OPINIONS

10700 Stringfellow Road, Ste 60 Bokeelia, FL 33922 Phone: (239) 283-2022 Fax: (239) 283-0232 Web: pineisland-eagle com

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A big thank you to islanders for success of 30th Annual USPS Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive

To the editor:

T h e 3 0 t h A n n u a l U S P S S t a m p O u t Hunger Food Drive took place on Saturday, May 13, 2023 As many of you may know, the USPS food drive on Pine Island directly benefits the Pine Island Food Pantry, which services people in need on the island This year’s drive yielded 920 pounds of non-perishable items that will be distributed to the community in the coming weeks

Connor McCallister, the St James City Postmaster, has graciously agreed to leave out a collection box in the SJC Post Office for the next serval months for people to continue to donate non-perishable items to this cause.

I would like to thank all the carrier union members of the Post Office who contributed their time and effort to this year’s drive Special thanks to Steve Camancho, who coordinates the event on our area, as well as Bokeelia’s Postmaster David Moyer, and C o n n o r M c C a l l i s t e r , S t J a m e s C i t y ’ s Postmaster

This event could not be a success without all the volunteer help that comes out for the day to help weigh, sort and organize all the d o n a t i o n s . A v e r y s p e c i a l t h a n k s t o t h e Matlacha Hookers, who provide more then half of the volunteers needed for the day, year after year I would also like to thank the Pine Island Food Pantry staff for their help as well

Letters to the Editor

storm water and sewage/septic runoff The same runoff is also most likely the source of the pathogen category impairments, specifically for fecal coliform ”

Pine Island and Matlacha use a combination of waste water treatment, including a larger sewage treatment plant in St James City and about 11 smaller packaged waste treatment plants About 1/3 of these have been cited for various violations, including sewage spills.

These sewage problems are nothing new to Matlacha and Pine Island Dahod, a Calusa Waterkeeper Ranger, recently teamed up with the Matlacha/Pine Island Fire Department to test the water in Matlacha, after complaints from residents who said they were getting sick due to marine toxicity surrounding their homes

“I’m currently pulling data for work being done by other organizations,” Dahod said “I’m looking at the water quality data around Pine Island at sampling stations that already exist and I’ve looked at one in Matlacha Pass it has total nitrogen values that are above the limit about half the time It’s failing the F i d a D e p a r t m e n t o f E n v i r o n m e n t a l Protection’s standards for water quality It’s been failing for years and we haven’t gotten a handle on making it better ”

If you have seen some pictures of a canal in Matlacha: Gross, to say the least

Duncan Russell Cape Coral

metals, and petrochemicals from Cape lawns and roads into northwest Cape canals then into the Spreader then into Matlacha Cities a c r o s s t h e c o u n t r y a r e a d d r e s s i n g t h i s stormwater runoff contamination in a big way and we need to get serious and do our part as a city to mitigate the damage we cause to ourselves and neighbors

On daily fishing trips in Matlacha Pass, horseshoe crabs, seahorses, file fish, starfish and other water quality sensitive marine life were always present, but now gone My canal used to be full of blue crabs I rarely see one now Huge areas of vital seagrass’s gone These are all obvious indicators of a marine system in real trouble

Another huge environmental and logistical problem for Matlacha and Cape Coral is oversize commercial growth on the Spreader all using tiny Matlacha as a passage out to the harbor

The logistical problem the planned 7 Islands project includes a 300-slip marina. Imagine a Saturday morning in January with maybe 200 of the marina boats plus all the northwest Cape residents’ boats trying to navi g a t e t h e t i n y c a n a l b e h i n d M i c e l l i ’ s Restaurant out to Matlacha Pass? That’s with the old lock already removed is published every Wednesday

Web Poll

Previous Web Poll Question:

Do you support islanders’ attempts to stop the removal of the Chiquita Lock?

■ Yes 35%

■ No 56%

■ A more environmentally safe solution is needed 9%

Current Web Poll Question:

Are you concerned about the upcoming hurricane season?

■ Yes, because we haven’t recovered from Hurricane Ian yet

■ Yes, more now than in year ’s past

■ Concerned but cautious ■ No, we’re ready Share your opinion at

Lastly, a big thanks to all the people in the community who donated the food that was collected Without your contributions, events like this one would not be possible

Guy D’Alessio

Pine Island Food Pantry

USPS Stamp Out Hunger Coordinator

Matlacha water quality issues

To the editor: They need to look in their own backyard because that is the source of their problem

A c c o r d i n g t o t h e C h a r l o t t e H a r b o r N a t i o n a l E s t u a r y P a r t n e r s h i p , t h e S o u t h Florida Water Management District (and other agencies or organizations), water quality in Pine Island Sound and Matlacha Pass shows excess levels of: › Fecal coliform, nutrients, phosphorous and mercury Pine Island and Matlacha have between 4,500 and 5000 septic systems which cause much of the problem

“Pine Island Sound has degraded water quality with 95% of the watershed impaired f o r a t l e a s t o n e p a r a m e t e r c a t e g o r y

Nutrients in the watershed are of increasing concern, as the draft watershed assessment lists indicate that Matlacha Pass is newly impaired for nutrients, likely as a result of

New locks, North Spreader cut-though needed to protect water quality

To the editor:

Maybe it’s time for the present lock to stay in place, one to be reinstalled, and another to be installed at the top of the N Spreader Canal The problem is simple and it’s called poor water quality with a considerable and ever-growing amount of pollutants originating from Cape Coral stormwater runoff with the result being the continued loss of precious u n d e r w a t e r h a b i t a t t h r o u g h o u t a r e a s o f Matlacha Pass and Pine Island Sound

Is the Cape the only source of these environmental poisons? Not at all as Matlacha and Pine Island contribute their share along with sources to the north that pollute the harbor that mixes with our local waters Finally the steady stream of agriculture and animal farming pollutants from Lake Okeechobee adds to the local toxic stew.

“Storm water runoff is one of the largest water pollution issues facing the U S today,” says Larry Levine, a senior attorney in the Natural Resource Defense Council’s water program

Daily summer rains wash pesticides, heavy

The environmental issue Unfortunately, many boats in marinas, like parked cars, leak oil That is a fact Like a thousand cars parked at mall daily leaking oil onto already heavily stained blacktop, boats and marinas suffer the same issues If a marina operator tells you their operation is pollution free I would advise you to have serious doubts. Where would this marina oil pollution end up? Matlacha Pass

Lastly is access to Charlotte Harbor at the top of the North Spreader Since the northwest is going to be a construction zone for the next ten-plus years as folks continue to move in and wanting access to the water it’s time to think about finally opening the existing cut on the N Spreader all the way out to the harbor as originally started but stopped after the first 50 yards or so

Seems if the Cape wanted to really get environmentally serious we should continue to upgrade our city storm water treatment Keep the existing lock in place, reinstall the lock at the south end of the North Spreader Canal then finish the old channel out to the harbor at the top of the North Spreader and install a new lock allowing access to the harbor on that end, mitigating our pollution currently going into Matlacha, the river, and the harbor. Pollution, that grows along with an ever-growing Cape population and development

One problem with making the Northwest Spreader canal more enviro friendly using north and south locks, are the existing breaches already present along the North Spreader that would need to be addressed

The other issue is much bigger and seemingly unsolvable Imagine a thousand new residents bringing or buying boats to enjoy local waters Where will it stop? No one knows, but they’re definitely coming and in the meantime the underwater environment continues to suffer In the end maybe we’ll all end up here shoulder to shoulder searching for the reason we came

George Tunison Cape Coral