Volume IV Issue IV December 2009

Inside this issue:

Victory on the Dead Zone
nitrogen and
Its no secret that GRN has phosphorous pollution.
Endangered Frog, been pushing for concrete And we have finally seen
Taxpayers on 2 action to reduce the Dead some action in this arena.
Chopping Block Zone, which forms at the
mouth of the Mississippi On September 24 at a
Coal Facility River every summer, for a Courtesy of USGS Dead Zone Taskforce
Threatens long time. In fact, one of meeting in Des Moines,
2 our Executive Director Iowa, Agriculture
Wetlands in
Mississippi Cynthia Sarthou’s first acts Secretary Tom Vilsack
with GRN was to speak in presented a new
Amid Mourning, front of a governmental program (via video) that
Good News in panel addressing the Dead directs $320 million over
3 Zone fourteen years ago! the next four years to
Fight to “Stop
the Lock” Regretfully, we have seen reducing polluted
little real action to address agricultural runoff in the
Floridians Unite this ecological disaster. Mississippi River Basin.
to Protect 4 What we have seen is This is a good first step,
Coastline rounds of (in)Action Plans, and hopefully will spur on
which have yielded no more action from USDA,
reduction in the size of the Dead Zone. For as well as EPA. This new initiative directed
years, GRN and our partners in the Mississippi each state to select 2-3 large watersheds
River Collaborative have been advocating for where they would focus their efforts to reduce
the use of targeted farm conservation dollars in nitrogen and phosphorus pollution. These
watersheds where these resources will have watersheds were recently released and can be
the greatest impact on improving local water found on USDA’s Natural Resources
quality and reducing Dead Zone-causing Conservation website. The following
Continued on page 4

No More Degrading Mississippi’s Waters!

Congratulations are in order for the Mississippi
Department of Environmental Quality. They
are finally going to adopt Antidegradation Rules
that provide for protection of the state’s most
outstanding waters. GRN has been advocating
for these rules for several years, and recently
we were told by the Department that our
comments and those of our supporters made a
big impact on how the new rules were written.
This kind of feedback is great to hear and makes
our work worth doing. Thanks to all of you
who have taken action to protect waters in
Mississippi and throughout the Gulf!
Of course, at a public hearing to review the
rule changes, we still had some constructive
criticism to offer the Department on how
“Outstanding National Resource Waters” get
nominated. “Outstanding” status provides
the highest level of protection available to the
most ecologically and recreationally significant
rivers in a state. The nomination process, as
currently proposed, is too cumbersome for
Mississippi citizens and would effectively
prevent the general public from being able to
participate. We offered alternative language
Continued on page 3
 Page 2 W a ve M ak e r’ s N ew s

Endangered Frog, Taxpayers on the Chopping Block

Regular readers will know that GRN has been advocating
against a series of expensive and environmentally
destructive sewage and water treatment facilities in
Mississippi for the last several months. All of these
projects are being funded by federal Katrina relief dollars
that were meant to aid in developing low-income
housing. Well, some of the money is helping subsidize a
housing development - but few could call it low income.

This development, fancifully dubbed “The Town of

Tradition, Mississippi”, is not your regular subdivision. In
fact, its developers bill Tradition as “a new hometown,
combining the classic charm of a walkable coastal hamlet
with contemporary comforts and conveniences.” We
have taken a tour of the complex and one certainly can’t
blame anyone for wanting to live there, but why must
taxpayers help pay for this private development’s sewage
and water infrastructure? Why must the Mississippi
Gopher Frog, a severely endangered species, face the Endangered Mississippi Gopher Frog
prospect of extinction due to this same infrastructure?
sewer and water project near Tradition which will encroach
The Mississippi Gopher Frog is a federally listed
on the frog’s living space.
endangered species, but the US Fish and Wildlife Service
(FWS) has been dragging their feet on establishing critical
On a tour of the frog’s only known breeding pond, we were
habitat for this valuable critter. FWS was sued back in
told by our guide that the frog is really quite grumpy and
2001 by the Center for Biological Diversity for not will play dead if picked up. No surprise there. If you had
designating critical habitat for the frog, and in a only one, small pond in the whole world to call home and
settlement, it was agreed that the frog would be getting people wanted to put a sewage plant right beside it, you’d
protection by 2010. Then, in 2009, FWS approved this
probably be grumpy too! 

Coal Facility Threatens Wetlands in Mississippi

Recently, concerned citizens from around the state of
Mississippi gathered together in a small, high school lunch
room in Kemper County, Mississippi to discuss a very big
threat to the health of Mississippi’s rivers, streams, and
wetlands. Mississippi Power, North American Coal
Company, and the US Department of Energy have
announced plans to construct an experimental “Integrated
Gasification Combined Cycle” power plant and massive
lignite coal mine near De Kalb, MS. This proposed project
poses numerous risks to the environmental health of the
entire region – from air pollution, to reduced water supplies,
to polluted storm run-off from the mining operation.
However, one of the biggest problems associated with the
project is the negative impacts on approximately six
thousand acres of wetlands and over forty miles of streams
and creeks.
The streams and wetlands which will be damaged by the
proposed project form an intricate ecosystem which
ultimately feeds into the Pascagoula River and the Mississippi
Sound. Benefits that these wetlands and streams provide
such as fishing, hunting, swimming and flood protection are
too valuable to sacrifice for such a dirty boondoggle.
Ultimately, this $2.4 billion project is not even needed to
fulfill the state’s electricity demands. Mississippi already has
twelve cleaner burning natural gas power plants sitting idle
85% of the time!
At the recent public hearing, which was hosted by the
Department of Energy, over a dozen people, including
Raleigh Hoke, GRN’s Mississippi Organizer, rose to speak.
Not a single one of these individuals spoke in support of the
proposed power plant and coal mine. Nonetheless, the
project continues to move forward, but GRN is committed
to work with local residents and our conservation partners
to protect the invaluable natural resources of the region for
future generations. 
Volume IV Issue IV Page 3

No More Degrading Mississippi’s Waters (continued from page 1)

to help the Department create a more citizen-friendly
process.

Now that Mississippi is introducing a nomination

process, it is time to think about what special rivers
should be nominated. Recently, GRN was given an
internally circulated list of special streams and rivers
that the State put together in 1988. Almost twenty-
two years later, it’s time for the state to finally give
some of these rivers the protection they deserve!
We, along with a coalition of concerned citizens,
organizations, and business suggested the following:
Bear Creek, the East Fork of the Tombigbee River,
Noxubee River, Escatawpa River, Black Creek, Red Mississippi State Senator Deborah Dawkins with Pat Patterson, head of
Creek, Chunky River, and the Wolf River. Each of Government Relations with Natural Capital Development, at a press
these is a unique ecological and recreational treasure conference about the new rules.
for the state and seven are already considered State
Scenic streams. In addition, Black Creek is Mississippi’s only National Wild and Scenic River and the Escatawpa was
also a candidate for this special status. Stay tuned for updates as the rule are finalized. Once they are, we will be
looking to our supporters to let us know which Mississippi rivers you think should be designated as “Outstanding
National Resource Waters.” 

Amid Mourning, Good News in the Fight to “Stop the Lock”

As our readers may know, we have been locked (so
to speak) in a fight against the expansion of a lock
and canal in the middle of the city of New Orleans.
Since our February WaveMaker’s News, we have
received some good news: no money has been
appropriated for this project in the most recent
budgets coming out of the White House, House of
Representatives, and Senate! This is an important
success in the work of the Stop the Lock Coalition,

Courtesy of USACE
a band of organizations working to stop this
unnecessarily destructive project that would cost
the tax-payers an estimated $1.3 billion.

Aerial Photo of Industrial Canal

However, this news comes at a sad time in the Lower

Ninth Ward of New Orleans, as we have recently lost a
leader in this fight. Our friend and ally, Pam Dashiell, the
Co-Director of the Lower Ninth Ward Center for
Sustainable Engagement and Development, recently
passed away. We will miss Pam, her energy, and inspiring
advocacy. We know that Pam was excited about the
good news about the Lock, and the Stop the Lock
Coalition will continue to fight this project that will put
citizens and the environment in harm’s way. 
Pam Dashiell with friends, associates.
 UNITED FOR A HEALTHY GULF
Floridians Unite to Protect Coastlines
Few things incite the passions of Floridians like the idea of offshore
drilling. For those who are native and lifelong Floridians, it is a
concept both foreign and unimaginable - visiting the beach or gazing
out over a coastal marsh and seeing oil rigs dotting the horizon. For
those who have moved to the state, or vacation in Florida for the
beaches and coastlines, the idea of drilling being allowed in state
waters, just 3-9 miles offshore, is a betrayal of the Florida Dream.
New Orleans Office Millions of tourists come to Florida each year to fish, birdwatch,
338 Baronne St., Ste. 200 paddle, sail, and enjoy the coast. Those folks bring their wallets with
New Orleans, LA 70112 them and bring billions of dollars to Florida. All Florida has to do is
Phone: 504-525-1528 keep the beaches clean, the coastlines healthy, and the tourists keep
coming. Seems pretty simple, right? Millions come to fish in Florida,
Florida Office
making Florida the “Fishing Capitol of the World.” People come to
34413 Orchid Parkway
Ridge Manor, FL 33523 Florida to enjoy these activities and more, but not many folks come to
Phone: 352-583-0870 gaze at oil rigs.

Texas Office Florida’s coastlines, beaches, and estuaries are facing a threat like
PO Box 563 never before. Big money special interests, fat cat oil lobbyists, and oil
Liberty, TX 77575 and gas industries mouthpieces have decided they know more about
Phone: 713-906-3940 Courtesy of Audubon of Florida
the state than its citizens. Wrong! It’s time Floridians and others
stand up and fight back. It’s time to make sure Florida’s coastlines and beaches are protected from Big
Email: Raleigh@healthygulf.org Oil. Every one of us can be a voice for the coastlines, marine mammals, and wild places in Florida.

www.healthygulf.org
Gulf Restoration Network is joining allies like the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, Florida Wildlife
Federation, Audubon of Florida, Progress Florida, and the Florida Coastal and Oceans Coalition to
fight to stop drilling in Florida’s state waters. We are organizing and educating citizens about the risks
from drilling ranging from spills to coastal dredging to the incredible day to day routine pollution from
oil rigs.

GRN Healthy Waters
Program Staff
Florida: Joe Murphy
352-583-0870 or
joe@healthygulf.org
Mississippi:
Casey DeMoss Roberts
504-525-1528 x 205 or
casey@healthygulf.org
Every single person reading this needs to make sure the next thing you do is visit
www.protectfloridasbeaches.org. Read through this website, learn the facts, and ACT! Write a letter
to the Governor of Florida, to the editor of a Florida newspaper, and share this with your friends and
neighbors. Tell folks in your church, and around the water cooler. This website is designed to
ensure you have all the facts, data, information, and tools to be an advocate for protecting Florida’s
coastlines and beaches from offshore drilling. Now it’s time to get started!
Gulf Restoration Network is committed to protecting the coastlines and rivers of Florida, and the
coastal wetlands and estuaries that are essential to people and to wildlife. Florida’s coastal, water, and
natural resources are the lifeblood of the state’s economy and environment, and with your help and
support we’ll protect them for us, and for future generations. 

Raleigh Hoke
504-525-1528 x 204 or
raleigh@healthygulf.org
Louisiana: Matt Rota
504-525-1528 x 206 or
matt@healthygulf.org
Texas:
Ellis Pickett
713-906-3940 or
ellis@healthygulf.org
Victory on the Dead Zone (continued from page 1)
watersheds have been selected for Louisiana and Mississippi (the two Gulf States that are part of the
initiative): Mermentau, Boeuf, Bayou Macon, Deer-Steele, Upper Yazoo, and Big Sunflower. The
specific sites and smaller watersheds that will be selected to receive Mississippi River Basin Initiative
funds are required to use an a multi-faceted approach intended to avoid, trap, and control nitrogen
and phosphorus pollution flowing from agricultural fields. According to the USDA, requests for
project proposals for these watersheds will be announced soon.
This kind of news is definitely encouraging, as it seems that there is motivation at the federal level to
take concrete actions to reduce the size of the Dead Zone. That being said it is still mainly talk, and it
will take more than $80 million per year, divided up between 12 Mississippi River states to make a
significant dent in the Dead Zone. 2010 is looking like it will be an important year for the Mississippi
River and Gulf of Mexico, and GRN will continue to watchdog this process to make sure that this and
other programs result in a cleaner Mississippi and Gulf. 