Letter to St. Johns County Commission Chairman RONALD SANCHEZ re: Environmental Justice and Failure to Remove Mosquito-Breeding Water from Ditches

Dear Chairman Sanchez:
1. Please provide: (a) any Environmental Justice policy adopted by SJCBCC; and (b) the citation to any legal authority that supports Mr. Joseph Stephenson's contention to you that environmental regulations prohibit him from directing Road and Bridge Department staff to remove obstructions from ditches that result in standing water, making vast tracts of county-owned land and right-of-ways into mosquito breed grounds, which is both a public health hazard and an indicia of possible Environmental Racism.
2. Pursuant to the Open Records law, please provide:
(a) all paper and electronic documents on AMCD's efforts to persuade Mr. Stephenson to perform his legal, moral and ethical duty to remove standing water from ditches, and SJC's response;
(b) all complaints regarding environmental racism and discrimination by SJC..
3. This is particularly a problem in low-income and minority neighborhoods.
4. This problem has persisted for multiple years, as Dr. Xue, AMCD's director and staff have attempted to persuade SJC to do its job and help AMCD in its mission to protect public health from mosquito-borne diseases. It appears that the problem is environmental racism on the part of entrenched unelected officials, particularly in the Road and Bridge Department.
5. Please be sure to include in your response any legal advice or any other documents that have persuaded Mr. Stephenson not to remove standing water from ditches.
6. If you do not respond to this E-mail with a responsive citation to a law or regulation, I must assume that Mr. Stephenson has not told you the truth or has exaggerated.
7. This request is in response to your walking up to me and stating to me at a party at the St. Augustine Rod & Gun Club on April 11, 2010 and opining (among other things) that "environmental regulations" have somehow kept Mr. Joseph Stephenson from directing his Road and Bridge Department staff for many years to clean standing water from the ditches. Failure to remove standing water from the ditches is increasing breeding grounds for mosquitosl. I am not intimidated by your gross behavior at the April 6, 2010 County Commission meeting, or your further attempt to browbeat me at the April 11, 2010 party. You should apologize to the public (and me) for your attempt to chill, coerce and discourage First Amendment protected activity on environmental racism.
8. By copy of this E-mail, I am advising the EPA Office of Civil Rights that there is a concern about environmental racism here in St. Johns County on the part of St. Johns County government.
9. If the County does not explain its actions and present a plan to clean the ditches by close of business on April 16, 2010, I shall prepare an EPA Office of Civil Rights (OCR) complaint pursuant to Title VI of the 1964 Civil RIghts Act, requesting suspension and debarment of SJC until EJ issues are favorably resolved..
10. As you know, EPA is empowered under OCR and Environmental Justice regulations to withhold all federal funds from Respondents that violate civil rights. We have a pending complaint against the City of St. Augustine and the Florida DEP over their environmental racism. We will not hesitate to file against the County if this matter is not amicably resolved. Mosquito season has begun.
Sincerely,
Ed
Ed Slavin
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
P.O. Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085
904-829-3877 (direct)
904-819-5817 (fax)