St. Johns Riverkeeper

The Jacksonville City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved $75 million in funding for the ongoing St. Johns River dredging project.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed into law measures that include bigger fines for dumping pollutants into waterways and new rules for septic tanks and agricultural runoff, though environmentalists said the rules don’t go far enough.

Environmental advocates from around Florida are calling on the state’s chief science officer to walk back his praise for a proposal making its way through the Legislature that’s aimed at improving water quality.

The Florida Cabinet voted Tuesday to approve a $2.8 million conservation easement on Wetland Preserve in Putnam County.

Our Friday First Coast Connect featured Florida Times-Union reporter Tessa Duval, Folio Weekly editor Claire Goforth, Jacksonville Daily Record reporter David Cawton and WJCT reporter Ryan Benk.

Topics included

Thursday on First Coast Connect we were joined by St. John Riverkeeper Advocacy Director Shannon Blankenship and Outreach Director Kelly Patton to talk about their series of town meetings beginning Thursday dealing with the dangers of rising water levels in the river (01:05).  

Wednesday on First Coast Connect with guest host Ryan Benk we heard about a controversial preservation land swap proposal by Bartram Park Developer Tom Dodson in which the state would give him back about 400 acres at theJulington-Durbin Peninsula in return for the state receiving about 400 acres on Black Hammock Island.

Wednesday on First Coast Connect we spoke with Jacksonville City Councilman Garrett Dennis (01:16).

Our Going Green segment featured Shannon Blankenship and Kelly Patton with the St. Johns Riverkeeper. They discussed their upcoming Great St Johns River Campout (29:06).

This month’s Women with Heart for Volunteers in Medicine featured Dr. Estrellita Redmon, President of St. Vincent’s Medical Group (37:57).   

We spoke with local actor, producer and author Nick Loren about his latest children’s book (46:00).

Friday on First Coast Connect our weekly Media Roundtable featured Folio Weekly Editor Claire Goforth, WJCT contributor and board member Charles Griggs and Florida Politics Reporter A.G Gancarski. (01:17).

We spoke with Scott Meyer who operates Congaree and Penn farm about the upcoming Olive Weekend (38:50).

Musician and Florida native Ben Sparaco performed live in-studio (46:00).  

Wednesday on First Coast Connect we spoke with St. Johns Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman about an injunction the group filed to postpone the dredging of the St. Johns River (01:01).

North Florida Transportation Planning Organization spokesperson Marci Larson talked about a survey of the region’s residents being conducted regarding their traffic and transportation concerns in the area (30:05).

Singer-songwriter DeSean Kirkland joined the show to tell us about an upcoming Christmas concert and to perform live in-studio (46:00). 

Update 1:08 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6: This story has been updated to include comment from JAXPORT.

An injunction filed Monday is seeking to stop the first phase of deepening the St. Johns River until further studies are conducted.

The Riverkeeper argues the project requires more analysis after Hurricane Irma.

The legal motion is in addition to an existing Riverkeeper lawsuit against the JAXPORT dredging project already making its way through the courts.

Sen. Rob Bradley’s, R-Orange Park, proposal to increase funding for the St. Johns River, springs and the Keystone Heights Lake Region cleared its first legislative hurdle Monday, gaining unanimous approval from the Senate’s Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee. Bradley is the chairman.

This year’s State of the River Report concludes there’s a lot of room for improvement when it comes to some nutrients and pollutants that cause toxic algal blooms, including chlorophyll and fecal coliform. That’s even though levels of certain pollutants like phosphorus and nitrogen, have been trending downward in the last 10 years.

Thursday on “First Coast Connect” we spoke with St. Johns Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman about the dangers to the river and its tributaries due to Hurricane Irma (01:10).

Tim Brack, Medtronic’s Ear, Nose and Throat division marketing manager told us about treatments for the sinus condition known as Chronic Rhinosinustis or CRS (31:52).

We also heard about two upcoming events connected to Volunteers in Medicine.

Noor Ashouri is the Director of Marketing with First Coast Cardiovascular and Aimee Boggs is with Raymond James. You’ll learn more about Volunteers in Medicine’s Women with Heart for September (39:43). 

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson is optimistic a St. Johns River dredging project will bring big business into JAXPORT. The Florida Democrat’s support for the deepening goes against the concerns of local environmentalists, as the St. Johns Riverkeeper is suing over potential environmental impacts.     

  Today on “First Coast Connect,” we spoke with St. Johns Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman (01:02) about JAXPORT’s newly modified plan to deepen the river’s channel. Retired Captain Matt Tuohy from the Jacksonville Military Veterans Coalition and Pelocity CEO Stephen Pollan (33:04) talked about the company’s program to help veterans find jobs. Flamingo Magazine publisher Jamie Rich (40:31) told us about its summer edition and Kerry Speckman (45:16) let us know what’s going on around town this weekend. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved more than $17 million Wednesday for deepening a portion of the St. Johns River. But with the full cost of the JaxPort dredging estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars, the newest allocation is just a drop in the river.