ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. – Atlantic Beach city leaders will decide whether to join growing calls to end coal ash shipments into Jacksonville.
The News4Jax I-team has been covering this situation for months, after a barge hit the jetties in March, spilling thousands of tons of coal ash into the ocean.
Atlantic Beach city leaders say enough is enough. On Monday, they will consider a formal resolution to stop the local transport of coal ash.
The product itself is called Agremax. Not only does this resolution call for it to stop being shipped here, it also calls for local ports to stop accepting it. City leaders say they want to send a strong message.
Related: I-TEAM: Environmental group levying fines for coal ash spill
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9,300 tons of it were spilled into the ocean this past March. An accident that resulted in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection fining the companies involved $38,000.
Even though this resolution is nonbinding—Mayor Ellen Glasser says she hopes this will send a message.
”I hope it gets some attention,” Mayor Ellen Glasser, Atlantic Beach, said. “It may be symbolic in nature. A lot of it comes down to how it’s classified by the EPA.”
The Jacksonville Waterways Commission also recently approved a resolution calling for an end to coal ash shipments, pointing out that Puerto Rico and Osceola County have both banned the ash from being dumped in their landfills, even though the Agremax product is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as nonhazardous.
Even though the ocean water test results revealed there wasn’t any apparent environmental risk, Mayor Glasser believes there is still a measure of responsibility to consider.
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The resolution also says if this were to pass, it would take effect immediately. The meeting in Atlantic Beach begins at 6:30 p.m.
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