STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

GERALDINE HIDI LEIGH, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 84-1757

) STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT ) OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION, )

)

Respondent, )

and )

) JACKSONVILLE PORT AUTHORITY, )

)

Intervenor. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, the Division of Administrative Hearings, by its duly designated Hearing Officer, William J. Kendrick, held a public hearing in the above-styled case on January 10, 1985, in Jacksonville, Florida.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Geraldine Hidi Leigh, pro se

6026 Heckscher Drive

Jacksonville, Florida 32226

For Respondent: William P. Matturro, Esquire

Department of Environmental Regulation 2600 Blair Stone Road

Tallahassee, Florida 32301

For Intervenor: Steve Lewis, Esquire

Messer, Rhodes & Vickers Post Office Box 1876 Tallahassee, Florida 32302

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

The issue raised by these proceedings is whether Respondent, Department of Environmental Regulation (DER), should issue a dredge and fill permit and water quality certification to Intervenor, Jacksonville Port Authority (JPA), to construct a dock, and to dredge materials immediately adjacent to the proposed dock, in the St. Johns River at Jacksonville, Florida.

At final hearing Petitioner called Brian D. Teeple, James F. Murley, John

K. Flowe, and Donald C. Summerfield, as witnesses. Petitioner offered Exhibits

1 through 5, and Exhibits 1, 3, and 5 were received into evidence. Intervenor, JPA, called Daniel M. Leininger, Marvin Collins III, and W. Ross McWilliams, as

witnesses. JPA offered Exhibits 1 through 17, and they were received into evidence. Respondent, DER, called no witnesses and offered no exhibits. Stella

1. Andrews, a member of the public in attendance at the hearing, testified on her own behalf. Ms. Andrews offered Exhibits 1 through 8, and they were received into evidence.

   
   

   Respondent and Intervenor have submitted proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. No proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law have been submitted on behalf of Petitioner. To the extent that any proposed findings have not been adopted in this Recommended Order, they have been rejected as being subordinate, cumulative, immaterial, or unnecessary, or as being contrary to the facts as found in this Recommended Order.

   
   

   FINDINGS OF FACT

   
   

   1. On September 9, 1983, Intervenor, Jacksonville Port Authority (JPA), made application to Respondent, Department of Environmental Regulation (DER), for a dredge and fill permit and water quality certification, to construct a commercial docking facility on the west channel of Blount Island, and to dredge material adjacent to the proposed dock for a navigation channel.

      
      

   2. JPA is a body-politic and corporate operating under the authority of Chapter 63-1447, Laws of Florida. It was expressly created for the public purpose of constructing, developing and operating marine and airport terminals in Jacksonville, Florida.

      
      

   3. Blount Island is a spoil island comprised of approximately 800 acres, and lies in the St. Johns River, at Jacksonville, Florida. In 1964 the island was deeded by the State of Florida to the JPA for the purpose of constructing a port. To date, approximately 40 percent of the island has been developed.

      There are 4,300 feet of dock on the main channel and one dock under construction on the west channel. Over two and a half million tons of cargo presently pass through the Blount Island terminal each year.

      
      

   4. The permit, if granted, would allow JPA to construct a "T" shaped docking facility on the northwest shoreline of Blount Island. The pier would be

      59 feet wide and extend 250 feet from the shoreline toward the west channel. The pier would terminate with a "T" head, 70 feet wide and 200 feet long.

      Associated mooring and bresting dolphins connected to a 1,500 foot catwalk would be constructed parallel to, and shoreward of, the "T" head. JPA proposes to construct the facility on open concrete piles. No fueling or toilet facilities will be constructed on the pier. The proposed facility is graphically illustrated by the attached excerpt from Intervenor's Exhibit 1.

      
      

   5. The permit would also allow the placement of riprap along the shoreline adjacent to the facility and landward of the Mean Highwater (MH) line, and the dredging of approximately 35,000 cubic yards of material to provide a 126 foot by 2,000 foot access channel, with a depth of -30 feet Mean Sea Level, to the facility from the existing west channel.

      
      

   6. The proposed facility, a roll-on/roll-off dock (RO-RO dock) would accommodate two deep water vessels at any one time. The vessels would moor stern to the dock, and containerized cargo would be loaded or unloaded from the ship's rear unloading ramp by trucks towing the wheeled containers. The facility, and associated water runoff, will not pose a water quality problem.

   7. On April 9, 1984 DER issued its notice of intent to grant the permit to JPA. A timely request for hearing, pursuant to Section 120.57, Fla. Stat., was filed by Petitioner.

      
      

   8. JPA proposes to dredge the subject channel by using a hydraulic suction dredge. The dredge would pump a slurry of water and the dredge material through a pipeline to the dredge spoil disposal area on the island. The dredge would act as a vacuum cleaner. As the materials were dislodged from the bottom, they would be immediately sucked into the dredge pipe where they would remain until they were ejected at the spoil site. Samples of the materials to be dredged establish that they are nontoxic and consist of relatively clean silky sand. Because of the sand's particle size, settlement time and chemical constituents, the dredge materials will pose no water quality problems.

      
      

   9. JPA proposes to dispose of the spoil materials at an existing spoil disposal site on Blount Island. The disposal area consists of two settlement ponds of different elevations, connected by throttling pipes. The dredge materials will be deposited in the upper pond and over the course of two and a half days the materials will settle, and the waters will be slowly returned to the St. Johns River. Turbidity at the point of discharge will not exceed the background.

      
      

   10. The shoreline area immediately adjacent to the proposed dock contains a zone of tidal shoreline marsh varying in width from 15 to 60 feet. This area will not be disturbed. No submerged vegetation exists. While some benthic organisms will be eliminated during the dredging, the area will quickly recolonize. No clam or oyster beds exist in the vicinity of the project.

       
       

   11. Petitioner expressed her personal concern about the potential impact of the proposed facility on the manatee. Although manatee have in the past been sighted in the west channel, there was no credible evidence that they currently frequent the area or that the construction and operation of the facility will impact adversely on them.

       
       

   12. Petitioner further expressed concern that, if not properly managed, the spoil disposal site might be a source of particulate matter (dust)--air pollution. However, JPA's Blount Island operation is not a complex air source, and the disposal site, if properly managed, will not be a source of particulate matter. JPA has agreed to properly manage the disposal site.

       
       

       CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

       
       

   13. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the parties to, and the subject matter of, these proceedings.

       
       

   14. The issues in this case are whether JPA has provided reasonable assurances that the construction and operation of the proposed docking facility will not cause a violation of state water quality standards, will not interfere with the conservation of fish or other marine wildlife, and will not create a hazard to navigation. Chapters 253 and 403, Fla. Stat.; Chapters 17-3 and 17-4, F.A.C.

       
       

   15. JPA has provided reasonable assurances that the proposed project will not violate state water quality standards. JPA has provided adequate biological and ecological surveys which demonstrate that the proposed project and associated activities will not interfere with the conservation of fish, marine, and other wildlife, or other natural resources to such an extent as to be

contrary to the public interest. The project, further, will not result in the destruction of oyster beds, clam beds, or marine productivity, including, but not limited to, the destruction of natural marine habitats, grass flats suitable for nursery or feeding grounds for marine life, and established marine soils suitable for producing plant growth of the type useful as nursery or feeding grounds for marine life or natural shoreline processes to such an extent as to be contrary to the public interest. The project will not create a navigational hazard, be a serious impediment to navigation, or substantially alter or impede the natural flow of navigable waters so as to be contrary to the public interest.

Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that:

1. A Final Order be entered by the State of Florida, Department of Environmental Regulation, granting the requested dredge and fill permit, and water quality certification.

   
   

2. The relief requested by Petitioner be denied, and her petition dismissed, with prejudice.

DONE AND ENTERED this 4th day of March, 1985, at Tallahassee, Florida.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Geraldine Hidi Leigh 6026 Heckscher Drive

Jacksonville, Florida 32226

William P. Matturro, Esquire Department of Environmental

Regulation

2600 Blair Stone Road Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Steve Lewis, Esquire Messer, Rhodes & Vickers Post Office Box 1876 Tallahassee, Florida 32302

WILLIAM J. KENDRICK

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings Oakland Building

2009 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32301 904/488-9675

FILED with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 4th day of March, 1985.

Victoria Tschinkel, Secretary Department of Environmental Regulation

2600 Blair Stone Road Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Docket for Case No: 84-001757

Orders for Case No: 84-001757