An Inventory of Existing Resources and Assessment of Impacts

Clean Water Action and its partners have conducted an analysis of existing scientific information on the demonstrated and potential impacts of continued large-scale rock mining in the sensitive Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA).

The outcome of this project is the creation of the first comprehensive bibliography of rock mining resources available for South Florida. In addition, the report provides recommendations for further studies that should be performed before moving forward on any new or expanded mining operations. Among these recommendations are the use of geophysical tools to provide more accurate images of the porous aquifer and further investigation into possible interference with federal and state Everglades Restoration initiatives. Results of the analysis have confirmed previous assessments that the issue of rock mining in the EAA is multi-faceted and highly scientific.

Executive Summary

The Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) is a valuable and highly sensitive region of Palm Beach County located directly south of Lake Okeechobee. Rock mining is hotly debated and multi-faceted issue, one which has major long-term implications for Palm Beach County's drinking water supply, environmental health, and economy. In recent years, nearly 20,000 acres of rock mines have been approved in a piecemeal fashion without taking a comprehensive and scientific review of the impacts. As a result of pressure from the environmental community, Palm Beach County recently made the wise decision to enact a one-year moratorium on new rock mining initiatives effective September 2010. Clean Water Fund believes that now is the time to move forward with a thorough investigation and analysis of potential impacts of rock mining to assure that a set of amended zoning regulations or amendments to the land use code adequately ensure that new mines are sited in environmentally appropriate locations.

Given the extensive price of conducting a cumulative impact analysis - previously estimated by Palm Beach County to cost upwards of $6 million - Clean Water Fund and its partners have conducted an analysis of the existing scientific data on the demonstrated and potential impacts of rock mining in the EAA. The goal of this project is to formulate a comprehensive bibliography provided by a wide range of stakeholders, and present a cohesive document that can aid in the county's decision-making process.

Among the potential threats posed by rock mining are damage to the aquifer, contamination of water supply, and interference with the investments in Comprehensive Everglades Restoration. Each of these topics have been researched and analyzed in this document to better determine what applicable information is already available as presented by the scientific community, and which further research projects would be most beneficial and cost-effective in order to achieve an appropriate groundwork of knowledge to enable smart decision-making. After reviewing existing scientific studies included in this report, Clean Water Fund believes that over the next year we may need to invest in a few targeted scientific studies to fill data gaps.

The results of this analysis have confirmed previous assessments that the issue of rock mining in the Everglades Agricultural Area is multifaceted and highly scientific. Findings of this project are as follows:

• Aquifer conditions in the EAA are unpredictably porous and prone to structural damage; it is difficult to forecast this structural damage on a case-by-case basis.
• Groundwater seepage flow through the limestone aquifer is a vitally important yet sensitive process that provides Floridians with clean drinking water; structural damage to the aquifer could interrupt this natural flow and cause regional harm.
• On average, existing rock mines in the EAA are approximately 40 feet deep; this level of intrusion will affect the interaction between groundwater and surface water, and can lead to dangerous increases in salinity levels that will leave drinking water for Palm Beach County at unacceptable levels by EPA standards.
• Excavated mines are not safe for water storage, as contamination is likely.
• The toxins used in rock mining can have serious - potentially even fatal - impacts on the Everglades ecosystem and its native wildlife.
• State and federal agencies have determined Everglades Restoration (CERP) projects to be of fundamental importance with regard to storing and treating water for the entire state. Palm Beach County must ensure that rock mining does not interfere with currently planned or future CERP initiatives.

This report has reaffirmed what the environmental community has been saying for several years; there is enough documented evidence in the available body of scientific research to determine that rock mining has a detrimental effect on our water supply and impedes Everglades Restoration. However, there are some critical data gaps that we need to fill before recommendations for zoning or land use changes are adopted.

Clean Water Fund's initial recommendations for further research based on these results are listed below. While we do not have the expertise to provide cost estimates for the completion of these analyses, it is clear that the information these studies will provide is vital to the creation of an adequate zoning regulatory framework.

• Use of geophysical tools to provide specific and accurate images of the aquifer's structure within the potentially-affected radius of land surrounding proposed new mine locations. This will help ensure that those areas determined to be least stable, and thus most at risk for structural damage, be protected from excavation.
• Utilize spatial modeling programs to forecast cumulative impacts of mining over specific increments of time (five years, twenty years, fifty years). It is essential to understand the maximum amount of impact stress that the aquifer can handle before withstanding serious and irreversible structural damage.
• Further investigation into possible interference with CERP initiatives, not only considering availability of lands but also contamination of water supply that will be vital to restoring flow and ecosystem health to the River of Grass.
• Economic analysis of the value of a clean drinking water supply for Palm Beach County versus the economic gains of the rock mining industry. It is important to understand that while this business may boost local economy in the short-term, potential long-term damage to the County's primary source of drinking water will prove to be markedly more costly if chemical contamination does take place.

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