Subject: Everglades in danger! Please read. (fwd) (LONG)
Date: Nov 6 15:39:17 1994
From: Annie Fox - annie at SCCS.SWARTHMORE.EDU

Urgent Action!! - Blockbuster Threatens the Everglades

A while back we posted to let you know about HB1875, a bill giving Blockbuster
it's own municipality on wetlands needed for Everglades restoration. The bill
passed into law, but the sale of Blockbuster to Viacom is giving us another
chance to stop the project. If you all are as good about responding as last
time, we have a good chance. Below is an updated fact sheet. It includes some
of the same information as before for people who aren't familiar with the
issue.


OVER 2,400 ACRES OF UNDEVELOPED WETLANDS CRITICAL TO THE
RESTORATION OF EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK AND TO S. FLORIDA'S FUTURE
URBAN WATER SUPPLY IS ABOUT TO BE DESTROYED. Blockbuster Entertainment Corp.
plans on draining them to build a Sports and Entertainment Complex. NO
Environmental Impact Statement was required before giving them the
land. However, Viacom International recently bought Blockbuster, and may be
influenced to stop the proposed project in its tracks.

House Bill #1875, giving Blockbuster a special district on the
land, has passed the Florida legislature. This gives Blockbuster
rights to their own taxing district, police and fire depts., hotels,
apartment buildings, etc., in addition to the park.

The proposed Blockbuster Park district is acting as a catalyst
for land use admendments in the surrounding area. It isn't just
the park threatening the Everglades, it is the satellite development
it spawns.

People from around the country wrote in to Governor Chiles
asking him to veto HB1875, but he allowed it to pass into law. After
that, concerned citizens networked with local environmental and
citizen action groups to organize a national boycott of Blockbuster
Entertainment's subsidiaries. Just as the boycott was about to be
called, Viacom bought Blockbuster, and so now they are being given a
chance to halt the development.

We must send Viacom a strong message of opposition to the
park. There is a good chance that they will listen because, unlike
Blockbuster's former owner, Viacom does not own the sports teams
that will play in the planned arenas, and they have not yet announced
their intentions. They also have an environmenally friendly image. (They own
MTV, NIK, Showtime, Paramount Picture, etc.) That is why it is important that
they hear from you now.

Main reasons for non-Floridians to be concerned about the future of
the Everglades:

1. This project would set a dangerous precedent for continued
nation-wide wetlands degradation if, despite pledged federal
commitment to Everglades restoration, development interests are
allowed to undermine wetlands conservation efforts.

2. The Everglades National Park is a U.N. World Heritage Site and
an international biosphere reserve. It is a completely unique
ecosystem; we all have a stake in its preservation. It has already
been severely damaged by development and mismanagement and won't
survive much more abuse.

3. It is questionable for any corporation to be given the powers
being given Blockbuster. Under the provisions for their special
district, they will be able to condemn private property outside their
district if it interferes with their plans for roads, sewage lines,
etc.

PLEASE TAKE 5 MINUTES TO ADDRESS A BRIEF LETTER TO VIACOM EXPRESSING YOUR
CONCERN FOR THE FUTURE OF THE EVERGLADES AND DEMANDING THAT THEY NOT DEVELOP
THE WETLANDS. Let them know that we are willing to boycott. Make it clear
that you want to see them open to negotiations for selling the land to the
federal government when the Everglades Restoration Project is ready to be
implemented, and that under no circumstances should they build roads that would
open up land further west for development.

Write: Mr. Sumner Redstone Call: Mr. Sumner Redstone
President Viacom International (212) 258-6000
1515 Broadway
NY, NY 10036

For more information:
Annie Fox or Patrick Lee
annie at raptor.swarthmore.edu lee5 at fas.harvard.edu
(610)690-5260 (617)493-6009

More information follows:

The Land:

- It is in a site targeted for use by the Everglades Restoration
Committee. It has been targeted by the Lake Belt study as a water
reservoir and wellfield to:
1.Help restore a more natural supply of water to the Everglades.
2.Replenish the Biscayne Aquifer. This is necessary to meet
future urban water demands and to prevent water levels in the
Everglades from sinking any lower.

- According to a Geographic Information System check, it is near
a wood stork rookery, and is believed to be used for foraging. The
wood stork is a listed Endangered Species.

- It is composed of freshwater marsh and wet prairie ecotypes,
and is used by wading birds, small mammals, fish, and reptiles.

- The proposed area is former Everglades and is extremely flood
prone. Providing the flood protection which Blockbuster would need
would necessitate building more secondary canals, further disrupting
the Everglades water flow.

"The only way to compensate for the poor aquifer-canal
connection in the Snake and Pompano Canal basins would be by
increasing the density of secondary drainage canals, but this would be
at the expense of reducing total water supplies, lowering water
levels in recharge areas of the aquifer, and increasing eastward
seepage from the water conservation areas." [United States Geological
Survey,1976]

The Everglades:
The Everglades is a unique ecosystem in the world, what
Marjory Stoneman Douglas aptly termed "a river of grass". Because of
prior development in Florida, during the days when swampland was
regarded as useless if not drained, the Everglades was reduced to a
fraction of its prior extent due to the many canals and flood control
projects built in Florida in order to create dry land for
agriculture/urban development and to provide flood protection.

The "river of grass" spans from Lake Okeechobee in Central
Florida to Florida Bay at the tip of the peninsula. The effects of
agricultural pollution from the north as well as lower water levels
have been felt both in the Everglades and in the ecosystems downstream
of it. For example, Florida Bay, has been experiencing sea grass die
offs (an important shrimp and fish nursery area), algae blooms, coral
diseases, and coral bleaching at unprecedented levels. This is our
only Everglades, and our only living barrier coral reef system off the
continental United States.

Currently, the Army Corps of Engineers, along with other
organizations is working to restore the Everglades by restoring more
natural patterns of water flow through the area. Blockbuster Park is
located on land proposed to be used for this purpose, and will bring
with it further developments, all of which will demand the flood
control that was the original downfall of the Everglades.

What Blockbuster Plans To Do With The Land:
(From their own fact sheets)

"Blockbuster Park is proposed to be a diverse, multi-use
center of commerce, sports and entertainment activities, which
continues to evolve and is intended to include, but not be limited to,
a retractable domed baseball stadium; multi-purpose arena; studios for
television, movie, and recording; theme park; water park; golf courses
and other uses (including, potentially, a residential component)."

Some of Blockbuster's Powers under House Bill #1875 (see Miami Herald,
April 9):
- To condemn privately owned property.
(i.e. "Allows the use of a limited power of eminent domain
inside the boundaries of the district for any district purpose, and
outside the boundaries of the district solely for the purpose of
acquiring land, easements, or right-of-ways to construct or maintain
district roads, water lines, sewage lines, and drainage
facilities")[from proposal for taxing district]

- To have exclusive power over land development regulations
subject to review, but not approval or local government.

- To levy a sales tax within the park and a property tax inside
the district, as well as charge tolls within the district, and fees
for any service or facility there.

- To charge tolls within the district, and fees for any service
or facility there, including special assessments for trash collection,
water, sewage, and other services.

- To borrow money and issue tax-exempt bonds.

- To issue exclusive, no-bid franchises for trash pick-up and
other park services, and award construction contracts without the
normal government requirements.

Other Concerns:
- The park will require roads, water, sewers, public
transportation access, power, code enforcement, fire depts., schools,
etc. all of which will have to be paid for by the government and will
increase the environmental impact.

- Like any other attraction, the park will spawn other
developments in its proximity, including a planned 1,950 acre
residential subdivision.

- The flood control that the park and the new residents will
demand will severely impair attempts to restore water flow through the
Everglades.

- Taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill for roads and two
sports stadiums.

For more information:
Annie Fox or Patrick Lee
annie at raptor.swarthmore.edu lee5 at fas.harvard.edu
(610)690-5260 (617)493-6009


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Thank you for your time and interest.