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Richard Grant Gilmore, Jr., Ph.D. <br />5920 First St. SW, Vero Beach, FL 32968 <br />Resident Indian River County since 1972, 46 yrs. <br />I would like to refer to the research of Dr. John Trefry, Professor at the Fla. Institute of <br />Technology in Melbourne and his extensive work with soft colloidal sediments commonly <br />referred to as "muck". I have followed John's work for over 40 yrs. <br />So what is "muck". The word is derived from the 19th century need to bring attention to dirt, <br />grime, filth, mud, slime, and mess. More technical 20'h century definitions classify muck as <br />"highly organic dark or black soil with less than 50% combustible content' Dr. Trefry describes <br />our IRL muck as a dark highly organic colloidal substance that contains significant amounts of <br />water and has the consistency of mayonnaise. <br />Last December (2017) 1 had the opportunity to walk down the Oslo Road boat ramp and the <br />bottom adjacent to it from the ramp out to just beyond the wooden dock along the north side of <br />the ramp, a distance of about 60 feet. I found soft sediments no more than a few inches deep at <br />the base of the ramp, but they did not extend much past 10- 15 ft from, the ramp. A hard sand <br />ridge appeared on the Lagoon side of this walk followed by clear sand after we passed the end of <br />the dock. The soft sediments were muddy, but were definitely not a colloidal suspension the <br />consistency of mayonnaise that is the definition of "muck". Muck as strictly defined by Dr. <br />Trefry was not observed. <br />So there is no need for muck removal as there apparently is no muck, but only a limited deposit <br />of soft sediments in a small area at the base of the ramp. <br />The water was shallow at the ramp and the depression from the ramp out into the Lagoon is very <br />shallow not much above a half meter to a meter at as you walk from shore out toward the open <br />Lagoon. The very shallow water depth is also why larval and post larval fish are attracted to the <br />Oslo shore of the Lagoon. We captured a newly settled juvenile Common Snook over the <br />bottom at the base of the ramp. This is one of the major fishery species using the Oslo site as a <br />nursery site. <br />2-2,9- <br />