Titusville cuts ribbon on new walkway, while activists say water cleanup is needed
TITUSVILLE, Fla. - The new boardwalk at Veterans Memorial Park in Titusville cost a million dollars to build, and it looks great. Visitors at Monday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony said it was an excellent addition to the park.
"Oh, it's beautiful! It is, and I'm so glad it's brought a lot of people together, which is kind of nice. We want to get more involved in the town and the city that we live in," said Titusville resident Sandra Breault.
What conservation activists say wasn’t so great? The water below the boardwalk.
While dolphins and manatees splashed in the water to the east, on the west side of the walkway, the water was trapped like a bathtub. It smelled terrible, and activist Stel Bailey said it was hurting the ecosystem.
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"I think this walkway was built over polluted water, and I think that's drawing more attention to this area than the beautification project is."
The city said it has a $13 million plan to clean the lagoon. The plan includes adding more boxes to collect sediment and replacing sewage pipes throughout the city. Bailey said the water in the inlet was an environmental hazard.
"If you have all this toxic soup starting to create and algae starting to form, then you're going to have to worry about aerosolized toxins and what people are breathing in the area."