Making government visible requires a good attorney general and some exposure
5 views
Skip to first unread message
Dwight Hines
Feb 7, 2009, 10:25:25 PM2/7/09
to visiblegove...@googlegroups.com
We need to set up a study group to examine and review what international treaties will allow us to submit pleadings about specific violations of human rights and what law will govern those pleadings, procedures, and decisions.
dh
Copy of Request for mediation with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection via the Attorney General of the State of Florida this week.
===========
The Honorable Bill McCollum,
Florida Attorney General
The Capitol, Suite PL-01
Tallahassee, Fl 32399-1050
Fax 850-487-2564
Dear Attorney General McCollum:
I am requesting mediation with, and specific sanctions for, the Northeast Division of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (ND-FL-DEP). I have corresponded with Ms. Myers, counsel for ND-FL-DEP, and she emailed me that she was not against mediation.
The facts to be mediated and resolved are:
On or about 2006, there was a break in the discharge pipe for the dike in northern St. Johns County that released unknown quantities of dredged material from the bottom of St. Johns River. Toxic materials in concentrations high enough to kill native plant life and to kill replantings of native plants were discharged onto and into freshwater marshes.
1) No one in the media, or the public health agencies, has been notified of the toxic discharge;
2) A cause of action is in preparation against the corporation responsible for the toxic discharge by ND-FL-DEP.
3) It is unknown how many pregnant women, infants, elderly, or people with compromised health have been exposed, are now being exposed and will continue to be exposed to the toxic substances with adverse health consequences that may not be apparent for years;
4) All documents relating to the toxic discharge were removed from the Jacksonville Office of ND-FL-DEP and thereby made unavailable for public inspection in the county where the exposure to humans, animals and plants is ongoing. There can be no effective public records law if the records are moved out of the jurisdiction where people have an interest.
5) There has been no notification to the real estate brokers, or to the banks, or to the property owners, or to the schools of the toxic discharges so property values can be adjusted.
6) At a meeting yesterday where newly elected State Attorney R. J. Larizza stated during the question and answer period after he had spoken to the Women's Realtors Council, that he would prosecute environmental crimes. However, there is no environmental attorney on their staff and he does not have the money to hire one. In addition because the toxic discharge may have spread to Duval County, this is the appropriate jurisdiction for the Attorney General (Duval County is in a different Judicial Circuit from St. Johns County).
7) I have been repeatedly promised over several weeks that I would receive the records of the toxic discharge and Ms. Myers emailed me yesterday that the records were being scanned into the computer to put on disks and I would be receiving them in batches.
8) No one has notified the County authorities of the toxic discharges and what the potential costs to the County might be.
Therefore, for these reasons, and others unspoken, I am requesting mediation to require ND-FL-DEP to:
1) Immediately notify all newsmedia in the afflicted area of the toxic discharges;
2) Immediately notify all local governments and all health agencies of the toxic discharges;
3) Immediately notify all nearby schools of the toxic discharges;
4) Immediately notify all known non-profit environmental groups in the area of the toxic discharges;
5) Immediately make all documents available on the web and in their Jacksonville Office, with temporary access for those who request access to the documents in their local area, such as Ponte Vedra, Nocatee, Palm Valley, St. Augustine;
6) Immediately cease and desist the transfer of documents to Tallahassee that are applicable to any environmental violations in St. Johns County. Send them copies of the documents.
7) Immediately notify the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia, of the toxic discharge and the immediate need to start a valid, reliable, and generalizable bio-surveillance program for the people in the area.
8) Immediate notify the St. Johns County Animal Control department as to the need for a bio-surveillance program for animals;
9) Require ND-FL-DEP to create, contract for, or require the responsible parties for the toxic discharge to produce an economic impact analysis for the exposed areas and people.
10) Immediately notify the media and local governments of the existence of any and all other toxic and non-toxic but unapproved discharges that ND-FL-DEP has knowledge of for the past 10 years in St. Johns County.
11) ND-FL-DEP agree to notify by publication on the internet and direct emails to interested parties at least 90 days in advance what penalties and sanctions are being applied to the responsible parties.
12) Immediately notify the National Response Center and the Environmental Protection Agency of the toxic discharge.
As we learn more about the exposures, we may add to this list. At this time we respectfully suggest that a statewide grand jury be sworn in to investigate these unreported toxic discharges to be sure that other counties have not experienced the same events and to investigate the effectiveness of ND-FL-DEP penalties and sanctions because it is cheaper to violate the environmental laws, pay a small fine (in the case of the illegal dumping and the refusal to report broken waste water treatment plant pipe, simply hiring a person will cancel the tiny fine), and go about business as normal.
I swear that the information contained here is true to the best of my ability given that documents are not available in St. Johns County or Jacksonville and I've tried diligently to obtain them.
Dwight Hines
dh
Copy of Request for mediation with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection via the Attorney General of the State of Florida this week.
===========
February 6, 2009
The Honorable Bill McCollum,
Florida Attorney General
The Capitol, Suite PL-01
Tallahassee, Fl 32399-1050
Fax 850-487-2564
Dear Attorney General McCollum:
I am requesting mediation with, and specific sanctions for, the Northeast Division of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (ND-FL-DEP). I have corresponded with Ms. Myers, counsel for ND-FL-DEP, and she emailed me that she was not against mediation.
The facts to be mediated and resolved are:
On or about 2006, there was a break in the discharge pipe for the dike in northern St. Johns County that released unknown quantities of dredged material from the bottom of St. Johns River. Toxic materials in concentrations high enough to kill native plant life and to kill replantings of native plants were discharged onto and into freshwater marshes.
1) No one in the media, or the public health agencies, has been notified of the toxic discharge;
2) A cause of action is in preparation against the corporation responsible for the toxic discharge by ND-FL-DEP.
3) It is unknown how many pregnant women, infants, elderly, or people with compromised health have been exposed, are now being exposed and will continue to be exposed to the toxic substances with adverse health consequences that may not be apparent for years;
4) All documents relating to the toxic discharge were removed from the Jacksonville Office of ND-FL-DEP and thereby made unavailable for public inspection in the county where the exposure to humans, animals and plants is ongoing. There can be no effective public records law if the records are moved out of the jurisdiction where people have an interest.
5) There has been no notification to the real estate brokers, or to the banks, or to the property owners, or to the schools of the toxic discharges so property values can be adjusted.
6) At a meeting yesterday where newly elected State Attorney R. J. Larizza stated during the question and answer period after he had spoken to the Women's Realtors Council, that he would prosecute environmental crimes. However, there is no environmental attorney on their staff and he does not have the money to hire one. In addition because the toxic discharge may have spread to Duval County, this is the appropriate jurisdiction for the Attorney General (Duval County is in a different Judicial Circuit from St. Johns County).
7) I have been repeatedly promised over several weeks that I would receive the records of the toxic discharge and Ms. Myers emailed me yesterday that the records were being scanned into the computer to put on disks and I would be receiving them in batches.
8) No one has notified the County authorities of the toxic discharges and what the potential costs to the County might be.
Therefore, for these reasons, and others unspoken, I am requesting mediation to require ND-FL-DEP to:
1) Immediately notify all newsmedia in the afflicted area of the toxic discharges;
2) Immediately notify all local governments and all health agencies of the toxic discharges;
3) Immediately notify all nearby schools of the toxic discharges;
4) Immediately notify all known non-profit environmental groups in the area of the toxic discharges;
5) Immediately make all documents available on the web and in their Jacksonville Office, with temporary access for those who request access to the documents in their local area, such as Ponte Vedra, Nocatee, Palm Valley, St. Augustine;
6) Immediately cease and desist the transfer of documents to Tallahassee that are applicable to any environmental violations in St. Johns County. Send them copies of the documents.
7) Immediately notify the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia, of the toxic discharge and the immediate need to start a valid, reliable, and generalizable bio-surveillance program for the people in the area.
8) Immediate notify the St. Johns County Animal Control department as to the need for a bio-surveillance program for animals;
9) Require ND-FL-DEP to create, contract for, or require the responsible parties for the toxic discharge to produce an economic impact analysis for the exposed areas and people.
10) Immediately notify the media and local governments of the existence of any and all other toxic and non-toxic but unapproved discharges that ND-FL-DEP has knowledge of for the past 10 years in St. Johns County.
11) ND-FL-DEP agree to notify by publication on the internet and direct emails to interested parties at least 90 days in advance what penalties and sanctions are being applied to the responsible parties.
12) Immediately notify the National Response Center and the Environmental Protection Agency of the toxic discharge.
As we learn more about the exposures, we may add to this list. At this time we respectfully suggest that a statewide grand jury be sworn in to investigate these unreported toxic discharges to be sure that other counties have not experienced the same events and to investigate the effectiveness of ND-FL-DEP penalties and sanctions because it is cheaper to violate the environmental laws, pay a small fine (in the case of the illegal dumping and the refusal to report broken waste water treatment plant pipe, simply hiring a person will cancel the tiny fine), and go about business as normal.
I swear that the information contained here is true to the best of my ability given that documents are not available in St. Johns County or Jacksonville and I've tried diligently to obtain them.
Dwight Hines
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages