Port plan for rail line chugs ahead

Fishermen, environmentalists, homeowners — and now the world’s largest conservation organization dedicated to saving the West Indian manatee — are taking an increased interest as controversial plans for an earthen-dam railway causeway across the northern portion of the Banana River Lagoon move forward.

The area, which has been off-limits to powered vessels for more than 20 years, is home to the largest marine sanctuary for the docile, endangered marine mammals.

But despite boasting some of the last remaining healthy seagrass meadows in the Banana and Indian River lagoons, this fragile portion of the lagoon sits squarely in the sights of Canaveral Port Authority’s two favored-alternative routes for a planned cargo rail extension.

Researchers and policy specialists for Maitland-based Save the Manatees Club are just now becoming involved in the process; a shortage of staff prevented them from attending federally mandated public scoping meetings last November. Those meetings were intended to give concerned groups and individuals an opportunity to suggest what should be included in an Environmental Impact Statement being developed by the National Surface Transportation Board, the federal entity overseeing the project.

Late last month, the CPA responded to the NSTB’s request for more information — nearly a month after the board’s own established deadline. That response is garnering more interest, particularly from Save the Manatees.

“We work on a lot of issues like this with the National Fish and Wildlife Service,” says Katie Tripp, Ph. D., director of science and conservation for the group. “We’ve only just recently seen some coverage about the issue and received several emails from concerned citizens on the subject. We definitely have concerns about this, the potential impact on manatees and the overall health of the lagoon.”

Tripp says the information she has seen regarding the proposed rail extension and its purported economic benefits doesn’t make a compelling argument in favor when compared to the potential environmental impact and cost to “ecosystem services.” The term covers everything from the ecological benefits of the lagoon system and seagrass’ natural filtering abilities, to healthy habitat for fish spawning and recruitment to economic impacts from recreational and commercial fishing and a burgeoning ecotourism industry.

“The overall environmental and economic benefit of the resource in the condition it is in now needs to be weighed against the benefits of a project like this,” Tripp says. “I would hope those would get equal consideration; sometimes they get overlooked.”

Tripp also says the impacts of trains rumbling across the river need to be addressed. Marine mammals are sensitive to a wide range of noise pollution, and sound budgeting is currently a hot-button topic for resource managers tasked with regulating shipping traffic in busy sea lanes in order to protect them. The proposed rail project could pose a similar threat.

“Although manatees don’t echolocate like dolphin, noise could still be an issue,” Tripp says. “Would it bother them enough to cause them to move or leave the (sanctuary) area? Things like that need to be looked at.”

Not enough community involvement

Former Port Authority Commissioner Sue Ford, who started an online petition to stop the proposed construction project, says she’s shocked at how little the CPA did to promote the November meetings and believes its community outreach efforts since have been lacking.

“The Port Authority didn’t do much to promote those two meetings or the whole scoping process,” Ford says. “Then the deadline ran out Dec. 19, so they won’t take any more comment. It is almost as if they hope the public doesn’t find about it until the bridge is already halfway across the lagoon. Port Canaveral belongs to ‘We the People.’ You have five commissioners and a director that act like it’s their own private business.”

One perfect example, says Ford, was the Port Authority’s reluctance to speak recently at a meeting of the East Merritt Island Home Owners Association — specifically about the rail extension plan. The CPA declined the invitation via an email from a staffer stating, “The Port Authority will not be able to participate in your event in order to respect the federal process that is under way to evaluate our project request.”

It was unclear at press time how participating in a community forum would disrespect the ongoing review by the National Surface Transportation Board, and phone calls and emails to CPA Director of Communications and Community Affairs Rosalind Harvey went unanswered.

“These people that live on North Merritt Island are the ones that will be affected the most by this,” Ford says. “To not address their concerns, it is a dereliction of duty. It’s almost like they (CPA) don’t care.”

Avid boater Floyd Rippetoe has owned a home on the North Merritt Island area for nearly 30 years. The self-professed 71-year lover of Florida’s natural beauty isn’t happy with how things are going.

“I can’t take a powered vessel north of the power lines and there is no way you can build this without motorized vessels,” Rippetoe says. “That’s the thing that really frosts me. We are their bosses. We can’t even add two pilings to our dock without jumping through a bunch of hoops with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; now the Port Authority wants to do something of this exponential magnitude. I’m not anti-business or anti-commerce; there are just some things that suck. This is one of them.”

Good news might be coming down the tracks for outdoorsmen, homeowners and environmentalists, however. The Port Authority is said to be conducting another mini-study re-examining the potential use of the State Road 528 transportation corridor rather than building the current favored alternative. Those results are expected to be submitted to the NSTB sometime next week.

“We’ve lost around 47,000 acres of seagrass in the past several years,” says Save the Manatees’ Tripp. “That’s from 60 years of development and everything that we’ve done to the lagoon system. I thought we learned this lesson already in the Indian River Lagoon. But I guess people have short memories. We’re definitely concerned about this and intend to be involved in the Environmental Impact Statement process.”

Ted Lund is a freelance writer born and raised on Florida’s Space Coast. You can follow him on Twitter @tedlundoutdoors or visit his website at tedlund.com. If you have comments or ideas for stories, contact him at floridatodayoutdoors@gmail.com.

More online

•To learn more about the Canaveral Port Authority Rail Extension Progress, visit www.canaveralraileis.com.

•To learn more about the petition circulating in opposition to the CPA plan, visit www.stopportcanaveralrailextension.com.