How the heart was torn from Tate's Hell

Tate’s Hell, once a primordial swamp, held vast amounts of water in storage, as if it were a giant sponge. This water was destined to work its way into our bay slowly. It was almost a never-ending flow of nutrients destined to feed shrimp, crabs, oysters and many species of fish.

Then came Buckeye Cellulose, promising jobs and prosperity for all concerned. To do this they needed permission from Franklin County to drain Tate’s Hell. Meetings were held to determine if this would be beneficial to the economic development of Franklin County. They painted a bright picture of jobs promised.

To get the county to go along with its proposal, to drain Tate’s Hell, certain experts were consulted by the county. These experts were to be paid by the county and state to advise them as to any adverse effect of the draining of Tate’s Hell. The county had no way of knowing that the experts were also being paid by the Buckeye Cellulose Company. These PhDs saw no noticeable harm to the bay environment. And any small amount of damage would be offset by all the jobs brought to Franklin County.

The county held public hearings. Seafood workers attended, but many had already been seduced into believing the company line, along with the expert PhDs testifying in favor of draining the swamp. Some of the meetings got quite heated, as for and against aired their opinions. George Kirvin was opposed to any alteration to Tate’s Hell. After he spoke some wanted to throw him out the courthouse window. Especially if it stood in the way of progress.

Based on what seemed like overwhelming public opinion in favor of much-needed promised jobs, and based on expert opinions from certain environmental experts, the decision was to allow the draining of the swamp.

The ditches were dug and the swamp drained. A chip mill was built in Carrabelle. Pine trees were planted by the thousands. Herbicides were sprayed to kill any unwanted vegetation. Tons of fertilizers would be distributed by helicopters. Beavers had to be poisoned in order to stop their desperate attempts to save their habitat by plugging up the drainage ditches. Slowly the heart was ripped from Tate’s Hell.

Today there is no chip mill, or vast number of promised jobs. But the damage endures, a legacy of environmental destruction of Tate’s Hell. Pine trees did not grow like the company had predicted. The land would be sold to the state of Florida.  However, the land was left in a state of destruction.

Today, Tate’s Hell is for the most part left dry. When it rains, it is like flushing a commode. All the water is rushed into the bay at once, little water is left for the dry months. The Thousand Yard Bay, once a habitat for large flocks of geese and ducks, is dry. The freshwater spring that flowed into the bay near Porter’s Bar dried up.

As a consequence, oyster beds near this flow of freshwater were lost. This eventually led to the Highway 98 shoreline starting to erode. The New River, once a deep river all the way up to Gully Branch, is now chocked with mud. In addition we have seen a continual decline in the productivity of Apalachicola Bay!

Today we are engaged in a struggle with Atlanta over water coming down river from Lake Lanier. Atlanta has a population of six million people, and growing. Do we really think we will ever win this water war? The answer is, eventually, no! However, we can control Tate’s Hells water by restoring it as close as possible to what Mother Nature created. Allowing Tate’s Hell to function the way it was intended to. Holding water back and slowly letting it trickle and flow into the bay.

Florida should be just as diligent in restoring Tate’s Hell as they are in restoring the Everglades. It is time to take a stand to save our bay.

A retired Marine and present-day environmentalist, Larry Hale is scoutmaster of Troop 22 on St. George Island.