Failed Florida reef -- one more "good idea" gone bad

Here's something to remember the next time you hear someone (including a perceived do-gooder) try to propagate their "idea of the moment" by the contagion of "group think" without conducting "due diligence"--

Failed Florida reef now the star of Wynwood art exhibit - Biscayne Corridor - MiamiHerald.com: "In the 1970s, a nonprofit group called Broward Artificial Reef, or BARINC, had an idea that it thought would create a win-win situation: Repurpose up to two million tires that were filling up landfills by using them to create an artificial reef that would attract big game fish and tourists. No one knew at the time that coral would not grow on rubber, or that the metal latches holding the tires together would disintegrate after years in saltwater. Loose tires, pushed by strong currents, crashed into the natural reef, causing damage, disease and death to the delicate coral. For more than 10 years, there have been federal, state and county efforts to remove the tires, but most have fizzled. The current focus is to remove the loose tires pushed by the current into the eastern ridge of the natural reef. Pat Quinn, a natural resources specialist with the Broward County Environmental Protection and Growth Management Department, estimates there are about 300,000 tires in that area, which is about 70 feet beneath the ocean’s surface. . . ."

This is why most "government programs" by definition are "suspect," as the public trust that the "government knows what it is doing" has many times over been proven false. If nothing else, the "unintended consequences" of most social programs are never taken into account or even looked for before enacting legislative schemes.

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