Charles Hansen has been living near Burnt Mill Creek for years. He says he's never seen the water this color.

"The color of Choctawhatchee River and quite frankly disturbs me and I'd like to get to the bottom of it to see where it's coming from," Hansen said.

"It looks like someone spilled half the coffee and cream in it. I went back a mile and a half and it gets worse," Roy Frank, a Washington County resident said.

Even after Thursday's heavy rains, Hansen says the water is supposed to have a "sweet tea" color.

He took us along the creek to see if problem existed upstream. Sure enough, the water was the same muddy color.

We ran across members of the St. Andrews Bay Resource Management Agency who were out taking water samples.

The group blames the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport.
They say the new airport site continues to drain sand, dirt and debris. The sediment is then dumping into Morrell Creek which feeds into Burnt Mill Creek.

"We just want to public to know that Burnt Mill Creek, Crooked Creek and West Bay are in really serious danger if this does not stop," Patrice Couch, the groups director told us.

Airport officials were first made aware of the problem when Newschannel 7 contacted them Friday. They tell us they want the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to get involved.

"I think every creek and bayou in the county is muddy today. So to point to the airport as the sole contributor is a little irresponsible until we have all the facts," Amy Ausley, the airport's spokesperson said.

In September, Phoenix Construction, who was responsible for the overall airport construction, was fined $1.7 million by DEP for environmental permit violations.

There is a DEP official on site at the airport all the time. We're told they will be looking into this most recent issue.