COMMENTARY

ED TAYLOR

In the late 1950s, a motorist who made a slight wrong turn due east of the First Presbyterian Church ended up smack dab in the Indian River. As a young child during that time, I do remember the frequency of such mishaps and distinctly remember a family drowning in such an accident. That part of the river is gone. Instead we have an upscale development called Vero Isles, although during the dredging and construction process everyone I knew called the project “The Fingers”. This man-made development not only created a very nice living area but also greatly reduced the number of cars being hauled out of the river.

Being that I was very young, I don’t recall a great deal of controversy regarding this dredging project. I did make an effort to read the Miami Herald, the daily newspaper of choice at the time in Vero Beach, everyday and there could have been ecological concerns about this project that I simply don’t remember.

Growing up as a river rat in Vero Beach brings back nothing but mostly fond memories.  It was great learning how to water ski while still in elementary school; a hobby that my friends and I pursued almost every weekend, year round, until the responsibilities of adulthood minimized our time on the river.  The only downside was getting a typhoid shot every year to deal with potential known pollution that existed in the lagoon over 50 years ago.  We knew that the sewage plant was dumping “processed” human wastes in the river.  As kids, we were never sure what was meant by “processed” but I sure thought about it whenever my bare feet touched the bottom of the river bed and sunk four to six inches into the muck.

Based upon a directive from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection several years ago, Vero Beach and Indian River County no longer discharge treated sewage into the lagoon.

There is no doubt that there are real problems in the lagoon which stretches from Volusia County north to the northern tip of Palm Beach County to the south of us.  So the pollution to our river is bigger than just Vero Beach.  There are portions of six east coast counties attempting to address and resolve the issue along with an unknown number of municipalities.

That is why the Indian River Lagoon Counties Collaborative is such a good idea. Commissioner Peter O’Bryan represents our county on the cooperative.  Palm Beach County has recently dropped out of the effort claiming that only one mile of the lagoon is located in their jurisdiction.

While attempting to resolve pollution issues involving 156 miles of lagoon, it is beneficial for all affected parties to be on the same page as much as possible in order to work toward a common solution. Vero Beach does not want to go full speed ahead into a project that may be a partial resolution to our area only to work to the detriment of another portion of the lagoon. On the other hand, there may be issues that are totally unique, hypothetically, to another area that may not have any impact on our contributions to the problem.

That is why a coalition of all affected counties and municipalities is needed to resolve this very complex and very dire problem. The deaths of 112 manatees have been blamed on the consumption of toxic seaweed discovered in the lagoon.  Dolphins and pelicans are also dying in unusually large numbers.  Let’s not forget the other marine life that require the sea grass, that is being killed by pollution created algae, in order to survive in a healthy environment.

When wholesalers refuse to purchase seafood harvested from the Indian River Lagoon, we all have problems.

This is truly a situation where we must all work together to identify the problems and work toward the solutions to these problems. I have a feeling that it will not be cheap in the short run but in the long run a solution is essential.  Unfortunately this has been a long time coming but the handwriting on the wall can no longer be overlooked and thankfully it is not.  We just need to be sure that we are all on the same page to avoid any efforts that may be counterproductive.

As much as I enjoy water skiing, I would not go into the Indian River today.  Hopefully, before I get too old and decrepit, I will be able to polish up my favorite slalom ski (the one from high school) and jump the wake to create a spray that soaks unsuspecting sunbathers.  It probably won’t happen this year but I will not give up hope.