Mayport Florida
A Shrimping Town Says "No To Cruise Ships"
May 15, 2008
Courage. When I think of that word, I think of policemen, fireman and armed forces. I think of cancer victims, people born with disabilities and recovering victims of domestic violence. Courage is the personality trait the drives people to do things, others would never consider, to take on tasks that seem so insurmountable to others, as to seem impossible. Yet, there are those who chose to do what they think is right, to fight for what they believe in, at any cost.
I pondered these things as I became familiar with the little community of Mayport, Florida.
Mayport, Florida is officially a community within Jacksonville, Florida.
It is home to Mayport Naval Station, home to the local shrimping industry and home to the zip code 32227 with a population of 5,267.
It is a quiet, quaint, protected village harbor that is nestled among the Mayport Lighthouse, Marine Science Education Center, Ft. George Island and Little Talbot Island all just north of Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Jacksonville Beach, all western suburbs of City Of Jacksonville, Florida.
While it has been neighbors with the third largest naval base in the United States, the naval base has respected their neighbors, and the community of shrimp fishermen who call Mayport Village their home, have prospered.
Now, those shrimpers have had their livelihood threatened by a monster, known for polluting the harbors they ply, giving little thought to the people who have lived, survived and thrived in these communities for hundreds of years.
Mayport Village is the latest target of the cruise industry, and the courageous people of Mayport are fighting back.
The Save Mayport Village website says, "There are many Generations of Shrimpers who have lived and worked here most of their lives". These are the villagers who stand to lose the most, when the deep draught polluters flagged in foreign nations, come into port to rape the environment at the bidding of their American stocker holders.
Their agenda is clear. "Its time to take a stand to preserving the history and culture of Mayport. Protect our working waterfronts, Just say no to Mayport cruise terminal."
Residents point out to the less than stellar history of environment awareness the City Of Jacksonville has had in the past as reason to believe that the cruise industry will be more important than the local environment shrimpers need in order to protect their industry.
Their website says, "Jacksonville was on EPA's violator list from 1978 until 1995 because of other air pollution problems. For part of that time, cars and trucks in Duval County had to pass emissions tests, but there are no plans to bring that back. Now that Jaxport has opened the gate for container and cruise ships emissions go pretty much unchecked. Jacksonville City Hall is working on a plan to encourage new development with less traffic impact, said Susie Wiles, spokeswoman for Mayor John Peyton. this of course does not include the ship traffic.which by the way is a hundred times worse.
They point out the history of the cruise industry doing what they want, no matter what regulations are in place.
- From 1993 to 1998, cruise ships were involved in 87 confirmed cases of illegal discharges of oil, garbage, and hazardous wastes into US waters, and have paid more than $30 million in fines. Some of these cases involved multiple incidents of illegal dumping that numbered in the hundreds over the six-year period.
- In 2001, Royal Caribbean admitted in court it had installed special piping to bypass pollution control devices and pleaded guilty to dumping toxic chemicals. Royal Caribbean was levied fines and penalties totaling $33.5 million to settle dumping complaints that occurred between 1994 and 1998.
- In April 2002, Carnival Corporation pleaded guilty to falsifying records to cover up pollution by six ships over several years. They were assessed an $18 million fine and were placed on probation.
- In July 2002, Norwegian Cruise Lines paid a $1 million fine and agreed to pay $500,000 to environmental organizations in Florida for falsifying Coast Guard records regarding discharge of oily waste and hazardous waste into the ocean.
- In September 2002, a fired Carnival Cruise Lines executive filed a "whistle-blower" lawsuit, alleging a host of environmental violations, including toxic chemical dumping.
- In October 2002, Carnival Corp. disclosed that officers from one of its ships had been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury in Alaska regarding a 40,000-gallon wastewater release.
- In April 2003, a lawsuit filed by Bluewater Network, Environmental Law Foundation, San Diego Baykeeper and Surfrider Foundation against Carnival Corp., Princess Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean, Holland America and others for illegal discharge of ballast water into shoreline waters was settled after the cruise lines agreed to pay $75,000 to research alternative ballast water management technologies. Carnival Corp. admitted to breaking the law.
These are only a small portion of the problems the cruise industry brings. Where cruise ships dock, criminals always follow. The under-belly of society migrates to cruise ship docking areas, and dumps the problem of dealing with the crime on the tiny communities, with little or no help from the cruise industry.
Cruise Bruise has stories of towns that suffered from the cruise industry invading their towns. Bar Harbor, Maine let the industry in and it wasn't long before residents began to realize, they had made a horrible mistake, Bar Harbor, Maine - Cuts Calls.
There were other ports that were treaded on heavily by the industry including Vanuatu and James Bay Victoria BC. The problem has become so severe California is working on environmental legislation, and Alaska has already passed some.
More importantly, there have been grounding's that gutted the hulls of cruise ships and spewed out their pollutants into local waters and sinking's that have slowly oozed out fuel leaving an environmental nightmare for local fishermen.
Some residents of Mayport, Florida have seen the writing on the wall. They see the history of a negligent industry that will do whatever they need to do, in order to protect their profits. For a small village, this means once the industry is in, the community may be able to get them back out when they realize they have made a huge mistake.
But, with so much at risk for local shrimpers, once the industry packs up and moves onto the next victim, it will be too late for area shrimpers. This is why they are taking stand now.
Please support this courageous village by visiting their website.
