His declaration didn't reassure Newberry resident Kathleen Crouch. She is suing the city of Newberry over its annexation of the Florida Rock property because she is concerned that the city doesn't have the experience to properly administer an environmental program. Walker rebuffs the criticism. Ralph Moon, part-owner of HSA, said Universal Engineering Sciences of Gainesville was hired by Newberry in May to perform the water sampling. He said the water testing was delayed because of drought conditions.
Rain is the driver to move things.
Like Universal, Bird said Alachua County's Environmental Protection Department was hindered in gathering stormwater data around the county because of the dry conditions. But, he said some of the tests were performed in February and March. While February's monthly rainfall was well below normal, according to the National Weather Service in Jacksonville, more than 3 inches of rain fell in March. April and May precipitation also was well below normal. Afternoon thunderstorms returned in the middle of June.