 2007)

This is another very detailed drawing for the entrance to Bayou Chico by Heldring dated the same year as the others (1781) with no specific month or day. It even shows tree's and a walk / horse path across the two islands at the entrance. Cool stuff if you ask me. Enjoy, T

PS Thanks again Tom for starting this Post and keeping us updated on the progress.


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## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

Before you celebrate Chico being dredged and the spoils dumped directly into an open area of our supply aquifer for the area yall might want to read this study.

http://www.uwf.edu/liebens/report_Chico_final_revision_withmaps.pdf

Chico is very high in dioxins, PCBs, petroleum contaminants, copper(from the old bottom paints) and ad infinitum.

We STILL don't eat fish caught in the bayou...now you want us to drink what contaminated the fish to start with?Oh,well.Guess a deeper bayou is worth it for most of Pensacola to have to go to bottled water.:banghead


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## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

A little more on dredging Chico

http://www.inweekly.net/article.asp?artID=6681

Environmentalists say numerous tests on Bayou Chico sediments by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Northwest Florida Water Management District and others document elevated pollution levels.<P style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">A Northwest Florida Water Management District study, "Sediment Quality in the Pensacola Bay System," prepared by William F. DeBusk, Irene Poyer and Iuri Herzfeld in April 2002 compiled sediment chemistry data acquired from research and monitoring studies conducted from 1975-1998.<P style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Among its conclusions were: "As with copper and lead, the highest levels of zinc contamination were found in Bayou Chico" in the Pensacola Bay system.<P style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Also the study reports "the areas of greatest potential concern with respect to sediment contamination" include Bayou Chico, lower Bayou Grande, upper Bayou Texar, mid- and upper-Escambia Bay and Pensacola Bay, primarily in the vicinity of the downtown Pensacola waterfront.<P style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">*NOAA (1997) found elevated levels of heavy metals in sediments of Bayou Chico (copper, lead and mercury), lower Bayou Grande (cadmium and lead), upper Bayou Texar (cadmium, copper, lead and mercury) and Pensacola Bay in the vicinity of downtown Pensacola (cadmium, lead and mercury); polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) enrichment in Bayou Chico and (to a lesser extent) in Pensacola Bay and Bayou Texar; pesticide enrichment in Bayous Chico and Texar; PCB enrichment in Bayou Chico; and phosphorus enrichment in Escambia Bay, mid-Pensacola Bay and lower Bayou Texar.<P style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><P style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The sediments in Bayou Chico are a veritable toxic soup, harboring some of the most dangerous contaminants known to man. From industry, residents and stormwater runoff over the years, Bayou Chico has accumulated high levels of compounds potentially toxic to humans, such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury and zinc, as well as pesticides (chlordane, DDD, DDT, endrin, dieldrin, Mirex), polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs), poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs such as benzo(a)-pyrene, anthracene, acenapthene). <P style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Sounds as good as bottled water yet? Clark Sand Pit is open to the zone of sand that drinking water comes fro for a large amount of our area.We do NOT need this toxic soup as a new set of ingredients.<P style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Dredge the bayou...but someone needs to figure out a different place to dump it.


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## Halfmoon (Oct 3, 2007)

Just think what those Islands would cost today.

Be a sweat place to put a house.


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## P-cola_Native (Feb 5, 2008)

I doubt it, there are islands just like that in front of Bayou Grande (white island and rock island), and they have never been used for anything but camping. I wish the barrier islands were the same way.


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## Halfmoon (Oct 3, 2007)

I would call those islands sandbars in front of Grande


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## P-cola_Native (Feb 5, 2008)

Yeah, but they look equivalent to what is in front of chico on that map. If left natural, I assume both bayous would have the same type of islands/sandbars at their mouths. Notice how the configuration of the islands look different in each picture, look just like the ever changing configuration of white island. I may be wrong though, they could have been huge.


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## Rastaman (Oct 5, 2007)

_It really needs to be done, but there is some really nasty stuff that was dumped in there for a long time. My grandfather used to tell me when I was a kid that the locals used to take there boats into Chico and anchor them up for about 48 hours to kill all the growth and barnicles on the hull's. The water was so poluted it would kill any marine growth._

You know I heard the same thing but with a different twist. I read somewhere that the spanish would bring their wood ships up there to kill barnacles because there were fresh water springs in there and the salt water organisms could not survive, ecspecially the wood boring worms that really worked on those ships.

Anyway....maybe the issue wasnt pollution back then.


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## oldflathead (Oct 3, 2007)

Say, looks I stirred up a sleeping tird. Well the dredging of Bayou Chico is starting and ALL of the hoops have been jumped with all of the Federal, State and local alphabet agencies.



There is no way the Florida DEP is going to allow any dredge materials where it may contaminate drinking water. The well in the dump area discontinued pumping water years ago.



The dredge is still set up by where the old railroad bridge was and will begin pumping as soon as the pipe lines are laid. At present the only area temporarily blocked are the home docks on the west side on both sides of the Navy Blvd. bridge.



I will keep you posted daily on dredge location and limited access areas.



I drug a grapnel with chain for over three hours through the turning basin where the dredge will be pumping, that is where the abandoned boats during Ivan were located, we found nothing but a short piece of 1/2" nylon, a choker and a man;s belt. So, apparently any chain or anchors that could foul the dredge cutterhead are too deep for us to get with a grapnel.



Other than an interested citizen who wants better flushing of my end of the bayou and appreciates the many honest, hard working folks who make a living at the shipyards, boat storage places, Autoshred, etc., I have no dog in this fight. I am just trying to keep boaters informed about limited access. This does not particularly do much for us pleasure boaters, as God sends us one high tide each day. If you can't wait for high tide, take your boat elsewhere.



Tom:mmmbeer


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## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

flathead...Florida DEP allows violations every day of the week, 365 days a year.

Go to the sites I provided, DEPs own report states Chico is a super contaminated bayou.Heavy metals,arsenic,PCBs you bname it.All contained in the sludge they intend to pump straight into an open aquifer.

The well close by has zero bearings on the facts.The water, in open sand aquifer, which is what Clark is fed by, moves all over the place.The next closest well, when pumping full bore will be pulling the contaminants through the sand to that location.Then the nearest well to THAT one will pull the contaminants along.

Here are SOME of the intials who say Chico is a toxic dump...DEP,EPA,NOAA,NWFWMD,UWF.That should be enough to get you started on reading about this Pandora's box we are about to open.

I was in the business of commercial and municipal wells for 14 years.I am about to start stocking up on bottled water.


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## N-Reel-Trouble (Oct 3, 2007)

> *kingfish501 (3/27/2008)*flathead...Florida DEP allows violations every day of the week, 365 days a year.
> 
> Go to the sites I provided, DEPs own report states Chico is a super contaminated bayou.Heavy metals,arsenic,PCBs you bname it.All contained in the sludge they intend to pump straight into an open aquifer.
> 
> ...


So..Instead of repeating yourself several times. What do YOU suggest they should do instead of dumping in the Clark pits?


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## oldflathead (Oct 3, 2007)

There will be an "official" welcome the dredge ceremony this morning at 1000 at Pensacola Ship Yard on Myrick St. Some local politicians who had little to do with getting the dredging done will be there to accept accolades as well as some local tax payers who realize the advantage of deepening the channel for commercial vessels.

I am sorry some of the PFF'ers got wrapped around the axle about the spoils disposal. I did not realize we had authorities who know more about Bayou Chico's alledged pollution than the hired hands. 

Tom


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## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

So..Instead of repeating yourself several times. What do YOU suggest they should do instead of dumping in the Clark pits?[/quote]



That is an easy question.Dispose of the waste sludge in the same way they disposed of the toxins they dug up from around the PYC.



I have no objections to Chico being dredged.Eventually the mess they stir up will settle back out.They should dispose of the toxins in a PROPER method, not an offshoot of shallow well injection.



The Clark sandpit idea was never a good idea to start with, since they are going to take a perfectly good stocked lake, fill it with toxins, cap it with clay, THEN declare it to be a public park.


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## P-cola_Native (Feb 5, 2008)

I agree, dumping in clarks is wrong. Call me a tree hugger, but it just reeks of an environmental disaster.


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## N-Reel-Trouble (Oct 3, 2007)

No solution to the clark pit has been posted still....


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## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

I gave a solution.Haul the crap off to an offsite hazard waste containment site.

Is the need to get your boat in and out of the bayou that much more important to you than your family's health?


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## bayou boyextra (Mar 29, 2008)

I say take it( the sludge from hell)to New Jersey...they won't notice it there anyway...or it could be used as lost circulation material on the proposed drilling sites in the gulf which yeild huge boulder formations that drink sludge like a an alcoholic drinks beer on the fourth of july..and they are below any aquafers...why not..it is a free resource for the energy companies....why not use it for cased holes below aquafer levels..they already use huge amounts of carcinogens in their mud..a few more would not hurt..any way the channle needs to be developed for the developing real estate and ship building industires to perservere..as any ship built there with a fair draft will drag bottom overall it is a good thing ..like anything these days whenever you dig something up it is not always the news you expect to find after the digging...:bpts


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## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

Like I said in another post about the pollution in Bayou Chico. I've been diving and moving the bottom of Chico for 30 years and once you get a foot or two below the mud in the Bayou you have white sand. I would bet if you go watch the discharge pipe at Clark sand pit all you would see coming out of it will be white sand after a few seconds of pumping. Then when the dredging is finished with the new pollution regsyou will have a much better bottom for sea life to flourish on. So it is a win win situation.


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## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

sealark.....what color do you think PCBs show up as?What color is dioxin?How about dissoled arsenic?

Clear.Still confident enough to dump these chemical compounds in a glass of drinking water and hand it to your child to drink?


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## welder (Oct 19, 2007)

At what depth is your water table in that area ? Last report I read was that ANY well 200' or less ANYWHERE in the U.S.A. was un safe to drink from.

The wells that I keep powered up here in our town are 1600' to 1800' deep in the trinity aquifer and all we have to add is min. Clorine.


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## N-Reel-Trouble (Oct 3, 2007)

> *kingfish501 (3/28/2008)*Is the need to get your boat in and out of the bayou that much more important to you than your family's health?


It's already been stated that its not for the recreational boaters for the most part, Its for the ship yard, the shrimp boats, and im sure the metal salvage. Reguardless, it needs to be done to allow these businesses to operate, and if not, it will just keep filling in. If the mud had to be hauled off, the price would probably be too much to afford, therefore it would not get done. Businesses move? Then the rec boaters would start having trouble with the larger boats getting them to their marina or dock....which would be rediculous imo.


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## kingfish501 (Oct 7, 2007)

welder, the aquifer here is very very shallow.There is a well located 1000' from Clark Sand Pit that pumps from 160 feet.All of the supply wells for Escambia county are in sand aquifers, with the deepest being around 460'.

In the application, DEP and the EPA acknowlege that Clark is OPEN to the supply aquifer.They did, as a concession after being caught allowing pumping of toxic materials into the water bearing strata, shift the dumpsite from the south pit to the north pit(a distance of about 1800')That means, when pumping demands get higher, a difference of maybe a week.Even on the application, both EPA and DEP admit the toxin levels, contained in the sludge,are way higher than drinking water standards.

What they are gambling on, with OUR health is that the heavy metals will stay in the sludge and not be able to migrate.

Something I did not bring up before is salt intrusion.They hope to control that with head pressure on the well....but again, as demand climbs, the head pressure will drop to below acceptable standards.The dredge is SUPPOSED to shut down if that happens, but then again, EPA "suggested" that a pit liner be installed to provide 100% protection fro chemical or salt intrusion.The applicant decided NOT to line the pit since it was a suggestion and not an order.


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