Volume V
Fall on Florida’s
Nature Coast
2
How Clean Does
Florida’s Water 2
Need to Be?
Brown Coal
Mining Coming
to a Town Near
You?
3
BP Disaster and
the
Environmental
Claims Process
4
December 2010
Threat to Pearl River Averted, for Now
The Pearl River, which begins in central
Mississippi northeast of Jackson, forms the
southernmost portion of the border between
Mississippi and Louisiana. This river and its
tributaries have faced a number of significant
challenges – including sewage pollution, poor
management of the Ross Barnett Reservoir
for downstream use, and a plan to dam the
Pearl near Jackson, MS. Despite these
significant challenges, it is still hanging on as a
vital and viable water body.
Photo Courtesy of Angela McBride
Inside this issue:
Issue IV
In fact, Mississippi and Louisiana’s recreational
A fishing camp in the Honey Island Swamp, which relies on
and commercial fishing industries rely on
sediments and water from the Pearl.
freshwater from the Pearl River to sustain the
coastal estuaries which are important
breeding grounds for the fish we like to catch
River nourish the same coastal marshes which
and eat. Oyster harvests can also be impacted by protect nearby communities from storm surge!
the level of freshwater in coastal areas.
Increased levels of salt have played a big role in
Recently, with the help of concerned citizens like
devastating the oyster industry in Alabama,
you, we achieved a victory that will help make
reducing the annual catch from 800,000 pounds sure the Pearl can continue to sustain Gulf
to just 75,000. Plus, sediments from the Pearl
communities and wildlife in the years to come.
Continued on page 3
Setting Mississippi River Diversions Up for Success
Folks working on Louisiana coastal restoration
have recently been getting cautiously excited
about a potential silver lining from the BP oil
drilling disaster: billions of dollars in Clean Water
Act fines and Natural Resource Damage
Assessment (NRDA) settlements flowing into the
region to jumpstart restoration (read more about
NRDA on page 4). If this money does come down
to the Gulf for ecosystem restoration projects,
that is absolutely great news, but Louisiana needs
to start preparing for these restoration funds
now.
A key area where we could be preparing is
cleaning up the Mississippi River in preparation for
planned river diversions designed to build land,
nourish weakened wetlands, and build new
ones. One of the basic tenets of Louisiana
coastal restoration has long been reintroducing
the river back into the wetlands, as they have
been artificially cut off by levees built to
prevent flooding. Regretfully, the Mississippi
River is carrying larger loads of pollutants than
it did back when it was allowed to regularly
flood and re-nourish coastal wetlands. This is
important when considering river diversions—
will the pollutants in the Mississippi River,
especially given the elevated levels of nitrogen
and phosphorous pollution, be beneficial to the
wetlands?
Continued on page 3
Page 2
Wave Maker’s News
Fall on Florida’s Nature Coast
Photo Courtesy of Kolin Toney
Last month, the Gulf
Restoration Network along
with Withlacoochee Area
Residents, local chapters of
the Florida Native Plant
Society, and Southwings
organized and hosted the
Nature Coast Coalition’s Fall
Conference.
audience about the Tarmac
limestone project, which
proposes to mine 3,800 acres
in Levy County and take out
2,300 acres of wetlands. Public
hearings on this issue will
begin next year.
Sue Mullins provided a lively
update on the current
Florida’s Nature Coast is one
atmosphere of politics and
of Florida’s longest natural
policy in Tallahassee. Florida’s
coastlines and holds an
new Governor, Rick Scott, will
amazing mosaic of wetlands,
be announcing his appointees
Withlacoochee River
rivers, springs, seagrass beds,
in the coming weeks and
conservation
organizations
are
all ears as to who they will
coastal marshes, and uplands.
be. There is great deal of uncertainty about how Governor
One the central subjects discussed was the impacts of mining Scott will treat environmental policies and the agencies that
in the Nature Coast area - especially as it relates to our
oversee the environment in Florida.
effort to protect the Nature Coast from Tarmac Company’s
The day ended with a strategy discussion that focused on the
proposed limestone mining operation.
best ways for the coalition to coordinate our work against
Tarmac limestone mining threats. The Coalition also
Steven Noll and David Tegeder, co-authors of Ditch of
brainstormed ways to promote the Nature Coast identity as
Dreams: The Cross Florida Barge Canal and the Struggle for
a special part of natural Florida with a legacy of wetlands,
Florida’s Future, began the day with an overall look at the
history of mining in Florida and the Nature Coast’s history
springs, and forests.
of fighting and stopping behemoth mining projects.
The Coalition will meet again in January to continue our
That presentation set the stage for Edward Michaels and Jack exciting work, for more info check out
Scofield of the Withlacoochee Area Residents to update the NatureCoastCoalition.org. 
How Clean Does Florida’s Water Need to Be?
When it comes to Floridian’s clean water, it is well past time
for our leaders to take responsible action and let facts and
data guide good policy. Unfortunately, many of them seem
more interested in irresponsible hyperbole from corporate
lobbyists than in taking action to clean up miles upon miles
of increasingly deteriorating lakes, streams, rivers, and
estuaries.
In 1998, the EPA notified the state that its waters were
overly-polluted and under-protected from nitrogen and
phosphorous pollution, yet the state continues to drag its
feet on serious action. Just last week, the EPA granted
Florida another fifteen months to prepare for these new
clean water rules.
Nonetheless, Governor-elect Rick Scott and his cabinet have
joined with industry opponents to decry the expense of such
numeric nutrient regulations, even though it has been widely
reported that industry claims of those costs are exaggerated
and based on wrong data. The State of Florida has now even
taken the step to sue EPA to block the implementation of
these clean water rules!
Barney Bishop, head of Associated Industries and lead
opponent of statewide clean water rules, recently asked,
―How clean does our water have to be?‖ In a feeble
attempt to play politics, Barney further claimed that clean
water requirements came from anti-business ―radical leftwingers,‖ completely glossing over the fact that the work to
clean Florida’s imperiled waters started under President
George W. Bush and two Republican governors.
We cannot afford to keep kicking this issue down the road
with no action to address 100 miles of polluted rivers,
350,000 acres of tainted lakes, and 900 square miles of
compromised estuaries in our state.
As author Carl Hiaasen recently commented: "Among the
many harsh lessons of the BP oil spill was that pollution —
not regulation — is a more devastating job-killer." The
bottom line is that dirty water costs the public and business,
and Florida cannot afford to have polluters holding up the
policies that protect our clean water. 
Volume V
Page 3
Issue IV
Brown Coal Mining Coming to a Town Near You?
We have been working with our conservation
partners to fight a dirty, expensive, and
unnecessary lignite coal mine and coal-fired
power plant in Kemper County, Mississippi
that would permanently damage over 1,800
acres of wetlands and more than 53,000 feet
of streams.
peat. Mississippi has massive reserves of
lignite (see map), but only one other large
lignite mine. If Mississippi Power and their
allies succeed in pushing the Kemper coal
project through, this project could be
used as the poster child for other dirty,
brown coal mines throughout the state.
Proponents of the project have been selling it
as one of the first ―clean coal‖ plants in the
United States because it could capture
between ―zero percent…up to the design of
67 percent‖ of carbon dioxide emissions.
Calling this project clean just because it
might release less carbon dioxide than other
similar plants is akin to painting a skunk’s
stripe black and calling it a cat – it doesn’t
pass the smell test!
In areas where lignite mining has been
underway on a large scale for decades, it
has caused significant environmental
destruction and disrupted local
communities. For example, in Germany
brown coal mining has displaced more
than 300 communities and over 100,000
people! It’s time to say no to this
boondoggle in Kemper County, and no to
dirty, brown coal mining in the hundreds
of Mississippi communities potentially at
The black areas are lignite reserves risk. 
Lignite, or brown coal, is considered the
lowest rank of coal, just barely a step up from
in Mississippi.
Threat to Pearl River Averted, for Now (continued from page 1)
In Mississippi’s Pearl River County, officials were pushing a
destructive and expensive real estate development scheme
that involved damming East Hobolochitto Creek, a
significant tributary of the Pearl River. The proposed dam
would have destroyed almost 600 acres of wetlands and
ultimately reduced freshwater and sediment flows in the
Pearl River.
Along with the objections that GRN raised, hundreds of
citizens like you weighed in with our leaders in Congress
asking them to put the brakes on this ill-conceived real
estate scheme. Ultimately, the United States Army Corps
decided to reexamine the environmental impacts of the
project, and it is on hold until further notice. Thanks to all
of you who took action to protect the Pearl, and the
communities and wildlife that rely on it. 
Setting Mississippi River Diversions Up for Success (continued from page 1)
Some scientists have speculated that
if the nitrogen and phosphorus
pollution levels are too high, we
might get increased dead zones in
diversion areas, and the wetlands
created might have compromised
root structures. So, in order to
increase our success in these
diversions, we must 1) get the EPA
and Dead Zone Taskforce to set
concrete, enforceable goals to
achieve actual reductions of nitrogen
and phosphorous pollution in the
Mississippi River, 2) do
comprehensive monitoring before,
during, and after construction of any
Image Courtesy of USGS and State of LA
diversion, and 3) have an ―exit
strategy‖ in case there are
Proposed Mississippi River Diversion at Myrtle Grove
unforeseen issues that could
potentially do more harm than good.
The bottom line is that we have not
truly shown that we can build and
maintain a land-building river
diversion, so we have to ensure the
first ones that are built are receiving
the cleanest water possible and are
monitored carefully. The potential
money from the BP Clean Water Act
fines may be our last bite at the largescale restoration apples, so we need
to make sure we set ourselves up for
success. 
For more thoughts regarding a proposed
Mississippi River Diversion at Myrtle
grove, see GRN’s formal scoping
comments here.
UNITED FOR A HEALTHY GULF
BP Disaster and the Environmental Claims Process
New Orleans Office
338 Baronne St., Ste. 200
New Orleans, LA 70112
Phone: 504-525-1528
Florida Office
233 3rd Street N., Suite 100
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Phone: 727-560-2479
Email: [email protected]
With the BP Deepwater
Horizon Oil Disaster finally
capped and clean-up winding
down, long-term restoration of
the Gulf Coast’s vulnerable
marshes, beaches, fisheries, and
other natural resources hinges
on an often-obscure legal
process. A large portion of the
success of this process hinges on
how proactive and inclusive
federal and state governments
will be moving forward.
Restoring oil-damaged natural
resources and the public’s
commercial, recreational, and
Oil washing ashore, October 2010
cultural uses of those resources
is done by conducting a Natural
Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA). NRDA is a multi-phased, years-long process that: (1) assesses
damage to impacted natural resources; (2) puts a monetary value on that damage and the public’s
deprived use; (3) secures a negotiated sum from Responsible Parties based on that estimate, (4) and
develops projects funded by the settlement to, as nearly as possible, return natural resources to predisaster conditions and compensate the public for lost use of these resources.
In essence, NRDA is the ―claims process‖ for the environment.
www.healthygulf.org
By law, NRDA is a team sport – at least at the outset – helmed by a collective referred to as Natural
Resource Trustees. In this instance, Trustees include federal agencies like the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration; along with agencies from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and
Texas. Federally recognized Native American tribes impacted by the disaster also have the right to
become trustees.
Looking ahead, ultimate success under NRDA is defined as ―the restoration, rehabilitation, replacement,
or acquisition of equivalent natural resources and/or services.‖
GRN Healthy Waters
Program Staff
Florida: Darden Rice
727-560-2479 or
[email protected]
Mississippi:
Casey DeMoss Roberts
504-525-1528 x 205 or
[email protected]
Raleigh Hoke
504-525-1528 x 204 or
[email protected]
Louisiana: Matt Rota
504-525-1528 x 206 or
[email protected]
Over the past several months, NRDA Trustee members started developing ―Preassessment Workplans‖
as part of the first phase of NRDA. Working Groups assembled data that characterizes the human uses,
habitats, wildlife, and other natural resources that existed before the oil disaster.
Trustees are now beginning NRDA’s second phase – Injury Assessments and Restoration Planning – in
which the extent, severity, and duration of impacts from the disaster and related action are being
evaluated, followed by monetary estimates of that impact, and the development of a restoration plan.
For the public, monitoring these initial phases is crucial. Eventual projects aimed at restoring damaged
natural resources and public use will only include those that fit within the scope of what Trustees
established as the scope of the injury. In short, if Trustees do not view something as a problem caused
or exacerbated by the oil disaster, then NRDA will not address it.
Equally important, the public must be effective partners in NRDA’s final restoration phase, during which
Trustees will work with the public to implement, and monitor restoration projects.
If properly wielded with a proactive and inclusive approach, NRDA should be a valuable funding source
and framework for projects that jump-start coastal wetland restoration, sustainable fisheries, and habitat
and wildlife protection that many have promised – and many more hope for – as the recovery achieved
from the devastating BP drilling disaster. 
This article is based on a blog post by Jeffrey J. Thomas, J.D., the head of Thomas Strategies, and an
accomplished legal and policy analyst. He was formerly with the City of New Orleans Office of Recovery.