BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Brevard County leaders voted to ask the state to have a public hearing before allowing Blue Origin to discharge industrial wastewater into the water.
This is after the Florida Department of Environmental Protections issued a draft permit that would allow Blue Origin to discharge nearly 500,000 gallons of treated and untreated industrial wastewater per day into a retention pond that feeds directly into the Indian River Lagoon.
Dozens of residents as well as some commissioners were outspoken in opposition of the proposal Tuesday night. Many called Blue Origin’s proposal a cheap solution for the company but a costly one to this community and the environment.
Brevard County Commission has no say on whether this permit is approved or not. Their vote Tuesday was to send a letter to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection asking for a meeting on this before that permit is approved.
“Come on, this is Jeff Bezos. I’m sick and tired of the billionaires playing the power game and we are insignificant!,” one resident said during public comment.
Dozens of Brevard County residents spoke opposing the state’s drafted permit to Blue Origin’s proposal to discharge up to 15,000 gallons of unprocessed industrial wastewater daily into a pond that flows directly into the Indian River Lagoon. That’s in addition to hundreds of thousands of gallons of processed industrial wastewater.
This is wastewater from when Blue Origin washes down rocket parts in preparation for launches.
“They are brilliant enough to send rocket after rocket up into the sky, but they can’t figure out a better solution,” said Jennifer Parish. “Yeah, because they’re too cheap. That’s exactly right.”
Several residents spoke about how they’ve watched the lagoon’s quality decline, noting they no longer see the wildlife they once did.
“You can’t even see in the water.it is brown, murky, green muck,” another resident said in public comment. “I don’t want my kids in the water! I don’t want my dogs in the water!”
Between the county’s lagoon sales tax and grants from the feds and state, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on restoring the lagoon over the past decade.
We asked blue origin about the proposal and specifically about what protections and mitigation measures it plans to take to safeguard the lagoon. Blue Origin did not say how it will monitor the pollution at the lagoon but said “this is a renewal of an existing agreement that has been in place for more than five years. We are committed to maintaining responsible and compliant operations.”
They are now also sending that letter to the Governor and Legislative Delegation.
The county says residents can also send a letter to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, requesting this public meeting.
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