Environmental Professionals honor their own
- January 12, 2015
- / William Rabb
- / community-dashboard
The Northwest Florida chapter of the Association of Environmental Professionals last week recognized a founding member and a Bayou Chico park as highlights of the year 2014.
Paul Looney, a wetlands scientist and consultant with more than 34 years experience, was named environmental professional of the year at a banquet Friday night.
Looney has worked with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and in 1998 was a founding member of the Northwest chapter of the professionals. He also has been a board member of the national organization of environmental professionals.
The group includes wetlands scientists, biologists, consultants, environmental activists, planners and attorneys specializing in environmental and permitting issues.
“It's our code of ethics that sets us apart,” Looney said in accepting the award.
While the public may not be aware of the quiet work done by members of the group, Looney said most large building projects in coastal areas could not get done without the work of environmental professionals.
Also at the banquet, the group's environmental project of the year went to Escambia County's Mahogany Mill park and boat ramp on Bayou Chico, which cleaned up one of the most contaminated sites on the waterway.
The project was one of several funded by the first stage of money provided in part by the British Petroleum company after it was found responsible for the 2010 Gulf oil disaster that fouled beaches and waterways all along the Gulf Coast.
The original intent was to put in a boat ramp, using environmentally friendly permeable paving techniques, near the site of the old Weis-Fricker Mahogany Co. mill at the mouth of the bayou, said Robert Turpin, manager of the county's Marine Resources Division, which oversaw much of the project.
But when crews began removing old concrete slabs at the site in 2012, they found creosote and other wood preservatives and petroleum products, which have been linked to cancer and other health problems.
Once the compounds were removed, the county expanded the project to include a park with wheelchair-accessible piers, sidewalks, a picnic pavilion, benches and restrooms.
Turpin said the next phase will remove invasive weed plants and plant native marsh grass to help prevent shoreline erosion and restore marine habitat.
The project was one of several funded by the first stage of money provided in part by the British Petroleum company after it was found responsible for the 2010 Gulf oil disaster that fouled beaches and waterways all along the Gulf Coast.
The original intent was to put in a boat ramp, using environmentally friendly permeable paving techniques, near the site of the old Weis-Fricker Mahogany Co. mill at the mouth of the bayou, said Robert Turpin, manager of the county's Marine Resources Division, which oversaw much of the project.
But when crews began removing old concrete slabs at the site in 2012, they found creosote and other wood preservatives and petroleum products, which have been linked to cancer and other health problems.
Once the compounds were removed, the county expanded the project to include a park with wheelchair-accessible piers, sidewalks, a picnic pavilion, benches and restrooms.
Turpin said the next phase will remove invasive weed plants and plant native marsh grass to help prevent shoreline erosion and restore marine habitat.
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