Seagrass discussion questions and summary of 1999 report

According to a report of the Special Grand Jury on air and waer quality (1999), Escambia's water quality was deemed, "degraded" by the grand jury.

The probable causes for Escambia's degraded water are industry discharges, sewage treatment plants and stormwater runoff.  These are the same causes for bad water quality in the area today, so it can already be seen that not much has changed in about 10 years.

The report said that the water would continue to deteriorate as growth continued to occur in the region.

The Department of Enivornmental Protection and the local government are at fault for not enforcing environmental laws and spreading awareness of the issue.

Many kinds of garbage (animal carcasses and garbage from households) have been affecting the bodies of water in this region, affecting the seagrass.

Today, guest speaker Shelley Alexander, of the Northwest Florida Aquatic Preserve Office, will be holding a discussion about the Seagreass decline in the Pensacola Bay. Below are my questions for the discussion:

1.  After 10 years, do you think there has been any improvement in Escambia's waters?
2.  Is the decline in seagrass an important environmental issue?
3.  What are you doing to preserve Pensacola Bay's seagrass?
4.  Has there been recent public awareness concerning this issue?
5.  Why has the DEP not been doing its job of enforcing environmental laws? Could the decline in seagrass have been avoided if environmental laws were enforced?
6.  What do you do at the Aquatic Preserve Office?