When it comes to the future of the St. Johns River, Jimmy Orth wants more opportunities like Tuesday.
The St. Johns Riverkeeper executive director was one of many in attendance at a special City Council open forum to discuss the port.
Not just deepening the river, but the port in general — a distinction council President Bill Gulliford made at the outset of the hour-and-a-half long discussion.
“It’s something we haven’t done as a community,” he said. “We haven’t had the dialogue we need.”
Orth approaches the river-dredging issue from an environmental standpoint, as Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman and Quinton White did when they spoke to council.
On Monday, Mayor Alvin Brown announced a 13-member task force that will, as he said, look to build community support for JaxPort priorities, review funding possibilities for dredging and have an open discussion about the project.
White is one of the 13 members and told council he supports a vibrant port, but also is “very concerned” about the river. Decades of “use and abuse” have resulted in disappearing vegetation, a drop in
river-related seafood harvesting and an increase in salinity that has affected the river’s ecosystem, White said.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials stood by their position that the environmental impact would be minimal, an increase in salinity “minor” from deepening to 47 feet from 40 feet.
Orth, though, says that the corps has only reviewed the issue as it benefits the federal government. The only local look has come from a team hired by the port, he said, meaning a peer review is needed.
Rinaman told council that once the damage is done to the river, it will be difficult to reverse and the resource shouldn’t be used as a “guinea pig” without verifying facts.
Port CEO Brian Taylor said the project would protect the business JaxPort has accumulated after 13 straight years of revenue and cargo growth.
Decisions, he said, have to be made based on balance and he has “great confidence” in the environmental and economic data.
But, while the Riverkeeper typically focuses on environmental aspects with the river, Orth said the economic side of the equation also needs further review and “not just an economic impact statement from the corps or a study commissioned by the port.”
He advocates for group peer review of economists, shipping industry officials and others who could help determine how many jobs and how much money such a project would bring to Northeast Florida — and if the money is the best use.
The current price tag is slated to be $684 million, with the federal government picking up more than $300 million. The rest would have to come from state and city sources.
Gulliford said that’s one of the reasons he wanted to have discussions about the port: He is concerned about the federal government holding up its end of any arrangement and wants to know what Plan B is in the event it doesn’t come through.
Also, council likely will be required to sign off on some form of funding at a later time and he said he wanted the group to be as informed as possible.
At least one more meeting will be scheduled to allow council members more time to ask questions and all sides to further present their issues.
Orth said the environmental concerns about the project are starting to attract attention.
“Traction,” he said, “but still a ways to go.”
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