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EPA Recognizes Save Our Canals

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By ANGELA DELGADO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 22, 2007

Updated: 12/20/2007 04:56 pm

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - When Brian Garry moved into his Bay Crest Park home in 1977, he and his children would fish for blue crabs off the dock in their backyard.

They would put a chicken neck in the canal, and within two minutes they would have a blue crab, Garry said. After awhile, they would have enough for dinner.

Today, the fish and crabs have been replaced by trash, he said.

In 2004, frustration led Garry and a group of concerned residents to form Save Our Canals. Their mission: to find solutions to the pollution problem in Hillsborough County and to help prevent further degradation of the water system.

Recently, the group's efforts were honored with the Gulf Guardian Award, given by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

For almost four years, the group has been fighting to make its mission a reality. Meetings with environmental agencies and the county commission were trying but sometimes effective.

Although originally asking for $143,000, in 2005 the county awarded the group a $41,000 grant. It used the money to purchase and install 39 stormwater inlet filters in the Bay Crest neighborhood in February 2006. The area was chosen to pilot the project because it is a large waterfront community with heavy tree coverage.

"If the baskets could work here, where there are so many people and foliage, it could work anywhere," said Marianne Cufone, an environmental lawyer working with Save Our Canals.
Centrifugal force makes the baskets work, Garry said. The force creates a whirlpool effect and sends pollutants into the basket. The basket retains large and small particles and flushes out the water, he said.

Their purpose is to prevent garbage picked up by stormwater runoff from ending up in the canals that drain into Tampa Bay.

The filtration baskets hold up to 350 pounds of debris, and the carbon fiber collar surrounding the rim of the baskets absorbs oil, grease and antifreeze. The collars are changed, and the baskets are emptied every three months; during heavy rains they are changed every three weeks.

Suntree Technologies, the company that installed the filters in Bay Crest, filed a report detailing the effectiveness of the baskets; one for Aug. 24, 2006, and the other for Dec. 21, 2006.

According to the reports, 2,688 pounds of debris was collected from the 39 filters on Aug. 24. On Dec. 21, 2,594 pounds of debris was emptied from the baskets. Each basket had about 70 pounds of garbage.

The success of the baskets won the group the Gulf Guardian Award.

"I thought it was a huge honor that a small local group like ours would be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency," Cufone said. "That, I think, speaks volumes for our group."

Cufone said the city of Tampa was impressed with the baskets, and the group is in talks with city staff members. She hopes the county will take notice as well and install baskets throughout Hillsborough.

"They are economically feasible and effective," Cufone said. "There's no reason these shouldn't be used countywide."

Martin Montalvo, of the county's stormwater department, said it is unlikely the county will install the baskets.

Although the county is equally impressed with the filters, Montalvo said the county usually looks for similar baskets but on a larger scale. The baskets in Bay Crest are small and require too much maintenance, he said. Montalvo said the county doesn't have enough resources for it.

Garry said he won't take no for an answer. He hopes to go before the commission and plead his case. His solution is to ask the county to pay for the baskets and allow residents to handle the maintenance.

Each basket costs about $800, but Garry is confident that with a bulk order, the price could lessen.

Along with this project, the next step for Save Our Canals is to persuade the county to approve an annual $1 tax per household in Hillsborough. The money would go toward cleaning the waterways.

"Everybody ought to take just a little bit of responsibility in helping to bring back the waterways," Cufone said.

Reporter Angela Delgado can be reached at (813) 865-1501 or adelgado@tampatrib.com.

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