09/10/2012 - Upper Dog River

Header image of shoreline trash. Same'ol crap. ADEM says they are monitoring Mobile. Mobile passes the buck for half a million dollars to Mobile Group. Mobile Group pushes paper and does nothing to remove the garbage. That is part of the problem in this country. Engineering Firms have to sign off on everything. For $500,000 we get our waterways polluted with litter. If leaders spend a tenth of that for a single employee working full time removing garbage from area waterways, there would way less trash in the waterways.

ADEM says their efforts to bring the City of Mobile into compliance with its MS4 permit continue - yeah, just like the garbage continues to rot in the water month after month.

Natural debris and public litter left by the high waters of Isaac. Waterfront homes in Mobile are losing value and it is hard to find buyers for the garbage can properties anymore.

Meantime, NASA has the money and technology to send sophisticated robots to Mars while there is no technology to keep urban waterways free of public garbage. 

There are masses of people out of work but none can be put to work removing the rotting garbage from waterways? City is giving too much tax money away to charities.

A $700,000 home on Dog River with trash on its shoreline.

ADEM says, "Individuals and Businesses" share in the responsibility to keep the waterways clean.

City municipal code and County litter ordinances say property owners are required to keep their property free and clear of litter. I guess that might qualify as being individuals and businesses though. Most residential property owners keep their property free of litter. Who owns the Interstates and State Highways because they are the worst when it comes to keeping their property free of litter? Those property owners are the source of the majority of garbage that ends up in Mobile area waterways. About 30 miles of interstate ditches drain into Dog River not to mention the miles of state highways with ditches filled with garbage. The Federal Highway Administration and the Alabama Department of Transportation? Start fining those property owners DAILY for contributing to violations of the Clean Water Act in Mobile.

In a sensible world, the people who get caught littering should be responsible for cleaning the waterways. The trouble is, I have never seen a single person convicted of littering out removing trash from waterways or shorelines. Why not?

The people at ADEM responsible for enforcing the Clean Water Act are shirking their responsibility. Mobile's urban waterways are anything but clean and there is STILL no one removing the garbage.

Think what the Gulf Coast Beaches would be like if BP acted like the City of Mobile, the County of Mobile, and the State of Alabama with regards to water pollution. BP would probably still be saying, "Well, it is the responsibility of the individuals and business who use the oil and gas to cap the well and clean the mess." "But, that oil is on private property so it isn't our problem. We can't be responsible for where the wind and current deposits the oil."

At least BP has put a person to work removing their tar balls on a regular basis. Mobile's score to clean up their water pollution? ZERO. WTF?