He stood
behind the podium yesterday and spoke with the fervor of a
politician's son, encouraging the crowd to take ownership of
the St. Johns River that rolled behind him. But Robert Kennedy
Jr. wasn't wearing the polished political attire of a suit and
slicked hair.
He wore a zipped-up windbreaker and tousled tresses that
matched the image of environmentalism he expressed.
Kennedy, son of the late U.S. Attorney General Robert F.
Kennedy, is president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, an
organization of 99 groups that protect individual waterways.
The alliance includes the St. Johns Riverkeeper.
Kennedy drew hearty claps from the audience and a standing
ovation by calling threats to the environment a theft of
resources and an attack on society. People should weigh how
lowering environmental standards for a business to provide
jobs will impact nature and affect generations to come, he
said.
Kennedy spoke of a child's right to fish in the river and
bring fish home for his family to eat. But fish in the St.
Johns River are contaminated with dioxins that can cause
cancer and mental retardation. Therefore, that child's right
has been taken away, he said.
Such rights can be restored by committed residents, who
ensure laws are enforced, notify politicians of their desires
and keep companies from dumping pollutants, he said.
"For those of you who don't have hope for the St. Johns,
the Hudson [River] was a joke in 1966. It was dead water for a
30-mile stretch," Kennedy told more than 75 people gathered at
The Jacksonville Landing.
The Hudson River caught fire, had sewage dumped into it and
enough paint polluted it at times to change its color, Kennedy
said.
Environmentalists believed the government was in cahoots
with polluters, so they formed a coalition in 1966 to clean
the Hudson River and the Waterkeeper Alliance was spawned.
Kennedy became involved as a litigator.
Now the Hudson River is a pristine refuge for several
endangered animals, he said.
Features of the St. Johns River parallel the Hudson. Both
are 310 miles long and both have industrial, maritime cities
at the mouth, Kennedy said.
"This water is owned by the people," Kennedy said. "When we
destroy nature, we diminish ourselves. We protect nature
because our lives are going to be richer. Our children's lives
are going to be richer. And our communities are going to be
richer."
Kennedy's visit brought more awareness to the problem of
river pollution and efforts of the St. Johns Riverkeeper to
clean the waterway, said Katey Breen, administrative director.
Some citizens don't realize it's their river, Breen said.
But George Stephens and his wife, Lisa Harding, do. The
couple said Kennedy's words were inspiring, and they signed up
to join the riverkeeper effort.
"He showed that regular people can take charge," Harding
said.
Staff writer Alliniece T. Andino can be reached at
or via e-mail at aandino
jacksonville.com.
