Brevard County running out of space to dump Indian River Lagoon muck

County running out of space to dump Indian River Lagoon muck

After years of dredging muck from the Indian River Lagoon, Brevard County officials are facing a new challenge: they?re running out of space to put it.

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - After years of dredging muck from the Indian River Lagoon, Brevard County officials are facing a new challenge: they’re running out of space to put it.

What Happened:

On Tuesday at their meeting, county commissioners discussed current disposal sites for muck and finishing up the long-delayed Grand Canal muck removal project off the Pineda Causeway. 

All five commissioners supported submitting a new "request for proposals" to try and find private landowners that would accept the muck on their property because natural resource officials informed the commission they’re running out of space to hold it in with their current resources.

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Commissioners also voted to finish the Grand Canal dredging project, which took years longer than expected because more muck was found than originally predicted. Citizens who live near the polluted canals in Satellite Beach expressed sadness about how sick the waterway is and how harmful the muck has been over the years.

Commissioners weren’t thrilled about having to buy up land to dump pollution and want to start a long-term conversation about what’s being done to stop the source instead of funding mass clean-ups in the waterway.

What they're saying:

Environmental health advocates say more focus should be going to improving failing infrastructure and updating sewer systems to try and prevent muck from taking hold in the first place.

"We could simply be addressing the real sources of pollution," said Elizabeth Baker, who’s a volunteer with the environmental nonprofit Fight For Zero that’s tracked and cleaned-up polluted waterways across the Space Coast.

The natural resources department says landowners who currently accept muck don’t want much more dumped on their property.

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"Local interest from suitable agricultural landowners is nearing full satiation," said Natural Resources Management director Virginia Barker, who asked commissioners for directions on where they want to move more muck in the future.

What's next:

The Grand Canal muck clean-up should be totally finished, and the site restored by February. 

Commissioners say they will bring up at a future meeting if the Save Our Indian River Lagoon tax should be used for more infrastructure projects in the future and how tax dollars could best be used to help the waterway. At least one commissioner wants to discuss moving muck to contaminated land the sheriff already owns. That discussion will likely come up at a future meeting.