EPA Coverup

Thirteen long months ago this blog filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeking all information on the environmental contamination of Marco Island by the city governance, its "staff", its contractors and its denizens in the syndicate.

Despite the intimidation, procrastination and shenanigans by the EPA to purposefully obfuscate the FOIA request, nearly five months later the EPA "produced" redacted emails from some residents, a few black pages and some newspaper clippings. This sham production was a thinly veiled effort to shut up this blog and bury the reprehensible means by which the city governance, its "staff", its contractors and their denizens in the syndicate were complicit in the environmental crimes.

So naturally we appealed the ersatz production.

But as if something out of a Kafka story, one appeals a FOIA request to the same agency that failed to comply with the FOIA request. Therefore our expectation at being successful was the same as our expectation that the city councilors and city staff that allowed the contamination to take place will ever serve prison time. But still, one could hope, akin to the hope of one day winning the lottery (as in the syndicate serving prison time).

Just today this blog received the results of the appeal to the FOIA request – today – SEVEN MONTHS AFTER we appealed and thirteen months after the original request.

The decision of this appeal is below.

Look carefully: the reason for the EPA's refusal to produce the salient, revealing and indictable aspects of the information the EPA has in its possession is because ... now wait for it … the EPA does not want to embarrass those responsible for the environmental crimes!

Now, seriously, wasn't it worth waiting thirteen months just to read this morally corrupt Orwellian logic from the government that is no longer for We The People?

Let's put this in perspective: YOUR government (the EPA) that is funded with YOUR tax dollars is protecting YOUR government (the governance of the City of Marco Island) that is also funded with YOUR tax dollars by refusing to reveal YOUR information as to the details of the environmental crimes YOUR government (the governance of the City of Marco Island) committed that has a direct and unequivocal impact on YOUR health and YOUR property.

Is this a great country, or what!

So what are the next steps?

First, "we" will post the emails the appeal letter states will be released – if and when we get them.

Secondly, "we" will do something else. The advice of two celebrated revolutionaries – one of enormous intellectual and moral statue, the other morally reprehensible – are worth considering:

"As our enemies have found we can reason like men, so now let us show them we can fight like men also.",

And

"¿para atrás? ¡ni para coger impulso!" (To go back [now]? Not even to gain momentum!).

The war continues.

==============click images to enlarge ... =

Idiots-R-Them

So we get this email:

To Fellow Environmental Advocates and Nature Lovers, YOU can help Stop this project before it's too late. Please send a brief email now. Choose any helpful talking point below and personalize it to make it your own... REMEMBER--You're either a voter or a visitor, either way you have a stake in this. ***Please Send emails to: fredcoyle@gov.net, jimcoletta@colliergov.net, DonnaFiala@colliergov.net, FrankHalas@colliergov.net, TomHenning@colliergov.net TALKING POINTS: **Installation of powerboat markers in the Clam Pass Preserve waters is a Taking of Public Benefit and Jeopardizes the Safety for all who swim, snorkel, wade, fish kayak or canoe, and otherwise enjoy the waters up close and personal without damaging it. **Clam Pass Preserve is suited for PASSIVE recreation, the only inlet on Collier County Coastline where you can safely swim. **Clam Pass Preserve waters are only temporarily navigable at high tides/heavy rains and is otherwise very shallow with extensive mudflats (non-navigable conditions). **This great place to kayak or canoe and see all the marine, bird and other wildlife. It isn't good for powerboats because the natural habitats are hazards for powerboat navigation. **Additional Safety signage should only be Mariner Warnings such as "Caution/Swimming Area"; "Hazards to Navigation/Shallow Water and Shifting Shoals Present"; "Hazards to Navigation/Mangrove Roots and Branches Present"; "Natural Resources Present/Local Knowledge Required" ADDITIONAL TALKING POINTS: **You value and enjoy the natural resources of the Preserve just as they exist now: Shallow waters and sandy shoals are where most of the seagrasses thrive. Adjacent waters provide foraging access to manatee and various finfish. Mudflats are where most of the invertebrates, shellfish and clams thrive. Red Mangrove roots are where oysters, barnacles and many types of algae thrive and where juvenile fish take refuge. Red, White and Black Mangroves tree branches shade the waters and provide resting and rookery sites for many birds. Ebb tides reduce the waters in some areas to narrow ribbons--essential for waterbirds to concentrate the fish they forage on. **Installation of red/green markers gives the Clam Pass waters an official designation that misrepresents it to be more navigable for powerboats than it is. Those types of markers are meant for waterways that have moderate to heavy powerboat use in waterways that are uniformly, consistently and permanently navigable for powerboat vessels--a situation that does NOT exist in Clam Pass. ***Sign the Mangrove Action Group's "Save Clam Bay Wetlands-Keep It Natural petition- link below Thank-you for taking action and helping preserve a beautiful, tranquil area, full of wildlife. Mangrove Action Group -----
So we email this response:

i'm sorry - but who are you people? and where were you when the mangroves were being contaminated by toxic-laced effluent being dumped [into the mangroves] by the city of marco island?
-----
So we get this reply:

As a member of multiple environmental advocacy groups--I can only say that if I had been aware of such problems on
Marco--I would have added my voice to others to try and halt such practices. I do sign petitions and attend meetings,
and advocate for responsible use, conservation and preservation of those few places that are not paved or dredged.
There are coalitions of environmental groups now--with members reaching across to each other for mutual support.
Certainly, when there are issues to address--put the word out in every possible way--I learned about an issue on Marco
some time past about an Eagle I think needing protection (don't remember all the details) I was happy to help and
sent an email in support of the issue. I hope you will send an email in support of keeping the Clam Pass system just
as it is....If you are not familiar with it--come and see for yourself--you can swim, float, or kayak .without getting swamped
Marcia

-----
So we DONT reply -

Contamination Sites on Marco Island ...

Per the FDEP - you know, the stalwart of environmental protection (when they are not complicit in the crime), has the following sites on Marco Island deemed as contamination sites.

7-ELEVEN FOOD STORE #25725
600 Bald Eagle Dr
Marco Island, FL 34145
Facility Id: 8518356
Pending Petroleum Cleanup.
--------------------------
BP AMOCO-MARCO ISLAND
861 Bald Eagle Dr
Marco Island, FL 34145
Facility Id: 8518316
Pending Petroleum Cleanup.
--------------------------
CHALET OF SAN MARCO
520 S Collier Blvd
Marco, FL 33937
Facility Id: 8735918
Pending Petroleum Cleanup.
--------------------------
CITGO-SAFMO LLC
1767 San Marco Rd
Marco Island, FL 33937
Facility Id: 8518178
Active Petroleum Cleanup.
--------------------------
COLLIER CNTY-CAXAMBAS PARK MARINA
909 Collier Ct
Marco Island, FL 33937
Facility Id: 8626697
Pending Petroleum Cleanup.
--------------------------
DASH IN DASH OUT
1095 N Collier Blvd
Marco Island, FL 34145
Facility Id: 8518273
Active Petroleum Cleanup.
--------------------------
DRY CLEAN & MORE INC
163 S Barfield Dr
Marco Island, FL
Facility Id: 000119502410
Pending Other Cleanup.
--------------------------
MARCO ISLAND CLEANERS
695 Bald Eagle Drive
Marco Island, FL
Facility Id: 000119602577
Pending Other Cleanup.
--------------------------
MARCO ISLAND UTIL-YARD SITE
100 Windward Dr
Marco Island, FL 34145
Facility Id: 8838643
Active Petroleum Cleanup.
--------------------------
PELICAN PIER MARINA
1085 Bald Eagle Dr
Marco Island, FL 34145
Facility Id: 8945066
Pending Petroleum Cleanup.
--------------------------
SOUTH SEAS WEST TOWER #2 MARCO ISLAND
380 Seaview Ct
Marco Island, FL 33937
Facility Id: 9301065
Pending Petroleum Cleanup.
--------------------------