Young activist takes on city council over toxins in Clam Bayou

A 10-year-old girl has some serious questions about a clean-up project in her Gulfport neighborhood.

At Tuesday's Gulfport City Council meeting, council members listened intently as Catherine Hicks gave a presentation about toxins in Clam Bayou.

"I found out that there's some really bad toxins that make people and animals sick," she said. "I read that there is DDT in the mud, which is really bad."

Hicks, who wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up, said a great white egret named Edie was what first raised her concerns about toxins in the bayou waters. She said Edie flew up to a local dock one day, where people noticed she was very sick.

"We think when she was out there fishing, she gulped up some of the muck with her fish," Hicks said.  "She must've swallowed it and it got into her digestive system and her blood stream."

The fifth-grader lives on the west side of Clam Bayou. In April, the Southwest Florida Water Management District began an $8-million project to restore the bayou's ecosystems, but that restoration does not extend to the waters off her home.

So Hicks came to speak in front of the city council in hopes of getting some help.

"They could probably talk to SWFMD and try and get them to dredge here," she said. 

A SWFMD spokeswoman said they are already planning to do some limited dredging in that area after the restoration project is complete next spring. Officials said they expect dredging on that side of the bayou to improve the water circulation.