[PCA] Illegal Contaminated water --Questions on impact of contaminants on specific plants in Florida

[Dwight Hines]

Yesterday, while observing the City of St. Augustine officials  
showing hauling-bidders the Old CIty Reservoir, where the City  
recently dumped 40,000 plus yards of  toxic materials, I noticed two  
huge plants that did not look native to the area.  The large  
flourishing plants had some cute hemitera beatles all over the flower  
buds.  I took photos.  One of the city environmental consultants said  
that the plant was castor bean and was poisonous and it was used to  
make ricin, the toxic stuff that terrrorists used.

My questions are:

1) Is the healthy growth of the castor bean (not native to this part  
of Florida) plant indicative of any toxic substance or combination of  
toxic substances in the soil or waters near it?

2) Are there beatles (hemiptera) that feed exclusively on castor bean  
flowers, thus having some type of immunity to the plant's poisons?

3) When I asked the City official at the site if the city had an  
ecological restoration plan for the reservoir, the official said that  
it was to remove the materials to approved sites.   Given that the  
illegal dumping only resulted in a small fine to the city, even  
though all the fish were destroyed, are there plants that depend on  
fish and other vulnerable species to survive in an aquatic environment?

4) Has anyone on the list been involved, or know anyone who has been  
involved in a court case with a government agency or a private firm,  
that refuses to even conduct a quantitative and qualitative survey of  
plant and animal species in the areas of the toxic dumpings?  It is  
obvious that the City will not conduct any type of biological study  
of the site and thus can have no idea of what the restoration goals  
should be.   Suggestions welcome.

5) The old city reservoir is one of a number of porous coquina lakes  
in the area and the  city has not conducted any surveys or tests of  
the adjacent lakes.  Does anyone on the list know of any research or  
court cases on diffusion of contaminants between adjacent lakes (the  
lakes are with 25 yards of each other in places)?  It appears that in  
one adjacent lake, one that tested pristine before the toxic dumping  
no longer has  apple snails.  While we are waiting for the city or  
the state department of environmental affairs to test the adjacent  
lakes, does anyone know of any plant species that are dependent on  
apple snails to survive.

6) The different toxic substances in the old city reservoir were not  
collected using an acceptable random sample, but that is not a  
concern to the City, although the levels of toxins are above safe  
levels, and women of child bearing age should not be exposed to these  
concentrations.   In the absence of reliable chemical tests, are  
there any plants or assemblages of plants that can be used to  
indicate that the waters are unsafe for children and women of child  
bearing age?

7) There are databases of different habitats that have been created  
and does anyone know if they have been used as comparisons or  
baselines to compare species presence and absence and dominance and  
ratios in habitats that were exposed to toxic materials?
So, rather than try to find a control habitat, one that was not  
exposed to chronic high levels of toxic materials, the database would  
be used for comparison to see what species were impacted and to what  
degree, and how the impact effected their relationship to other species.

Please, if you know of good peer reviewed publications that are  
relevant here, please send them.   If you know of people working in  
similar situations, please send contact iinformation.   If you know  
of sites or cites, please send them.

Dwight Hines
St. Augustine, Florida