Mobile Bay Audubon Society

"A Gadfly's Memoirs"

Personal

Those of us that were involved these many years as members of an organization whose major goal was to be good stewards in protecting our invaluable coastal Quality of Life Support Systems are proud of our many achievements.

"Planning Paradise" tells the story. It is felt that because of these efforts and involvement in those many issues the future generations will be able to enjoy a fairly healthy Mobile Bay ecosystem.

I have written these excerpts from memory to try and make sure history doesn't forget what individuals in our group were able to accomplish and hopefully encourage young people to become involved.

Myrt Jones
October 9, 2001
Past President
Mobile Bay Audubon Society

An inventory to the Mobile Bay Audubon Society Papers is available here.

The Spiritual Inspiration, "The Coffin" - Theodore Outfall

I had been preparing for the public hearing at the Mobile Gas Service auditorium and had read the voluminous EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) on the proposed Theodore Industrial outfall and prepared my statement to be given as president of the Mobile Bay Audubon Society (MBAS). But I needed a "gimmick," something to get out and make the message of how catastrophic the impacts would be to the Mobile Bay ecosystem. Then I either heard a voice or had the inspiration to make a coffin and take it with me. Wow!

I had a small cardboard box, about three feet long, and I didn't have but a few hours [before the meeting]. So I called one of the lady board members and asked her if she could make me a coffin out of the box. She came over and said she'd take it home with her and bring it back before I had to leave. Before calling her I had considered the idea of going by a funeral home and borrowing or renting a small coffin, but I wouldn't have to do this [now].

Sure enough, she brought it back and it was perfect. She had cut the top edge of the box [and] covered the outside with black crepe paper. The lid opened as it had hinges and "Rest in Peace" on it. Inside we put a map of Mobile Bay with a red star identifying the proposed location of the outfall or Industrial/Domestic Wastewater pipeline out into the middle of Mobile Bay.

That night I walked into the very crowded auditorium. A lot of media was there and they zoomed in on the open coffin on the stage. I sat in the audience and waited for my turn to comment. Jim Warr with ADEM (Alabama Department of Environmental Management) was overseeing the hearing, and when I was finally called, I picked the coffin up and took it to him and asked him to hold it open. He didn't want to do that but I put him on a hot spot.

I went to the microphone and read the statement I had written for the Society opposing the pipeline and my last paragraph stated "The Theodore Outfall will be the last nail in the coffin of Mobile Bay." I walked over and closed the lid [of the coffin]. The crowd went wild. I sat down with the coffin and waited out the rest of the speakers. There was a lot of other individuals (oyster men, fishermen, home owners (Bay and Fowl River), boaters, etc.) opposing the project. The Fowl River Protective Association, headed by Doug Laurendine, an attorney, took the Mobile Water and Sewer Board and others to court, and was finally able to stop this proposal. On to the rest of my story.

For months I had been writing an article titled "Planning Paradise" (a copy of the article appears below immediately following this manuscript), which discussed in detail the many issues and actions the society had been involved in in Mobile and Baldwin counties. I discussed the setting aside [of] 160 acres of Dauphin Island as an Audubon bird sanctuary, spearheaded protection and acquisition of the first parcel now known as the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, and a lot of other invaluable achievements. Nell Burks, editor of the fancy Chamber of Commerce magazine, had asked me to do this. So I put it together and she helped finish it off. Al Weiskoff, head of the Chamber, approved the article and it was to be printed in the next issue. This was really an achievement for me to have an article accepted by this group. In fact, I couldn't believe it.

The next morning bright and early, Nell called, real excitable, and asked what did I do last night. I told her I had attended the public hearing. She said, "No, it's something about a coffin." I said, "Oh yeh, I took a small coffin to bring out a point I made of the seriousness of the outfall." She then said, "Myrt, Al Weiskoff said they are not going to print your article in the magazine." I yelled, "That's great!" Nell said the Chamber of Commerce did not want to give me any recognition of any nature. [She] couldn't understand why I was so joyful and I explained [that] the coffin had gotten the message out as to the seriousness of the project and that was a victory for all of us and the Chamber of Commerce realized I had struck them a serious blow. The "Planning Paradise" article has never been printed.

Another serious flaw [that] I considered morally and legally questionable was SARPC's (South Alabama Regional Planning Commission) 208 Wastewater Regional Plan that so many of us had been involved in for several years. In order for SARPC and any other governmental groups to receive federal funds to undertake, in this case, "a required analysis under the Clean Water Act to determine adequacies, problems, and potential needs in coastal Alabama on the wastewater facilities in Mobile, Baldwin, and Washington Counties and to project alternatives, even consider regional projects," but there had to be citizen involvement and we were the ones used to meet this requirement. But we also were so involved and willing to be outspoken and take on the planned efforts by the political Chamber of Commerce and agency goals and objectives. Some of their efforts ran into problems (e.g., the outfall).

We learned the "special interests" had obviously promised Degussa an outfall in order for them to build in Theodore. This was just one of the "pay offs" given this German company. But people power made a difference in the outcome.

There were many questionable water studies done, probably in preparation for this one project, under the guise of using this plan to collect inadequate and poorly done studies by certain individuals who were later found to be incompetent in data collection. In other words, the crooked bureaucratic-political behind-the-scenes people who would profit from the outfall were using us and the state and federal monies to lay down the base to grease the skids in the placing of the outfall in the bay. Marissa Gardner, an Italian lady from Chickasaw, and me were constantly reading the numerous volumes presented us and we weren't sure what it was we were supposed to be doing, as we were on a citizens advisory committee, and these were a technical advisory committee and they talked among themselves and a political advisory committee, made of elected officials, agency reps, and even the dirty industries we were supposed to be regulating. Marissa and I made sure our questions were heard regarding the questionable manner the 208 Program was being "mishandled" as we were able to hear of the poorly defined studies and lack of proper funding and their conclusions at a few of the meetings and they would try and laugh us off. But anyone with our knowledge knew dirty politics were in the middle and controlling what was not being done to properly gather needed data on Mobile Bay's water quality.

There was no way a proper determination could be made from these inadequate two-dimensional data bases in conjunction with a natural and variable system found in Mobile Bay. The court brought this fact out later on, specifically, the "stratification layer" that was discovered by Dr. Schroeder of the Sealab. Marissa and I took home piles of documents to read. She stayed with it as long as she could, as she was diagnosed with cancer of the brain and had surgery. She returned when able, but again she had to have more surgery and finally stayed home. She eventually died, but she was a recognized environmentalist.

At one of the meetings we were all socializing amongst all of the committee members. This included COE (Corps of Engineers) agencies' dirty industry. I was walking by two men talking and heard Dr. Peter Mannsfeld, head of Degussa (a large chemical and dirty plant at Theodore) mention these words to a COE person: "pipeline in the middle of the bay." That stopped me cold because of all of the documents we had been given, all of the discussions no one had mentioned the proposed placement of a pipeline in the middle of the bay. We had been spending months and probably years in the 208 plan.

I stopped and asked the two men if what I just heard was true and Peter Mannsfeld looked at me and in his German said, "Mrs Jones, we must have this outfall in the bay to handle our waste." I told him like hell he does, I would stop him.

I remember telling Ben Kilborn, a respected attorney, what I had heard, but he laughed it off and said that's a crazy idea. That was the way people denied the possibility anyone would do such a thing in our bay.

These people finally woke up when the permit came out and the meetings were held and the EISs were released. A group formed and were known as the Fowl River Protective Association. They won the case in court against [the] Water and Sewer Board and [the] outfall stopped. Another victory for [the] public and Mobile Bay.

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The Alligator and Pinto Pass

Since the 1940s [and] 1950s the Mobile Ship Channel and Mobile Harbor were kept deep enough by the COE. The Alabama State Docks in their usual and typical manner of taking public lands, either bay bottoms or wetlands, dump dredged material in a dike system in these areas, then pump[ed] the dredged material into the middle. The public and the coastal resources of Alabama lost several thousands of acres of wetlands, grassbeds, and bay bottoms. The channels were open but the water quality was turbid (dirty), smothering marine life, birds, alligators, and any other wildlife that got covered with the mud.

In the '70s people became concerned. Members of the MBAS took on the COE and the Alabama State Docks, especially because of the Polecat Bay situation. Alcoa, in [the] '50s, piped waste bauxite under [the] Mobile River to the six mud lakes with their forty-foot dikes around the large and extremely dangerous area. The dikes constantly broke and the red mud (which was highly caustic) flowed into Polecat Bay. Drs. Don and Alicia Linzey took aerial photos of these problems, and these aerial photos are presently in The Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of South Alabama on Springhill Avenue in the society's boxes.

Citizens and members of the society stayed involved and on top of the numerous plans and proposals the COE and the Alabama State Docks would pull out of their hats to continue receiving federal funds and to "make work" for the hundreds of personnel, most of these "unbelievable schemes" are in The McCall Library and we were continuously discussing, cussing, and reviewing the "next one being proposed."

The only agency to put up any opposition to the takings and destruction of coastal resources was the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Daphne. Through their help and use of federal laws, many of these plans were either modified or completely stopped.

District engineers with COE came and went every three years. I started meeting with them in order to try and make a relationship between them and us. Colonel Drake Wilson was [the] first one to show any interest in trying to "improve the Corps image," and asked me for suggestions. I immediately suggested he consider a citizen advisory committee made up of representatives from Audubon, League of Women Voters, Mobile County Wildlife, Environmental Defense Fund (Jim Trippe, out of Washington), U.S. Fish and Wildlife, [the Environmental Protection Agency] EPA, and others and let us be in on the preliminary plans for projects. He liked the idea and did just that. Of course, the COE personnel hated and outright disliked this "intrusion into their usual behind-closed-doors way of doing things." But this Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) made tremendous differences in changing policies and modifying projects and even stopping them.

The CAC were involved in the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (TTWW), Mobile harbor dredging and maintenance, Mobile Ship Channel plans, newly developed idea of the Theodore Ship Channel, and out of these proposed projects, "feathers flew" at times.

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Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway

There was a lot of opposition on the billion dollar boon-doggle known as the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (TTWW). In one of the numerous CAC meetings with COE and State Docks, a small booklet was passed among us entitled "Economic Reanalysis of TTWW." The major goal was to get over a billion dollars of federal monies to straighten the Tombigbee River from Demopolis to Mobile. This would mean streamlining and removing the many twists and turns in this section, posing many unknown impacts [such] as the loss of habitat, acceleration of flood waters (no dispersal or assimilation), severe changes in water quality, and on and on. It would be devastating. Jim Trippe with [the] Environmental Defense Fund, myself, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife were very outspoken in our opposition and eventually this shameful "make work and costly proposal" was stopped. The major reason was citizens were involved in very preliminary planning.

The same old record was played over and over again by COE and State Docks in their determination [that] there was a need to have in place a fifty-year plan for disposal of dredged material in the Mobile harbor area. There is no telling how many millions or billions of tax payers' monies were spent, and, in most instances, wasted in the continuous thrust to come up with grandiose ideas for this concept.

Examples are the Haliburton EISs and the major proposals were to dike up Polecat Bay and Pinto Pass and this erupted into [a] major battle ground.

Locals (old Mobilians) got into the battle to save Polecat Bay as [a] major hunting (duck) and fishing estuary north of [the] Causeway. This was eventually stopped.

Regarding Pinto Pass: In [the] late '70s, the Corps had spent at least $500,000 [to] $700,000 of tax payer monies in the placement of an experimental floating dike across this tidally influenced river, which runs from Battleship Park to Mobile River, and in 1800-1900s was navigable and a channel used for Mobile.

In the article written by the Corps' Waterways Experimental Station (WES) in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on the experimental floating dike, it goes into great detail at the tremendous amount of sand that was hauled in and dumped. It sank seventy plus feet before any stabilization. The Corps finally laid a cloth on the sand to give some stability, sand cloth. Eventually the dike was in place across a public waterway and public lands, another takings with no evaluation of consequences. [The] Corps didn't believe they had to protect human or natural resources. They still don't!

Now the Corps was ready to place a dike at the east end of Pinto Pass, in order to have a very "cheap," large disposal site, but they ran into problems as the nation had moved forward in passing NEPA (National Environmental Police Act), Clean Water Act (which provided protection for wetlands) and President Jimmy Carter had signed the EO (Executive Order), which specifically protected wetlands, and the EO which provided Flood Plain Management.

Those of us involved also set the Corps back on their heels with Dr. Eugene Odum's, Gosse-luck's, and Pope's evaluation of [the] economic values of an acre of wetlands [which] was placed at $83,000/acre. This invaluable info came from [the] University of Georgia and was dynamite.

Pinto Pass was a wetland vision, wildlife and bird life was abundant. There was [a] profuse variety of wetland vegetation, and this helped save this unique area. But so did something else. I had been trying to get the EPA regional administrator Rebecca Hamner from Atlanta to come and see Pinto Pass as the Corps proposal had been stopped for Polecat Bay, but Pinto Pass was till vulnerable. EPA could stop the COE.

Rebecca Hamner and another EPA person, two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representatives, and myself were standing on north Pinto dike overlooking the shallow waters and wetlands in the Pass. There were numerous species of birds. I specifically remember the skimmers flying by, egrets, and herons were abundant, [too]. I needed something as I was bluffing, and had never seen an alligator in this area. But at that time they were endangered so I told Rebecca [that] she needed to stop the Corps proposed destruction of this beautiful area as there was the endangered alligator in the area, and at that moment I snapped my fingers and below us, about 8 to 10 feet and in the shallow water, a six to eight foot alligator came up out of the water, full body, and it shocked all of us. We immediately backed away. I was asked how I did that. Did I have a scuba diver raise the 'gator? But I looked at Rebecca and told her that He (God) wanted her to stop the Corps from destroying Pinto Pass. We all had chill bumps. I don't know what transpired, but the Corps was stopped in this proposal, too.

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Mobile Harbor

For years, the Alabama State Docks, through Bob Hope (director) and Bill Black, "leased" north and south Blakeley spoil areas from "rich owners." This was done routinely every year or two, costing untold amounts of tax payer monies in these agreements to have places for dredge material from Mobile harbor. These places didn't accept much material and didn't figure into the fifty year need, but the arrangement was just part of [the] State Docks process and usual way of doing business with cronies.

In a meeting I asked why these two areas weren't condemned and acquired, and [I] was told by Mr. Hope and Black [that] the State Docks didn't condemn private property. They lied!

Just south of McDuffie [Island] there was an "old" neighborhood of homes, about thirty [to] fifty of them, and the area was at one time a fishing village, but there was nice homes. I learned that the State Docks had condemned all of the home, paid for them, and tore them down or moved some of them. Anyway, the whole neighborhood was gone.

A board member, [Jackie Olafsen], had brought this to my attention, as a member of her family had been bought out. Jackie Olsen was a member of MBAS board of directors and had known of the State Docks condemning someone in her family's home at this "fishing village." She helped me get the right info from Freda Roberts. I called Freda as she was [the] tax collector, and she made copies of about six or eight of the condemnations.

At that time Colonel Pat Kelly was the district engineer of the Corps. I called and asked [him] if he'd like to put State Docks on "a sharp stick" and told him what I had. He said "great." He would call a meeting and at [a] selected time give me time to present my evidence against [the] State Docks. I let both Black and Hope and everyone know [that] we had been lied to, and handed the condemnation papers to Col. Pat Kelly. Not too long after that, the north and south Blakeley sites were condemned and acquired. This fit into another area I was well informed on, and realized was [the] answer to the Corps need for fifty years.

WES out of Vicksburg, the Corps own research and development, routinely mailed their newsletter and discussed at length the fact that dredge material in most instances was a resource and could be used [to] fill road beds, raise dikes, etc. The WES material also encouraged the Corps offices to put into place a dewatering of dredge material in the diked areas and reuse the material. This would offset the costs of dredging to a degree if the material was sold. But the best thing was it could be removed after being dewatered and provide a long term space for additional material, thereby eliminating the need for the Corps outmoded taking and diking of public lands and natural resources. With a lot of hedging, procrastination, and reasons for not doing this, the Corps finally realized [that] they had no other options and now use this process in [the] Mobile harbor project.

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Alcoa Aluminum

Another breakthrough in Mobile harbor needs was [when] the Alabama Department of Conservation was threatening taking Alcoa Aluminum to court. There was a question as to who owned properties that had accreted into Polecat Bay. Someone came up with the idea of forming a group to consider options to stay out of court.

The MBAS (Myrt Jones and John Winn, also Corps person were on the committee), Mobile County Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Dept. of Conservation attorney, Alcoa (Don Applegate), State Docks, and others (ADEM?).

Alcoa had six very large and deadly bauxite mud lakes in the 40 foot diked areas and an idea emerged to neutralize this material and eventually release [it] either into Polecat Bay or Mobile River, under supposedly strict restrictions especially regarding the acidic pH of the material by ADEM.

When the first mud lake was drained, Alcoa spent over [$]700,000 in placement of an overflow in the middle of the mud lake and, with a lot of care, the Corps placed a wooden catch basin below where the outfall pipe was placed, and hopefully the dredge material from Mobile harbor would bounce lightly on the plank and not stir up the red dried clay. Approximately 500,000 cubic yards of material was placed in the area, and when I saw the first amount come out the pipe, it looked like "dirty oil." I wondered if it had been a good idea.

We came back in a couple of weeks and the area was beautiful and brown, covering a large portion of the red clay with natural vegetation appearing.

The agreement that had been made by all involved was first to keep Alcoa and [the] Department of Conservation out of court, but to also use the six mud lakes (if this first one was successful) for placement of millions of cubic yards of dredge material for Mobile harbor. When the six mud lakes were filled the six mud lakes would become "wildlife refuge" areas and be turned over to the Alabama Department of Conservation. The reclaimed mud lakes have been recognized by noted birders as the best birding site in coastal Alabama.

But there is a twist to this story. Someone, I was told a well-known local attorney, and at that time Sage Lyons was the State Docks attorney, for some unknown reason, found the agreement to be "null and void."

There is a story here for someone to dig up as again the public has lost public lands and the question should be, why? who? and what? are the lakes being used or planned for?

I have placed all of my slides regarding these stories -- Pinto Pass, Alcoa mud lakes, etc. -- in The McCall Library.

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Battleship Boardwalk

After the Corps was stopped in the destruction of Pinto Pass, I had the idea it would be great to have a boardwalk constructed out into the Pass from Battleship Park. I called Captain Diffley(?), who was executive director of [the] Battleship Commission, and asked him if I could come before the commission and present a slide presentation, and he set the date.

I called Dewey Crowder, local architect, and told him my plan and asked if he'd draw up a set of plans for a boardwalk. I had put together slides portraying the beauty and values of wetlands, the bird life, and wildlife found in Pinto Pass, and had Civil War slides showing Battery McIntosh (island south of Battleship Park), and [an] aerial slide showing gun placements and even slides belonging to The McCall Library showing Admiral Farragut's ships kept at bay because of the Civil War batteries. I then showed the members Dewey's plans and they unanimously supported constructing the boardwalk.

I called Dewey and told him the commissioners liked the idea and wanted to talk with him. He asked me what I had done and I said I just showed them what they had next to [the] battleship -- proposed boardwalk -- [the] fact [that] it would provide diversity for the tourists, and [that] they liked the idea. I showed an idea at the right time, with right delivery, and everyone saw the potential. They built it! It has been a major beautiful and first boardwalk of its kind in coastal Alabama.

I have taken two presidents of the National Audubon Society out on this boardwalk or observatory, and they were impressed and amazed we had something this grand and exciting. They were Dr. Russell Peterson and Peter Berle.

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Arlington Point - Deepening Mobile's Ship Channel and Proposed Containment Ship Port and Barging Areas.

A project of such magnitude being proposed by State Docks and Corps was so ambitious and destructive it was hard to believe it was out for public review.

In deepening the Mobile Ship Channel, there would be the need to handle, dispose, reuse? millions of cubic yards of dredged material and the COE, State Docks, and private interests that would benefit came up with the taking [of] thousands of acres of Mobile Bay bottomlands in [the] Arlington Point area (Brookley Field).

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MBAS, and others were appalled [at] and opposed to this preposterous proposal, and it took several years of debating and finally the Fish & Wildlife Service pulled a fast one on the Corps and was able to stop the taking of these public lands on the fact [that] there were major productive baybottoms, wetlands, and grass beds that would be destroyed and would severely and adversely impact on water quality, marine life (all stages), bird life, and wildlife. The benefits that accrued from these highly productive acreage helped redirect the COE and State Docks. Much of this material is in Audubon boxes at The McCall Library, but Larry Goldman of [the] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would also be [a] great contact.

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Myrt Personal Background

I was one of the lucky women to marry her "soul mate," and we were married for 48 years, until Bubba (John Henry) died suddenly. I would not have been able to be the president of MBAS for over 30 years if I had not had [the] full support from my husband and three daughters, Sharon Lyn, Sandra Melanie, and Stephanie Helen.

Being an almost "full time volunteer," spending millions of hours reading and self-educating oneself on all the environmental issues the Society was involved in, took its toll on all of us, but we recognized someone needed to take the control reins under the guidance and support of the numerous boards of directors I was lucky to work with all these years.

I didn't have any degrees other than being a concerned citizen, housewife, mother, and registered nurse. Being a woman, in a man's world, had its usefulness and problems. I seem to be always having to prove myself as having common sense (which is vital); a definite sense of humor; and, because I read volumes of material including all of the EISs that were released (and [are] in [The] McCall Library), and attended seminars, workshops in Mobile, Montgomery, Atlanta, Washington, New York, Colorado, Florida, California, and other places, I built up knowledge in all areas of environmental, biology, geology, hydrology, botany, marine ecosystems, air quality, and pollution problems. I could not only "speak" as a Ph.D., but "understand" what was being discussed. Self-education does not pass out degrees but I have found out my knowledge was much broader in scope than a person having a degree in one science.

Having and issuing facts are vital in any debate, and the people I have been involved with respect and recognize that is what I use -- facts. I had uphill battles with pseudo-intellectuals and this was one of my big resentments. These people used credentials and I was saying the same thing, but my comments were ignored.

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Mobile and Signal Oil Companies

The reason I even got involved was [that] in the '70s Mobil Oil and Signal Oil had very quietly been given leases on state bottomlands in the mouth of Mobile Bay. We saw a very small ad in the local paper stating this fact. My family loved Mobile Bay and we were lucky enough to have a waterfront home on the bay where my three girls, John Henry, and I learn[ed] to sail. We fished, swam, and love[ed] the water. When we learned about Mobil's and [the] Alabama Department of Conservation's pulling this questionable deal we were at Mullet Point sitting around the table discussing the situation, and one of the daughters asked, "Why doesn't someone stop them?"¹

In the Fairhope paper a Mrs. Ruth McDonnell had placed a full-page notice showing where the leases were and other information and asked the same question. I called her and met with her at her Daphne home, and we got busy.

At that time two things were happening: there was a major blowout by Chevron off Santa Barbara -- the industry had violated the law and didn't put in necessary requirements and caused the oil blowout that was international news. I wrote GOO (Get Oil Out), an organization battling the industry, and made good connections. The executive director, Mrs. Sidenbury, sent me a complete set of slides showing the devastation along with verbiage and I used this program very effectively.

The state did not have offshore regulations, so the state Oil and Gas Board hurriedly put together a bunch of very weak regs, and the public had the opportunity to review these ridiculous regs, and there were public hearings in Mobile over these rules that were supposed to regulate the drilling industry and supposedly protect coastal resources.

The first hearing was a fiasco. Hundreds of people were just plain mad and opposed to the whole deal.

Another incidence that I was led to find in the morgue at the Mobile Press Register was a very small item about a major oil spill from a barge in an estuary in Buzzard's Bay, right next to Woodshole Oceanographic Institute, and [that] Dr. Max Blumer was doing state-of-the-art gas chromotography and collecting data on the catastrophic impacts on the water quality and killing of the marine life. I wrote (first called him) and requested his small, very interesting "Scientific Aspects of An Oil Spill." It was dynamite! I took excerpts from Dr. Blumer's report and added to the Santa Barbara blowout and presented this slide presentation before the state Oil and Gas Board at the first public hearing. It was fantastic, full of credibility and pictures and facts. The industry and promoters reeled from this approach.

The other thing happening during [the] same period was Craig Sheldon and others had formed the Save Our Bay (SOB) club in Fairhope to fight and try [to] stop Radcliff Dredging of dead oyster shells in Mobile Bay as they had been doing for a long time, and, in our opinion, were devastating Mobile Bay. In order to get to the layers of dead oyster shells (for chicken feed), a deep overburden of mud, grass beds, was removed and turbidity loads(?) were unbelievable.

Ruth and I joined the SOBs and got the group to add the battle against Mobil so we became SOBs.

I showed the slide presentation before any group that requested a program -- garden clubs, Kiwanis, etc., eventually MBAS.

I knew the Linzeys and some others in the organization and became aware of goals and objectives of the Society and joined. Of course, the Society had been actively opposing the drilling as well as some other issues.

The state Oil and Gas Board held another public hearing as Mobil wasn't too happy about how effective my slide presentation had been, and they wanted an opportunity to bring in their biostitutes (scientists who had sold out to industry) to counter my facts on both Dr. Max Blumer's scientific material and the Santa Barbara blowout. Not using facts but accusations that were false. [I] don't know if Hank Caddell, [an] attorney at that time, came out with Bill Baxley (Attorney General [of Alabama]) in opposition to Mobil drilling at this time, but this was a major victory for the public and Mobile Bay.

At this second public hearing, a Mobil representative asked me if I had ever seen a drilling rig or operation, and I said no. Then how could I oppose something I hadn't seen[, he asked]. I said [that] the evidence being written in [the] media tells me all I need to know to stop you. He then asked [me] if I'd be interested in going to New Orleans to see a drilling operation. I said [that] I'd have to discuss this invitation with my husband.

I was exceptionally lucky in having a husband who was also "my knight in shining armor." He was my protector and when I told him of the invitation he said I couldn't go and I asked why. He said [that] Mobil Oil would kill me.

I told Mobil's representative what my husband [had] said and he talked with Bub and said [that] he'd be my personal escort and make sure nothing would happen to me. Bub told him [that] if anything happened to me he'd kill him.

¹[I] have to put in a note of thanks to Mobile Press Register. [I] just realized their morgue started me off in this role with the right information.

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New Orleans Trip

Shell Oil flew into Brookley their private jet and they had already picked up others in Birmingham. I realized this was a "red carpet trip" to change people's minds, so I sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed it all. There was a great deal of seafood for all to enjoy on the trip, and on our arrival in New Orleans, we were put in the long black limousines and taken to the elite motel in [the] middle of [the] French Quarter. Each of the approximately ten people were [put] in private rooms [and] we were given awhile to freshen up and asked to come to the large orientation room where representatives from Mobil (the big shot, Mr. Bell, was there and my private escort), Exxon, Shell, and no telling who else.

Mr. Bell started telling everyone how environmentally conscious the industry was and [how it] wouldn't allow any problems.

Right before the trip I had seen an article about a large pipeline break and spill in [the] Gulf of Mexico, and had brought [the] article with me. I held up my hand and told him that [that] wasn't true and mentioned the major spill, and he had to correct himself.

After the orientation about the trip we would be taking [the] next day, we all went to Antoine's and had [a] very enjoyable meal. My escort kept to my side and the group toured [the] French Quarter till 2:00 A.M. I was tired, so [I] returned to [the] motel and slept until 6:00 A.M.

[The next morning] we had breakfast and headed for [the] airport and boarded helicopters, flying over the desecrated coastal marshes of Louisiana, with all of the canals dug for pipelines, the key hold slips, etc. [We] landed at Shell's production facility on [the] edge of [the] Gulf -- smack dab in the middle of [a] marsh, wetlands, and streams. It was a dirty place with air pollution and water pollution very evident[ly] being released into the streams and ponded areas, a real mess. I was making a lot of notes on what I considered to be possible violations of the law. The escort asked what I was writing and [I] told him "notes on the trip." We had another public hearing coming up the next week. After touring the facility we got into boats wearing life jackets as the Gulf was really rough and I was appalled at the thousands of different types of Christmas trees and drilling and production platforms I could see for miles. We went out to a couple of them and eventually returned. They were dumping wastes into the Gulf from these rigs. [I took] more notes, [re]boarded [the] helicopters, back to [the] airport, got our clothes, on Shell's plane, and returned to Mobile, safe and sound.

No one knew [it] but I had an expert witness that flew into Mobile from Santa Barbara, Dr. Norm Sanders.

Before I left for New Orleans I had called the state Oil and Gas Board and talked with the attorney and told him I wanted three of us to speak first at this third public hearing. This saved our chances.

The auditorium was packed. Bub, Dr. Sanders, and I were sitting in the audience. Phil Lamoreaux, supervisor of [the] State Oil and Gas Board called [the] hearing to order and would take [the] first item on [the] agenda. It was two legal sheets long! And we were last!

I jumped up and told Mr. Lamoreaux he was "out of order." He asked [me] what was I talking about. I told him he was taking or starting with new business and [that] Roberts Rules of Order started with old business, and I looked at the attorney and asked him if he didn't have the three of us to speak first and he said yes. Lamoreaux said [that] the board would take a five minute break and when they returned he said [that] Mrs. Jones and her two persons would speak first, and I told Norm to go get them. The media covered his presentation and he said "you can't trust the petroleum industry." He was a big hit and another big strike against Mobil and a major victory for us. We had our expert.

When I had my turn at the microphone, I thanked the industry for the trip to New Orleans and then read from my notes my noted violations on my tour and stated, "We can't afford to let Mobil or anyone else drill in our bay, they can't be trusted and they do not comply with any laws."

My Mobil escort came up to me later. He was furious and said [that] they had spent a lot of money on me and thought [that] I would not give them any problems. They thought they had bought me off as they had done with the others. One person even asked me how much would it take to shut me up. I said that you don't have that much money!

Because of our battle with Mobil, crooked politicians, and questionable agencies, gathering facts [that the] industry couldn't counter, we were able to stop any drilling for about ten years.

During this period there were many other battles involving Mobil and their continual requests for a permit, and others joined our efforts in the delays. People power works!

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Mobil's Permit Conditions

When we realized [that] Mobil was getting their first exploratory drilling permit for a four-five mile deep well, members of the Society (I remember them meeting at my house. . . .) I was there, Dr. David Dean, Nancy Garrett and ?) and we came up with conditions to be placed on the permit:

1). [A] $55,000,000 bond. In case Mobil violated [the] permit the state would get the money. 2). A "No Dump Policy" -- [the] first of its kind in the world. Mobil would have to collect all [the] waste -- drill muds, cuttings, sewage, etc, in barges and barge ashore to be disposed of. Mobil tried every way they could to get out of this. 3). Containment equipment to surround rig and additional on barge at all times. 4). Monitoring - pre, during, and post.

Surprisingly, these conditions became part of Mobil's permit.

At one of the public hearings, re: Mobil, I told the industry and everyone there [that] their proposed shell base [that] they planned to place on drill site "wouldn't stay there, because it would be washed away with the strong currents that were quite evident in this area." This was laughed at and Mobil made it a point to say "she doesn't know what she's talking about." All of their experts (geologist, hydrologists) said it would be okay. They dumped tons of oyster shells on the site and were floating their drill rig onto the base and the shell base started floating away, eroding. Mobil hired every scuba diver they could find to try and stabilize the "floating shell base" with sand bags, to no avail.

Mobil eventually had to construct a sheet-metal wall completely around the (what was left of the) shell base, spending a great deal of time and money because the little old lady in tennis shoes had been proven right. A couple of years later a geologist came up to me and said "aren't you the lady that [sic] told Mobil the shell base would wash away," as he had read it in the hearing notes. I smiled and said yes.

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EPA 404C Action

My Knight in Shining Armor had another opportunity to take on someone else.

Of all things to try and stop and this was a much needed recycling facility. The COE had put out a public notice regarding a Mr. Bubba Norden's proposed recycling facility on Three Mile Creek in the flood plain, on wetlands, and on the old Hickory Street land fill (which should be recognized as a Superfund Site).

[The Environmental Protection Agency] (EPA) took unprecedented action, a 404C action, against the permit, as it involved destruction of wetlands and wasn't a water borne operation -- that meant there wasn't any port need.

As president of the Society, the board always took a stand against destruction of wetlands, so we were in the forefront supporting EPA's unbelievable stance.

The meeting was held in a black community and Mr. Norden had filled the room with about eight to one hundred black men identified as potential workers at the recycling facility. Many were hostile toward me and EPA, and it was quite evident in their loud comments and threatening actions, especially when I spoke in support of relocating the facility. That was really vital for the community.

Bub was sitting at home watching me and EPA in this hostile and potentially volatile situation. I eventually asked for police escort to my car and left for home. When I arrived Bub was terrified something had happened to me. He was so mad [that] he called Mr. Norden at home and threatened him. If anything happened to me, he'd be next.

The facility was stopped. The only 404C taken in [the] Mobile area by EPA that paid off.

[The] bad thing about this was [that] a recycling facility was not built to provide a much needed service, and also jobs. Norden had several other sites to place the facility but didn't.

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Vulcanus

This was a frightening time. Chemical Waste Management (CWM) is a huge industry and handling our waste is always a problem. In order to take on this incineration ship (the Vulcanus or "leper" ship) that was handling a "witches brew" of chemical waste from all over the U.S. and possibly the world, as no one could gather the info properly and fully as supposedly the mafia were involved.

To try and tell this story in condensed version will not be easy, but luckily there were a lot of "players" involved in opposing this ship.

Chickasaw port had been picked by CWM to be the collection center and handling facility [for] the hundreds or thousands of tanker trucks from all over and with a mix of the most toxic and dangerous chemicals known to man -- Dioxin, PCBs, heavy metals, and on and on -- were known to be a large portion of the waste that would be delivered on our road beds, over our bridges, possibly by barges to Chickasaw, where the multitude of millions of gallons of the material would somehow be "piped" aboard this very ugly and dangerous vessel without spilling a thing into Chickasaw Creek. No one knows, at least within the public, how much of this "witches brew" spilled into the creek. [There is] no way that it didn't happen as CWM had [a] lot of "friends" and "investors" within the "respected community." One [friend] was Congressman Jack Edwards, and we used this knowledge to the fullest extent.

One day my husband, Bubba, or John Henry, came home from work. He had been a building inspector at the Mobile City Hall. He eventually become director before retiring after twenty-two years. He asked me what a PCB was and I explained it to be a very toxic and deadly (long-lasting) chemical and [I] gave him some material [on it].

We had always worked together on any and everything our married lives. He read and became very upset at what was being allowed within Mobile and Mobile Bay. Luckily, he was able to discuss what CWM was doing and how serious and possible a catastrophic spill could destroy Mobile Bay and threaten human lives and the local economy. He was able to make two commissioners, Lambert Mims and Robert Doyle, aware of the seriousness of the situation, and was told to take any action that would stop the operation of the ship. Gary Greenough, another commissioner, was just there! Things started to happen at city hall.

An individual who had dealings with CWM, a Chickasaw port authority, went to get a permit for two multimillion gallon storage facilities at Chickasaw port and along the flood plain or flood way of the creek. The individual made a huge mistake. He mentioned [that] three women were battling Vulcanus and [that] they didn't know what they were doing. He mentioned Mrs. Marissa Gardner, Mrs. Collette King, and Mrs. Myrt Jones. Bubba specifically asked the gentleman if he had ever heard Myrt Jones, his wife, ever talk at any of the meetings and he [the man] said no. We had a meeting in Chickasaw the next week, and the person walked up to me and said [that] he came to hear what I had to say.

Bubba knew flood plain management and [the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA)] Flood Insurance Program Permitting Process, and he got busy. He always read the Definition and in his letters to FEMA he specifically focused on the legal question of does FEMA allow hazardous waste storage tanks in flood ways or flood plains, and the answer was no. Bub was then able to "deny" the permit request. This was a huge stumbling block and economically depressive situation for CWM.

Another thing that Bubba did in his capacity with [the] city was to check the safety load on the extremely old metal and high bridge the tanker trucks used extensively to bring their "heavy and continuous" loads to the CWM facility. He was able to get the right engineering and structural information necessary to place a weight load on the bridge, and this also helped stop CWM's flow.

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Coastal Environmental Alliance

Of course there were [a] lot of other people and situations going on. People in coastal Alabama such as reps from MBAS (Myrt was the person), Jack Friend, concerned citizens Barbara Caddell and Ann Walsh (League of Woman Voters), Marissa Gardner and Collette King of Chickasaw (Collette King was the one who found out the mafia were involved), and quite a few others founded the first Coastal Environmental Alliance. We were organized and spoke with one powerful voice. We would hold press conferences at any opportunity, attend council and commissioner meetings, and let our voices be heard.

Bub was representative of [the] City of Mobile as requested by the commissioners, and I as president of MBAS, went to Washington D.C. at [the] request of EPA, supposedly to help draft regulations for Ocean Incineration. This meeting showed us how crooked the agency was. Greenpeace was very much involved in the battle and, during the opening of the meeting, the EPA person said [that] we'd now get started with drafting the regs. One of the Greenpeace reps held up a document and said, "You mean these? EPA has already put [them] together." [The] EPA rep said, "How did you get those in-house documents?" All of us realized [that] the meeting was a farce and [a] sham and we walked out.

Another farce that hit EPA with a whammy was at a public hearing in Brownsville, Texas. Over 5,000 people attended this meeting and all were opposed to the incineration that was being allowed to occur off [the] Texas coast in the Gulf of Mexico. This was the largest number of people to ever attend a public hearing.

Eventually, with all the constraints, the outpourings of opposition, the concerns finally being voiced by elected officials in coastal Alabama on the potential dangers in the transporting of this witches brew on all of our highways and water ways and the potential for a catastrophe in Mobile Bay, the Vulcanus was stopped. The members of the MBAS board of directors gave their esteemed plaque to the city commissioners in helping to stop the ship.

One wonders how much of a Superfund Site the little facility once used by CWM at the Port of Chickasaw should be handled?

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EMPRESS

Electromagnetic Pulse -- this was a new, broader education for Myrt. I had heard of the Navy's EMPRESS proposal and had received copies of the EISs from Chesapeake Bay and read them. [It was a] good thing I had as the information became very useful when the navy started looking for a site in the Gulf of Mexico. They were chased away from [the] Mississippi coast, so they settled on Alabama's small coast, believing it would be a "shoo-in."

We went through an EIS and a public hearing and there were only three of us voicing any concern or opposition. But the Navy was in for a big surprise. One of the individuals passed information to a journalist at Gulf Shores about the potential dangers the use of the EMPRESS could pose to marine life, human life, and the sensitive equipment on the ships, drilling rigs, etc. in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Another hearing was held at Gulf Shores and about 300-500 people showed up.

In the meantime, a friend of mine, Thann Morris, a PACE school teacher, called and asked [me] what an EMPRESS was, a big aspirin? She came by my house and I had put together a package for her elementary -- third, fourth, and fifth graders at Semmes school. These young, very intelligent students held a debate, then typed their concerns on their computers and mailed the letters to the head of the Navy in Washington D.C. The navy person, in his very impressive uniform, went first to the high school, as the letters were very well written, but he eventually ended up before Thann's young students. He was overwhelmed by their knowledge of the EMPRESS and was unable to answer their questions. This truly upset this individual and his boss.

There was a second meeting held on Dauphin Island, and again a lot of residents attended [along with] some of the PACE students. There were additional concerns and one by Mobil fearing their sensitive electronic equipment on drilling rigs would be affected.

The Navy dropped their project in the Gulf of Mexico. Supposedly they had been kept out of Chesapeake Bay and were doing EMPRESS maneuvers in the Atlantic Ocean.

The EMPRESS was in fact a barge with a lot of electronic equipment on it that shot out impulses similar to a low nuclear radiation pulse that would affect the Navy's electronic gear on their ships, if the impulse got through a hole.

The navy ships would circle the EMPRESS and the impulse would be released. In the first set of EISs there was a great deal of concern on what impacts these impulses would have on marine life of all sorts. Because of the interest and actions taken by the PACE students, the board of directors of MBAS gave them the annual plaque at the banquet. Young people need to know they have the opportunity and responsibility to become involved and make a difference. This would help minimize negativity and promote democracy.

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Ameraport - Alabama Coastal Zone Management Plan

To show how people-power and involvement made a difference in the early 1970s was all of the numerous citizens from all types of backgrounds becoming involved in the preliminary planning process for the Alabama Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Plan. The major reason CZMP was even considered by [the] "powers-to-be" was in order for a state to be considered for an offshore "oil port" there had to be a plan in place. So, it wasn't really to protect human lives or coastal resources, but to get federal monies for the study and to get the Ameraport out in the Gulf of Mexico off Alabama's coast. But, thank goodness the involved citizens thought otherwise and that there was an opportunity to protect human life and coastal resources.

There were quite a few meetings. A draft was released and all of us said no way, too weak, language too ambiguous, and we wanted a better document with teeth. There were either two or three more documents released, but these were also rejected and worked over to include the language, definitions, and identifying protective plans that we thought would do the job. So, we finally had to agree, on probably the fourth of fifth plan. They're all at The McCall Library. There were many players in this process, ordinary citizens, Ph.D.s, special interest (petroleum industry, power companies, utilities, real estate, home builders, etc.), all of the agencies (state, EPA, Fish and Wildlife), especially Economic Development, Chamber of Commerce. Sometimes we worked together, but usually the ones truly representing the public interest rallied together and said, "This is what we want," and it worked!

One of our senators, Red Noonan, was in the forefront of promoting and supporting Ameraport, and on an occasion, said, "Myrt, you're a gadfly." [I] wasn't sure what that was so [I] looked it up in Webster's Dictionary and he was right:

Gadfly - any of various flies (such as a housefly, bat-fly, or warble fly) that bite or suck blood or annoy livestock. Intentionally annoying person who stimulates or provokes others esp. by persistent irritating criticism.

At the time I was a registered nurse and was doing venipunctures for the American Red Cross, so [I] felt like the first part [of the definition] was fitting. The second part made me realize that my "stimulation," "provocation," and "irritating criticism," in my opinion, made me like a twentieth-century Paul Revere, so I liked the term even though Red might not have meant it as a compliment. I found out that Socrates was the first gadfly. I thought I was in good company.

In the acceptance of a final CZM Plan there was set-up the Alabama Coastal Area Board. The meetings were always held in coastal Alabama, either Mobile or Baldwin counties. There were elected officials from both counties, agency people, special interests, and one person from the Citizen Advisory Committee that had been pieced together. Steve McMillan was this person, and the good about this board was [that] a lot of citizens could attend, oversee, and have input.

On several occasions I felt the need to question Steve McMillan's position on an issue. He was a special interest home builder, real estate developer, and I wasn't too sure he was looking out for the public interest and [the] protection of coastal resources. I made this point evident as Commissioner Gary Greenough asked if I couldn't lay off my condemnation remarks at the public meetings. I told him no way.

This board must have been doing a pretty good job as when Fob James became governor, one of the first thing[s] he did was emasculate the program by dissolving the Coastal Area Board and broke up control of the program by designating the Department of Economic Development Agency (ADECA) as lead agency (to receive and disperse funds), and gave regulatory control to [the] Alabama Department of Conservation. In my opinion, this destroyed the program and Fob James and his cronies accept all the blame [for that].

Of course, Louisiana got the offshore port and we lost the Ameraport, which was a plus for us.

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Coal/Grain Handling Facilities

A big pain in the neck were the numerous plans for coal/grain handling facilities. The first I remember being involved in was one being promoted and supported by Senator Sage Lyons, an attorney. [I] had a number of problems with Sage also in his support of Chevron requesting "key hole drilling slots" in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. He was successful in getting Chevron the permits but his proposed coal handling facility in marsh-wetlands north of [the] Cochrane Bridge was finally stopped. [It] seemed [to me] like the name [of the proposed facility] was Polecat Coal Handling Facility.

Another major battle was [the] coal/grain facility at Theodore-North American Gulf Terminals, Inc. (NAGTI). The citizens in this area were well organized and eventually this proposal was stopped after many hearings. [I] believe EISs were also written.

One that few will remember is the transshipment facility planned for Mobile Bay [located] just north of Fort Morgan. It would have been a constructed dredge material island. Thank goodness we stopped this one.

McDuffie Coal Handling Facility is huge, and, in my opinion, an eyesore and human health and marine life threat. To store the huge piles of coal in extremely valuable coastal land is, in my opinion, "stupid." The air and water pollution loads pose deadly threats to human health, water quality, and marine life. The small particulates from the coal are inhaled, posing long-term threats to humans. They also increase the particulate load in coastal Alabama air, keeping the area a non-attainment particulate zone, which presents a significant threat to economic development. It can stop road construction if a law is imposed.

There are heavy metals and other toxic chemicals that are released from the coal loads. Another very serious and long-term threat is in the Corps-Alabama State Docks "continuous" maintenance dredging of the Mobile Ship Channel to bring in the few deep draft vessels needed to ship the coal, costing tax payers billions of dollars and stressing the Mobile Bay ecosystem, especially when the State Docks has proven there is an alternative option to this catastrophic routine. Several years ago "topping off" was proven to be economically feasible. A deep draft vessel would come in and take on a load, then go out into the gulf and top off to a deeper draft.

There may be even a better idea. To stop loading and unloading coal at McDuffie [and] not dredge to fifty-five feet but allow the coal barges coming down river to continue past McDuffie. The barge would "roll on" to a vessel and leave port for [its] destination, then roll off upon return.

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Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge

Five of us received the Malcolm Stewart Award given by the Alabama Conservancy for our efforts in spearheading and saving the first tract of the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. Known as the Perdue Tract, which is [located] on Fort Morgan Road.

Skipper Tonsmiere, a local home builder, and Baldwin County residents called Myrt in '79-'80(?) and asked how does one go about saving land. I didn't know the answer but suggested he put the question before the Audubon board of directors at the next meeting at the Captain's Table on Battleship Park.

This was discussed and [the] board members unanimously proclaimed "let's do it." I called Carlyle Blakeley, our regional vice-president of NAS in Charleston, South Carolina, and he sent Larry Thompson. Skipper took Larry and I through this fantastic 1200-acre unique barrier island system. It was pristine land, frontage on the Gulf of Mexico, thirty to forty feet dune system, west end of Little Lagoon (brackish water) with sandy peninsula separately, the two fresh water lakes (Gator Lakes), pine forests, oak hammocks, bogs, and a very narrow winding road with an old bridge being [the] only entrance.

Skipper gave me a copy of the developer's plan (as this individual had an option on the property) to place a golf course on the sand dune area, home, condos, and businesses throughout. Tears actually were in my eyes when I finished. We found out the National Audubon Society would not be interested, so, luckily, a friend, [Mary] Burks of Birmingham, had mentioned the Nature Conservancy, so I called the office in Virginia and talked to David Morine. He knew the property and planned to come and meet with the five who were the leaders: Skipper, Myrt, Nancy Garrett, John Borom, and Jack Friend. We had put together a detailed document with aerial and land photos and [a] description on the biological, botanical, historical (archeaological shell middens), geological, and other significant values of this total barrier island uniqueness, and mailed to everyone who may be helpful, such as the president of the United States, congressmen, governors, and state legislators. We tried to cover all bases for support, just in case.

David met with us and told us that we needed congressional support in order to get the necessary funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which was used to acquire coastal lands, especially if considered vital land forms for migratory bird life. The next step was also to get the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help in determining the values of this land form in their special studies. Congressman Jack Edwards was approached by the group -- at that time the developer held the option -- and the congressman told [us] that he couldn't do anything as long as this developer had the option. But he [said that he] had another problem. He told the group [that] he couldn't give his support if Myrt was in the foreground. This set me back on my heels and made me furious to think [that] this congressman could be this shallow, as we were trying to save coastal land, not stop a polluter. Anyway, I told the group that selected ones would work with the congressman, I'd work with Fish and Wildlife and do other things.

It was unbelievable but the developer lost his option. I called Chase Manhattan Bank in New York to see how much they were asking for the property and [was] told $10,000,000. I then called Dave and passed on the information, and he said [that there was] no need to worry as he knew what to do, and he did it!

The Fish and Wildlife had been doing their "quick study," a first of its kind on the Perdue Tract, and determined [that] it made a fantastic land form, not only for bird life but barrier island flora and fauna, and fit all the requirements for acquisition.

Dave Morine waved his magic wand and did his thing and [the] next [thing] we knew the people had the Perdue Tract. The price was somewhere about $3,000,000- $6,000,000. The first parcel in what is now known as the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. In addition to this piece of property, we were very interested in buying Little Dauphin Island, the only north-south barrier island along [the] Gulf of Mexico. It was rich, not only as a land form for [a] variety of species of bird life, but Greg Spies and Michael Rushing had taken me by boat for a walk along the eroding banks of this beautiful little island, identifying the Indian shell base in eroded banks and picking up shards of Indian pottery. The island is surrounded to [the] north and west with Dauphin Island, marsh, and wetlands (major nursery salt water beds for marine life), making it a vital piece of property to acquire.

Greg spun a fascinating tale of how the captains of sailing vessels in the past ventured out into the gulf capturing turtles returning [to] the Dauphin Island bay, placing them within enclosed pens (Kraals) until there were enough to pack on a vessel, then sail[ing them] north to turn into turtle soup. I found [a] very old bottom of [a] French wine bottle on [the] beach. His Indian stories [and] French stories about [a] period when these individuals arrived, and the quaint stories made me realize [that] we had to acquire this six hundred plus acres. But there was a potential problem. Hurricane Frederic had hit the Alabama coast severely in 1979. It was determined by those people in power that the Dauphin Island Bridge was damaged "beyond repair" and, after a lot of dispute as to whether taxpayers should fund this multimillion dollar "new bridge" or consider a ferry, the bridge people won out and were building the new one. On the state highway plans there was an exit ramp to Little Dauphin Island.

Chris Delaney, a local attorney, was the major owner and he and I were talking one day. He really wanted to sell the island and I told him [that] as president of the Audubon Society we would like to see it bought, but there was one condition for our support: he would have to have the state remove the ramp. He said no problem and it was removed.

The Fish and Wildlife did their study and determined it fit into the requirements, and it was acquired by Dave Morine for $2,000,000-$3,000,000 and became the second parcel (Mobile County) in BSNWR.

Their had been additional small parcels acquired around the Perdue Tract. The Fish and Wildlife Service were the overseers of the growing BSNWR. But there was one parcel we all wanted. Little Point Clear is the crown jewel that was next on our list, but again we had major problems. The owner was an "oil giant," Pace Oil, and this gentleman (Mr. Page) had determined [that] the little natural brackish water inlets could be canalized and he could construct Florida-like homes with bulkheads and boats moored along side. He requested a permit of this nature, but, in order to reach land, he first had to have a deep access channel from Intra coastal Waterway, and this required extensive permits from [the] state Department of Conservation, Lands Division and Marine Resources, ADEM, Fish and Wildlife, COE, EPA, etc., because of the extensive acute/cumulative impacts this proposed channel would cause on [the] Mobile Bay ecosystem and resources.

This would need support statewide, and it came from the Audubon Chapter (Birmingham), and anyone else we could muster. It took awhile, but all involved eventually stopped Mr. Page's plans. He tried one other time to get a permit, or either he had sold the property and this was eventually denied. The Fish and Wildlife Service especially brought forth the extremely valuable natural benefits these little tributaries [had] and [how] the uniqueness of the flora (some endangered) and fauna of this acreage contributed to the Mobile Bay system and economy of the state.

Again this property was acquired and became the third largest parcel of the BSNWR. People reading this section must realize that the timing was right in the acquisition of these parcels, but the main fact is if individuals, agencies, and organizations had not gotten involved, it wouldn't have happened. People-power made it happen and anytime there is involvement in a situation and some leadership and knowledge of which buttons to press and develop most of all cause delays, modifications, regulations, or actually stop a proposal yet continue to maintain surveillance, then usually an objective is obtained.

We lost some major battles, but, in losing, we focused on the needs, the values, and the potential for trying to do something about saving that parcel. One I'm thinking of is our efforts to try and place the Mobile-Tensaw Delta in the National Parks Service and the National Wildlife Refuge, both of these efforts failed but paid off, as eventually people realized what we had in this vast freshwater territory, and now a great deal has been acquired and saved, especially thru the Forever Wild Program.

A third grader once asked me what I did when I lost a battle, and I responded [that] if you get involved you don't really lose, as you may have touched someone's "button" or you've made a change you may not known about; the project may be modified and people's thinking are also changed. An example is Congressman Jack Edwards [who] said [that] I had made him rethink what he was doing in Washington on some issues and [that he didn't want to wonder,] when his grandson got around to reading his public record, what he may think. Jack did try very hard to help MBAS and Tom Davis of Sunshine Canoes to try in our efforts to place the Escatawpa River in the Wild and Scenic Rivers Designation. We had worked very hard, thinking we had everyone's support, but at a major public hearing one of the largest land holders, J. P. Altmayer, had quietly gotten Scott and IP [International Paper] to vote against this and we lost. Altmayer (whom I had never met) was sitting behind me and was very proud of the fact [that] he had stopped us. I told him he had done the residents of coastal Alabama and the state a severe injustice, just for his own self!

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Dog River Bridge

Besides educating myself I was also educated by others. One was Greg Spies, an archeologist. In the 1970s he had been given a contract years previous to do an archival "Bay Oaks Study" by the National Parks Service, and I had read it and thoroughly enjoyed the fact that coastal Alabama is so rich in Indian history and lore. But the public, and especially the young people, are not learning it. Another serious problem is the COE and Alabama Historical Commission [who] have, in some of our opinions and knowledge, allowed destruction and desecration of important archeological sites in their permitting program. This could be considered criminal!

The "Bay Oaks Study" recognized [that] the area on [the] south side of [the] entrance to Dog River on Mobile Bay, the site we called Grand View Park when I was a kid. . . . At that time, on many occasions my family (Mom, Dad, and two brothers and I) would take a picnic and walk out on the long pier and wharf to swim or ride the magic merry-go-round, and try to capture the gold ring (if we did we'd get another trip on the carousel). It was a magical place, and sometimes we'd go under the old Bascule Bridge and fish, not knowing [of] the fact that the 1970s report showed this area to have been Mobile's first port since the bay was shallow. The French had a King's Magazine trading post on the other side of the road, across from Grand View Park, and there was an Indian village on this spot with active trading taking place. There were also shallow draft vessels that would travel, carrying commerce up the bay and up river. This "study" also identified this area as containing many rich and unstudied archeological sites. This was fantastic info and ended up being fantastic ammunition.

An individual who owned a restaurant on the bay at Dog River Bridge called me and asked if I knew of the proposal to remove the old bridge and build a "high rise one"? He was scared it would put him out of business and asked if I'd look at the state highway plans. I did, and realized that everyone involved in the proposed construction of the high-rise was in violation of state and federal law. The Alabama Historical Commission stated flatly [that] there were no significant archeological sites in the area. This was [an] outright lie. I pulled out the Bay Oak Study and quoted from it [to the effect] that there were significant sites in [the] immediate area and [that] all were violating the law.

Greg Spies had been gone for quite awhile from here [Mobile] and I didn't know he was back in town. Luckily he had seen the same plans and, knowing the state and federal archeological laws, [he] also put everyone on notice. A Corps person asked if Greg was in communication with Myrt, and he [Greg] said [he] hadn't seen her in years. Needless to say, the project was placed in a holding situation. Greg became legally involved and would have the particulars on this story. But, stopping a high-rise bridge for four [to] five years was a positive happening as it placed these agencies on notice that they were violating the laws, allowing destruction of our cultural/ archeological history and [that] someone was watching them. In other words, we were "watchdogs." (My book, A Gadfly's Memoirs, corrects this.)

I've written this before but if I lived on Dog River I would become a watchdog, as you can never know what may be in the plans by the COE or a special interest project by [the] Alabama State Docks.

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Navy Homeport

Another instance where Bubba and Myrt worked together on an issue [was the Navy Homeport]. At first the Homeport was being considered on South Pinto Island. Mayor [Lambert] Mims asked Bub to handle the various needs for the city of Mobile in regards to permit requirements with [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] FEMA's Flood Insurance Program and Flood Plain Management.

I was able to travel with him [Bub] representing the environmental issues that may be involved, and we traveled to Montgomery, Atlanta, and Washington. In D.C., while Bub met with FEMA reps, I met with EPA people. Both of us were being successful in laying the groundwork for this site. The reason I supported the Homeport, and the board gave me their support (though there was the nuclear potential problem on some of these vessels), was to stop the Chamber of Commerce's and Industrial Development Board's continued promotion of dirty industry that truly didn't improve [a] need for jobs and [thought that the] Navy would bring in thousands of jobs.

Someone found a small superfund site on South Pinto Island and pulled the rug from under our efforts. Dirty politics were in play as the location for the Homeport now was at the mouth of the Theodore Ship Channel.

There was a task force that had been put together to court the Navy in the placement of this Homeport. Bub had been recognized by Mayor Mims as being his representative. Forces within the Chamber of Commerce tried to not recognize this position.

When the Homeport became a reality at Theodore, the Chamber of Commerce had a big celebration and everyone on the task force received a nice clock for their efforts. I found out that Bub had not been recognized [and I] went to the Chamber and raised holy hell with the fellow. [I] can't remember [his] name, but [I] bet it was Al Weiskoff. Make the story short, Bub got his clock!

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Hazardous Waste Incineration - Ideal Cement (Holnam)

The first notification I had of the plans by this company to burn hazardous wastes in their cement kiln came from a telephone call from Bob Hodge. This fellow had been educated by me in previous years when he wanted to become involved in Fowl River issues. I had, in essence, "held his hands" and passed on info and lined him up with agency people.

At first Bob was one of the "good guys" and worked hard to try and stop various threats to his area, taking on the COE, ADEM, [the] Chamber, etc., and when the Theodore outfall issue came out, Bob was an organizer of the Fowl River Protective Association, but somewhere along the way he became a "turncoat."

Anyway, he called thinking [that] he may be getting our support in burning hazardous waste in [a] high temperature kiln as a good thing. He realized [that] he made one of the biggest mistakes ever because I said [that in] no way could we support this type of issue, but I thanked him for the telephone call.

Greenpeace had been releasing documents on how bad it was to allow incineration of hazardous wastes in a cement kiln. One of the major reasons was the frequent accidents that occurred in trying to maintain the high temperatures, and in these accidents much of the unburned or mixed toxins (e.g., PCBs, dioxin, furoun) were released and captured on small particles in our air that individuals could then breathe and inhale and [which would] remain in their lungs, posing potential health affects.

Another area of major concern was again regarding the unknown makeup of the mixtures and the transportation of the millions of gallons in tanker trucks on our highways and through our neighborhoods. The same culprit was involved, Chemical Waste Management, and we knew we could not trust this company. An issue at stake was again the presence of the mafia and their control over elected officials and agencies.

The potential for hazardous waste ending up in the cement and being used in homes and buildings and what potential health hazards this could post, and to what extent this would threaten the integrity and strength of the cement or concrete was unknown!

A lady, Gwen Johnson, was a member of St. John's Episcopal Church. I attended, and she lived in the Holnam neighborhood on Dog River. I mentioned the telephone conversation with Bob Hodge and gave her some Greenpeace material, and the next thing I knew, she and Margie Welch had formed POP, People Opposing Pollution, a neighborhood group that developed very sharp teeth. We all attended City Council [meetings], commission meetings, and public hearings that Greenpeace also attended, and held press conferences.

Eventually, this project was stopped.

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Theodore Ship Channel - Theodore Island

I was actively involved in the Citizen Advisory Committee on the COE's preliminary planning, and this was an issue that came before us. The proposal was to come off the Mobile Ship Channel with another deep channel into the Theodore Industrial Park. A major problem was how to handle and dispose of the multimillions of cubic yards of dredged material from this huge project.

A video identified as "Doughnut Island" thoroughly outlines the MBAS's and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's objections to placing the material in Mobile Bay, which would displace over five square miles of productive bay bottoms and heavily impact on water quality and hydrology of the bay.

WES, the Corps' experimental body, had a model of Mobile Bay and placed islands in different groups and configurations in the bay and tried to determine some of the impacts, but we have to recognize [that] this model was not a natural system and so had very limited capabilities.

Our society encouraged the material to be stock piled in Theodore Industrial Park and recognize [that] it could be a resource and a useful commodity, but COE and the Alabama State Docks preferred another "takings" of public lands.

There were no recognitions or studies made on the potential that this island would become a paradise for birds, but that is what happened. Coastal Alabama had not had brown pelicans since [the] early 1900s. Four pair of pelicans found a home on the newly formed island, and, being endangered, their little fledglings put the COE on notice. One district engineer, in essence, said, "to hell with the birds, we're going to maintain the channel and place the material on the island." This individual was told to cease and desist or be put in jail. The Fish and Wildlife individual, Larry Goldman, enjoyed putting this fellow in the Corps on notice, and good for him.

Of course the brown pelican is now abundant in our area, and the skimmers, terns, and other species have raised quite a few birds of their own. But, in order for this huge island to try and be stabilized, the public tax monies that have been spent on bulkheads, [to] plant trees, [and] vegetation, etc., through these twenty years has probably been in the billions of dollars, a major "sink hole" for public monies. No one knows to what degree loss of bay bottoms has occurred with the sinking and spreading of this mass of dredged material across the Mobile Bay bottomlands. No one knows to what extent this loss has taken on the downward decline of our seafood catch.

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Weeks Bay National Research Reserve (WBNERR) - Wolverton

The development of the WBNERR was an uphill battle by all of us involved. There were continuous "turf battles" between agencies, especially over who would control the monies. It's now great to have a place of this exceptional beauty for all ages to enjoy in perpetuity. I was on the Citizen Advisory Committee for years, and one suggestion, in my opinion, that would have gotten us in[to] the twenty-first century was to use Dr. Billy Wolverton's biological treatment of sewage. This was space-age technology and could have started us off in a very positive manner in promoting a better way to treat sewage, protect ground and surface waters, promote wetland vegetation as a cleanser and habitat, and end up with tertiary or quadinary treated water that could maintain gold fish in a pond, but powers in place went the other way and put in a peat bog in Europe (an exotic). Imagine tearing up a natural peat bog, put it in a mounded area where some scientists believed the peat would become overwhelmed and not treat the sewage properly, and have [the] potential for contaminating the high groundwater table. I quit!

[A] few years later, with the addition to the building, another treatment facility was constructed by a local person who had been "borrowing" Dr. Wolverton's biological treatment process. The new facility, in my opinion, does not provide the proper treatment of the waste water and, since there is no plastic beneath the wetlands, it has allowed [the waste] to seep into the high water table and groundwater. In my opinion, this is bad science.

One good thing was [that] the pitcher plant bog we had identified across Fish River was finally burned and John Borom managed to get a memorial fund of several hundred thousands of dollars from Ottilie Halstead and federal match[ing] monies and an extensive boardwalk was constructed over the bog and to Fish River.

I discussed with the board of directors the idea to not only promote the society but to also educate the public on the plants found in a bog. Dr. Michael LeLong, botanist professor at USA, had extensive knowledge and a number of pitcher plant slides we could use on plaques to be placed on the boardwalk, and he helped design language and pictures. The members agreed and released over $7,000 to have the plaques made. We made two sets and placed the second set of plaques on the boardwalk over the pitcher plant bog at the Environmental Studies Center in Mobile.

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Forever Wild Board

In our statewide endeavor through the Alabama Audubon Council, we tried for several years to get through our state legislative body a program that would keep, acquire, and save exceptional lands, and we finally got the Forever Wild Trust Fund. A portion of gas monies received by the state from the drilling industry in state waters went into this acquisition fund, and was overseen by the Forever Wild, or "Forever Male," Board, as there were no women appointed.

After several years the opportunity came for the MBAS to nominate someone for a spot [on the board] that had become available. I suggested John Winn or John Borom, either men were good nominees. I turned the names into the president of the Alabama Audubon Council, who, in turn, passed [them] onto Lieutenant Governor Don Siegleman, as it would be his position to fill.

One night I received a phone call from Don Siegleman. He said [that] he had the submitted names and didn't know either [man] and was considering a woman. I told him that [that] would be a nice change and he asked if I would be interested. Of course I would [be] as I did have some interest and background in this area. He said [that] his time would be up that night and [that] the speaker of the house Jim Clark would be appointing me. I said [that] as long as it meets the requirements of the law I would be glad to accept. I was traveling to Montgomery with Margie Welch and Gwen Johnson the next as there was the environmental citizen group meeting with the attorney general. I needed to bring my resume to his office and he [gave] me the letter from [the] speaker. [The] next day [on the way up to Montgomery I] didn't say [a] word to either lady and when [we] arrived at [the] state house [I] went to Siegleman and picked up the letter. [I] showed it to my two friends and they were elated. I then showed it around the table and Ann Tate shot me a look of hatred and [asked me] how I managed] to do this. I tried to explain how it happened and realized I had a true enemy.

I enjoyed being the only woman on the board for one and one half years, and truly believed I made a big difference, as I didn't go along with the boys. I was sometimes the only "no" and, if I didn't understand what was being discussed or proposed, I abstained, sometimes shocking Jim Martin, the chairman.

When Riley Boykin Smith tried to have the board acquire the extreme west end of the whip like portion of Dauphin Island, with the understanding he was going to develop the majority of the west end, I told everyone, including him, [that] I would not support this action. He was telling the board [that] if we didn't we would be, in essence, stopping the deal, when, in reality, ADEM had violated their own procedural regs in even considering his permit request. There was a lawsuit threatening the whole deal. Anyway, I was the only one to vote no the first time, but I believe there were a couple [of] other board members who had similar doubts.

After the one and one half years, the black member, and I'm sure Ann Tate, supported his efforts, questioned the legality of my presence, and my term was terminated. I had [had] enough anyway of this bureaucratic, questionable process and [was] glad to be off [the board]. John Borom filled my seat and he enjoys it. Good for him. "Forever Male" Board again.

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Mobile Bay National Estuary Program

I was appointed by Governor Fob James to be a member of the policy committee of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP). I was the first environmentalist to be placed on a policy committee of an NEP and was hopeful [that] good things would come out of this program, but I realized [that] it would be again elected officials, agency reps, and industry planners for their own agendas, not really protecting our Mobile Bay. I'd been at this too long to not see it coming: a disaster. Boy, were we wrong!

At the beginning there was a lot of bickering in the preliminary planning stages, everyone fighting for their special interests and turfs. This single mindedness lasted the whole time I was involved. The director picked to head the program was a big mistake. She came out of EPA and [was] truly hard to work with. I realized [that] I would have to take an open stand against a request of hers. She had sent a letter to each member of the policy committee stating [that] we would have to review last year's budget in order to come up with a short funding of approximately $140,000. I'm not used to disturbing a budget to fix a shortage. One hundred thousand dollars was supposed to have been paid by [the] state and forty thousand dollars was a cost overrun by an individual contract.

I wrote each member and the director and stated [that] I would not review the accepted budget, but I suggested Mayor Mike Dow and Jack Ravan, director of the Alabama State Docks, get with the governor and get the $100,000 pledge. I also stated [that] the contractor would have to accept the cost overrun. This occurred and [the] budget was left alone. The women was truly bad for the program and had serious problems with the staff in the office. Eventually she lost her job and the office was closed.

During this period, before the politics got [a]hold of the program and turned it over to the USA, I drafted a proposal which would have setup a separate board with members from the policy, technical, scientific, citizen committees in a body that would receive funds, determine needs for studies, put out contracts, etc. This was a good idea as some individuals supported it, but USA now controls the NEP. Have you heard of the NEP since this happened?

Projects were proposed for NEP. One I had suggested as [the] representative of MBAS was to repair the much needed boardwalk at Battleship Park. The railings were falling off the sides, the planks made it unsafe to walk on, and we had pledged $1,000. Everyone ignored this project until finally someone made [a] half-hearted effort to put [the] railing back up. [They] nailed planks down but a whole section of railing was left out on the observatory. I discussed my concerns re: our pledge and, in a lot of people's opinions, the half-way job, and board members told me not to turn the $1000 [over] to NEP.

At the last meeting I attended, I told the policy committee [of] our feelings and [of the] no $1000. Mayor Mike Dow told the members: "Myrt, I'll help get the monies to properly fix the boardwalk." He lied to all of us. I called him several times and he blatantly refused my calls. Several months later a concrete pier was being constructed in front of the Battleship. I had tried and felt it would be a waste of my time to remain in this extremely disappointing program, so I resigned and a tremendous feeling of relief settled over me.

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"Planning Paradise"

This article was written by Myrt Jones through the encouragement of Mrs. Nell Echols Burks, at that time (1982) [the] editor of the Chamber of Commerce magazine. Nell helped direct [it] and editorialized the article. Upon completion, review, and acceptance by the Chamber of Commerce, it was to be printed in the magazine, but [a] turn of events cancelled [its] printing.

Myrt had been leading the opposition in the proposed outfall for Degussa in [the] middle of Mobile Bay for the Mobile Bay Audubon Society, and the afternoon before a public hearing on the subject, had the inspiration and direction of getting the seriousness of the project over to the public by bringing a "coffin" to the hearing.

A young lady on the board of directors came to Myrt's house and took a cardboard box, shaped it into a coffin (small), and covered [it] with black crepe paper. On [the] lid, which opened, [the lady] placed "Rest in Peace," and on [the] inside was [a] map of Mobile Bay. Myrt carried the coffin into [the] Mobile Gas Service auditorium, and when it came time for comments, used the coffin to get the major point of "outfall could be the last nail in the death of Mobile Bay."

Nell called [the] next morning and asked what I had done with a "coffin." After telling her [I] was ecstatic to hear [that] the Chamber of Commerce refused to print the article. The coffin had done the job. The Chamber would not give Myrt any kind of recognition. But they did -- denying to print the article.

Myrt Jones
Mobile, Alabama
2001

"Planning Paradise"

Alabama's Gulf Coast has much to offer.

There is quiet beauty in its white sands, marsh expanses, striking sunsets and sunrises, water lilies in profusion, and high dunes. There are exciting, interesting and unexpected sights -- an osprey nest, an alligator, fox and armadillo, a flock of wood ducks at dusk, the sea, fresh water lakes, and all its varied offerings.

It is the Perdue Tract, thirteen hundred acres on Fort Morgan Peninsula. In 1980 the Nature Conservancy acquired the property which was subsequently purchased by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the newly authorized Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. Along with the Perdue Tract, the Service has acquired Little Dauphin Island and Skunk Bayou, other excellent representations of the natural lands along Alabama's coast that are so rapidly being developed, such as Gulf Shores.

The Mobile Bay and Birmingham Audubon Societies, Alabama Conservancy and League of Women Voters led the effort to establish this refuge. Through support and initiative of Congressman Jack Edwards (R.-AL), Senator Howell Heflin (D.-AL), the late Senator John Sparkman (D.-AL) and Alabama's Governor Fob James, the refuge is a reality. Hopefully additional acreage comprising the 10,000 acre tract constituting the refuge will be acquired.

While the refuge is a very positive action, the future prospects for coastal Alabama are alarming. Our area has abundant resources. The very qualities that make coastal Alabama attractive to industry, sportsmen, tourists and retirees are threatened or being destroyed. Our quality of life support systems, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the land that supports us is diminishing. Our culture and way of life are being bulldozed and destroyed through loss of established neighborhoods, archeological and historical sites. These qualities of our society are eighter ignored or received little or not consideration or protection in the promotion of growth and development. There is a serious need for us to become more selective in promoting growth and industry.

Clean, labor intensive, non-polluting, service-based computer and electronic equipment, furniture production, a cruise line service from our port to the alluring Caribbean Islands and support and promotion of the proposed Amtrak Railroad System to connect us to other parts of the Nation would be a good start. Being selective would promote a multitude of jobs and protect our environment, thus enhancing our personal health as well as promoting a healthy economic and environmental climate that will, in itself, promote growth.

In order to do this there must be a local, statewide coordinated planning effort with citizen input in order to have multi-use of our resources to accommodate the diverse needs of the community and state. At present there is no balance of the scales to emphasize the quality of life systems being sacrificed to growth.

When projects of any magnitude are proposed or promoted, such as the proposed widening and deepening of the ship channel and port expansion, alternatives must be investigated thoroughly and long-term investments and impacts considered. Community needs must be carefully considered and planned for, and negative effects compensated. At present, Port of Mobile expansion considers only what may be needed in order to cope with the proposed opening of the Tenn-Tom Waterway and the exporting of our coal supplies at an expedited and accelerated rate. In order to accommodate the coal expansion facility at McDuffie Island, an old fishing village in Oakdale was destroyed, displacing residents and removing or destroying the houses. The port expansion plan off Brookley Industrial Complex proposes to fill vital, irreplaceable bay bottomlands. According to the Alabama Constitution of 1901, Article I, Section 24 provides as follows:

     "That all navigable waters shall remain forever
     public highways, free to the citizens of the
     state and the United States. . . ."

An opinion by Attorney General William J. Baxley and Assistant Attorney Henry H. Caddell of August 19, 1976, interprets this Section as prohibiting the conversion of Mobile Bay or tidal lands or beds or shores of navigable waters within the State to fast lands. This constitutional provision has long been neglected and abused and such abuse of law works to undermine the fundamental concept that we are a nation governed by law and not individuals. Our State Constitution is a basic repository of the rights of all citizens and all rights contained therein must be protected.

In the proposed Port expansion, approximately 1,700-5,000 acres will be lost to accommodate disposal of dredge material. Long-term impacts and effects have not been determined that could result in the loss of the assimilative and dispersive capacity of this acreage of water surface on water quality, fishery resources, recreational activities and waterfront property values. Filling these bottomlands could pose navigational hazards, pollute associated spills, and a "bottleneck effect" could form possibly posing increased flooding problems in the City of Mobile. The taxpayer is now picking up the tab of hundreds of millions of dollars in the Three Mile Creek flood-plain for the purpose of studying how to correct the problem, paying for flood damages and trying to provide a natural flood-plain again with the removal of structures and construction of holding ponds and other flood-proofing methods.

Mobile is Alabama's major port and should receive a priority but other major economic assets that provide many jobs oriented and related positions and billion dollar incomes should receive the same consideration. In order for the sport and commercial fisheries to remain viable and healthy, every effort should be taken to protect Mobile Bay and its resources. The bottomlands and wetlands play a vital and major part in keeping our water quality fairly clean which is important for the fisheries.

THEY MUST NOT BE FILLED, DESTROYED OR MODIFIED.

Modification and destruction of bays and pollution have resulted in serious depletion and, in some instances, zero catches of seafood. Shellfish beds have been closed for short periods and, in some areas, lost forever.

In a Statement before a Public Hearing in Corpus Christi, Texas, September 19, 1981, regarding the Inner Harbor Channel Dredge Disposal:

     "The Sabine Lake shrimp fisheries began a
     decade of decline that resulted in essentially
     no harvest from 1973 through 1975 and
     continues so to this day. The effects of
     estuary modification and seasonal
     freshwater in low levels, acting together,
     appear to have resulted in the decline of
     the Sabine-Neches shrimp fishery primarily
     through reduced habitat availability and
     unfavorable conditions for growth and
     survival of juvenile penaeid shrimp.
     If the shrimp fishery collapses in Neches Bay
     as it did in Sabine Lake, then losses would be
     $19.9 million. The losses will be borne by
     commercial fishing, by recreational fishermen
     and sportsmen, and by Society as a whole."

Time Magazine, February 1, 1982 reported: "They are remnants of more prosperous times, before polluted water from the Savannah River forced the closing of the last of three oyster factories in 1959."

Shellfish beds in Mobile Bay are closed frequently because of high fecal coliform counts -- an indicator for pollution loads -- and according to the Alabama Coastal Area Management Program, August 1979: "at least 72,000 acres of water bottoms in northern Mobile Bay were closed to harvesting due to coliform bacteria levels."

The proposed Theodore Industrial Sewage Outfall poses serious threats and possible closure of major shellfish beds in southern Mobile Bay if allowed to be constructed. This closure would place more persons on the unemployed statistics, and eliminate a prime economic input. In addition, another source of food would be lost to local as well as national needs.

More recent news from Alabama's Attorney General Charles Graddick: "Mobil Oil is responsible for over 200 dumpings into Mobile Bay over a period of 18 months." Mr. Graddick says Civil and Criminal actions may result in fines of $25,000 per day. Jail sentences and court actions are possible in both Mobile and Baldwin Counties.

Offshore drilling operations in coastal waters pose threats to the billion dollar industries that depend on a healthy bay. Mobil Oil, Inc., has announced that they have allowed illegal discharge of their drilling wastes from two of their exploratory rigs in Mobile Bay. It is undetermined at this time to what degree this source of pollution has had on the bay's water quality and resources. The material consisted of drill muds and cuttings which contain toxic materials. State law prohibits any discharge from Mobil Oil, Inc. drilling operations.

The Mobile Bay Audubon Society filed a notice of a possible citizen suit against Mobil Oil, Inc., Environmental Protection Agency and Alabama Water Improvement Commission if certain actions are not taken.

Have you ever tried to explain to a visitor why Mobile County doesn't have bay or Gulf access?

Why doesn't Mobile have an urban waterfront park too allow visitors a view of the ships that call at our port, the enjoyment of the bay's breezes or just a place to be able to sit and relax as citizens do in New Orleans, Corpus Christi, Savannah, Charleston, and Baltimore? In Mobile's past, some of the fondest memories by old Mobilians are [of] Arlington Park, Bayfront Road, and Monroe Park. They are now just memories. With proper planning and support it could become a reality.

The City of Mobile has valuable waterfront acreage at Brookley Industrial Complex that could accommodate [sic] such a need. Arlington Point could be a valuable asset to the city and state if a public pier, wharf and marina was constructed. Amphitheatre, picnic tables and recreational areas could accommodate [sic] recreational needs, provide necessary areas of support for musical and art shows. A marina could accommodate [sic] recreational craft plying our bay and inland waters. If the Tenn-Tom Waterway is opened, craft of this nature will need to be planned for.

At present, there is a little waterfront park at the foot of Government Street. It shows the necessity of providing a larger area as it is heavily utilized. A large sailboat plying our inland waters docked with difficulty. An urban waterfront park could serve a need for a close-to-home recreational site for Mobile and Baldwin County. Instead of this innovative need, plans are proposed to fill the Arlington Point acreage for port expansion. The needs of the public are ignored.

The other lack of access for the public is to the Gulf of Mexico, Dauphin Island has about a half-mile of beach access to accommodate the thousands that now can drive over the new bridge. The western end of Dauphin Island should be acquired and the first three miles set aside for beach access. A middle section could accommodate a campground and boat ramp on the bay side designating sensitive wetlands and setting them aside -- the rest of the western portion be left in its natural state, because of its ever-changing unstable nature. Alabama received a half billion dollars from offshore leases in state waters. Some of these monies should have been set aside to acquire this land for public use. Short-range tunnelvision exists in the political arena. There would be no need for elaborate facilities other than restrooms and picnic tables with some sort of shade to protect against the sun.

Revitalization, renovation and restoration of the City of Mobile is underway and billions of dollars are being spent. A little gem is waiting to be discovered. It is Pinto Pass. At present, this prime wetland provides nursery, habitat and refuge for aquatic organisms, birds, and other wildlife. If protected, it could provide a quiet retreat close to work and home for businessmen, secretaries, tourists and local citizens. The area could easily fit into plans for the Battleship Park. According to an historical document, Pinto Pass was the major port entrance at one time and was heavily barricaded by Battery Gladden and McIntosh during the Civil War. You can still see the barricades in shallow waters. A wooden boardwalk with a lookout tower from the Battleship Park out over the pass would provide a beautiful, quiet, "open space" in the middle of industrial noise and growth. The sight of flying feeding and nesting birds -- egrets, skimmers, night herons, jumping mullet and elusive alligators -- would provide the solitude and enjoyment needed in a stressful surrounding atmosphere. Pinto Pass is a paradise threatened by short-sighted individuals envisioning the areas as a dredge material disposal site for the harbor and future industrial development. Alternatives to the use of this area exist.

Alcoa is in the process of reclaiming their waste bauxite mudlakes into wildlife refuge areas for the state. They need dredge material in the reclamation process and have recently utilized over 500,000 cubic yards of harbor material from last year's dredging in the reclamation of the first of six mudlakes. Thus a prime wetland received a reprieve and has been spared, a mudlake or waste area is being reclaimed, and material once considered a waste produce has been utilized as a resource.

Theodore Industrial Park has a deep draft access channel. In the construction of this channel, a massive man-made dredged material spoil island, covering over 2,000 acres or approximately 5 square miles of bay bottom, resulted. This island is supposed to provide for 50 years of disposal of dredge material. Today, several thousands of birds have claimed the island for nesting, feeding and raising of young. Several hundred young birds were raised last year. Terns, gulls, skimmers, white and brown pelicans greet any visitor to the island.

A recent survey of the brown pelicans calculated that there are approximately 11,000 plus in coastal Alabama and approximately 650 plus utilize the island.

In the dredging process, juicy tidbits of crabs, shrimp, fish provide a free lunch and the isolation of the island provides a secluded haven and refuge for the birds.

With a multi-use concept and proper management, the island could provide a home and nesting area for the pelican, an endangered species. Portions of the island could provide fresh water lakes, and, with marsh, promote waterfowl. The perimeter of the island provides the needed areas for the gulls, terns and skimmers. The eastern shore which is sandy and firm could be utilized as a recreational area.

The public lost valuable bottomlands and should insist that the island be maintained for its natural areas as well as a dredge material site. Otherwise the public will lose more public lands for additional port facilities, if it stabilizes. Mother Nature has a way of reclaiming her own.

Futuristic, innovative ideas are needed in port development that are not being considered for Mobile. Instead of focusing on the medieval way of once doing things, other consideration should be studied. Instead of widening and deepening the ship channel to accommodate deep draft vessels and seriously violating and impacting on the bay's resources, why not consider making Theodore Industrial Port the deep draft port? This would save vessel time, eliminate the need for disturbing bay bottom in dredging, and in disposal of material, save lots of monies, and still allow the Port of Mobile to be a healthy Port. Another futuristic economical, environmental long-term acceptable consideration would be a bulk handling offshore port in the Gulf of Mexico that could on-load, off-load bulk carrying barges in containerized ships.

Instead of taking up valuable waterfront property and destroying neighborhoods for coal handling facilities, barges could be loaded where the mining takes place. Instead of cluttering up our waters, bays and harbor with barges waiting to be unloaded, they could continue to the offshore port.

Another paradise that needs protection is our delta. The Mobile-Tensaw Bottomlands are unique and often described as one of the finest natural wetlands in the United States. Much of it has been designated a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Department of Interior in recognition of its outstanding natural values. Being an isolated area it provides serene beauty, solitude, and abundant sporting and recreational opportunities. These values need to be assured protection for future generations. Preservation and proper management actions must be initiated. Short-sighted and self-interested individuals and groups have hampered previous attempts for wise protection of these resources. Recent reports of oil and gas finds, certain forestry practices, utility right-of-ways and industrial activities destroy these values and promote water degradation. Unless immediate action is taken to protect our delta, we must accept the responsibility of its loss. New Jersey had a viable marsh that was utilized heavily by the sportsman but the proper steps were not taken to protect it and it has been replaced with airports, landfills, highways and other growth-associated projects. The delta is a vital part of our total ecosystem which includes the bay and Gulf of Mexico. They interrelate in many ways.

Meaher State Park on Battleship Causeway could provide a close-to-home recreational area for Mobile and Baldwin Counties. With proper management, natural non-consumptive uses by the public could be provided. Primitive camping, canoe trails, and day boating trips to a natural sandy bar in a river on the delta would allow swimming and picnicking. Education tours of the historical and archeological sites could be a part of the outings. The Mobile Bay Audubon Society supports planned growth. We do not want the coastal community to be short-changed. Growth, regardless of consequences, can spell the death of this area. In order to promote growth, protect our quality of life support systems, culture and way of life, all plans must include protection of human and natural resources. This is our "web of life on this planet."

"Where there is no vision, the people perish."