Alachua Sink - Help us save the cave

Cave system under Wal-Mart’s property to be discussed Tuesday


HIGH SPRINGS — The area’s cave systems, including Mill Creek Sink near the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter in Alachua, will be discussed in a special open house at the High Springs Civic Center Tuesday, March 21.

Held from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and sponsored by the Santa Fe Springs Working Group, the open house will focus in part on the dye tests showing water traveling from near the proposed Wal-Mart property to Camp Kulaqua in High Springs in just 12 days.

The open house also will feature groups displaying exhibits and handing out materials.

For more information, Fay Baird of Pandion Systems can be contacted at 352-372-4747

http://highspringsherald.com/article...ews/news01.txt Also read this article.

There are several of us going to this meeting to help voice our concerns regarding the potential for pollution of this cave system, the Hornsby system and the Santa Fe River. Please join us if you can!!!

Post Script - about 75 people attended. There were about 15 or so cave divers there supporting the cave diving community.

Below is a letter that I drafted that I plan to send to the Suwannee River Water Management District regarding the proposed construction of the Wal-Mart. It is my hope that each of you will copy this letter, or even make a better letter and send it to them.


__________________________________________________ __
Suwannee River Water Management District:

I am writing this to you to express my concern over the building of a large retail store directly over a large underground river near the City of Alachua, Florida.

The permit application number is ERP05-0518. It seems to me that the potential for pollution of that underground river is very real and that perhaps this needs to be studied further before any decisions are made that can potentially pollute that underground river. If there were proposed construction projects on the banks of an above ground river I believe the scrutiny would be much more intense.

Recent studies using dye trace tests have proven that any contaminants accidentally discharged into that underground river will travel several miles to the western side of High Springs, Florida to Hornsby sink. The potential for these accidentally discharged contaminants to enter the aquifer and negatively affect our drinking water supply is real, and frightening.

It also is possible that these same contaminants could get into the Santa Fe River as well.

The economic and personal impacts are potentially very bad for this region.

I am asking you to give this project further scrutiny to be assured that the natural water resources that the management district is responsible for overseeing is overseen with all due diligence.


This can be copied & pasted to a word document and mailed to:

Suwannee River Water Management District
9225 County Road 49
Live Oak, FL 32060