Perdido Bay is Improving

I toured the 1200 acres of International Paper's wetlands (pictured) just north of Perdido Bay earlier this month.  This particular picture was taken at the point where the IP effluent drains from their pipeline into the first part of their 3-stage polishing wetlands.  (photo from Whitney Fike, International Paper)

Over the last several months there have been numerous discussions of Perdido Bay.  In the media, in the BCC's chambers, and between myself and the experts who study the science of this issue.

I had a great sit down with FDEP in June.

I toured IP's site just this month.

I've spoken with multiple scientists and other experts on this topic.

And what I have heard from the experts with whom I have spoken is that Perdido Bay is improving as a water body..it is making drastic improvements compared to just two decades ago.

I've been out there fishing off and on for years--as my brother owned a place on Perdido Bay on San Sebastian Circle from 1996 until Ivan Destroyed the home in September of 2004. He kept the property for another 5 years after that and I fished a lot from his dock. I caught a lot of redfish from his dock, tons of other species as well to include catfish, croaker, and speckled trout.  I remember there were crab traps tied to the dock and they would produce lots of Blue Crab.  This was in the late 1990s and through the late 2000s.

Fishing on Perdido Bay in December of 2000 with
 my then 4-year old son Nick.

fast forward to 2019, and I am told the bay was in the worst shape of all during that time-frame--the late 1990s and early 2000s.

But even then aquatic life was present in the Bay--to include dolphins and even the occasional shark.

The studies done by Nutter and Associates in support of IP point to a bay that is improving.

An independent study conducted by concerned citizens also showed that Perdido Bay is improving.

I have gone so far as to request county environmental staff conduct redundant testing behind the IP contractor and I have stated I will pay for this testing out of my own discretionary funds.  If there is a problem, I want to know about it.  But at some point we do have to look at the data with an unbiased perspective and realize that yes, this body of water is improving and we cannot make IP a villain on anecdotal data and assessments.

At our BCC meeting yesterday, there were multiple discussions about Perdido Bay--culminating with a presentation about the county's water quality monitoring program at the very end of the meeting.

Once again I asked, point blank about our monitoring station on Perdido Bay which is sampled and tested once monthly by our staff.  I asked for the readings for the last 2 year period and I received those results.  From the county water quality specialist who specializes in this field, Mr. Brent Wipf

"This data does not suggest a surface water quality impairment for any of the parameters collected under the county ambient water quality program."

See the data below taken from the northern waters of Perdido Bay: