Just recently, the ACE (American Corp of Engineers)  has released it’s ‘’final plan’’ for the mid reach (the 7.8 miles of beach from south end of PAFB to north Indialantic). Public comment is open until January 30.

This section of beach has been spared the type of large-scale dredge-and-fill ‘’beach renourishment’’ projects that have ruined surfing and fishing up and down our coast. Because of the unique coquina reef which is a Federally protected fish habitat, the ACE has had to formulate a plan ‘’they say’’ will only bury a few acres of reef. We all know how accurate the ACE is at predicting the outcome of their projects (not). 

Many of us who use this area understand what a treasure we have in this reef. The structured bottom creates some of the best surf in Florida. No need to name spots, but you know where they are. The beach fishing is nearly as famous as the surf spots; the reef supports a wide variety of species by providing habitat and food. Anyone who has been snorkeling in the area knows how rich it is in life, and there’s nothing else like it in Brevard County. The proponents of this project are very careful to never use the word reef, they always use the word ‘’rocks’’. This shows the type of contrived thinking in which they engage.

 In addition to being environmentally disastrous, this project is also an incredible waste of our Federal, State, and local tax dollars. It’s a bail-out for the people who own structures built way too close to the power of the Atlantic Ocean. The initial cost is ‘’only’’ $33M, but over the life of the project its $163M. The primary justification for the project is $11.5M PER YEAR of ‘’storm damage reduction’’ in that 7.8 mile stretch – that is, the damage to structures will be $11.5M/yr less with the project, compared to no project. An independent peer review of the ‘’plan’’ seriously questioned this number, but the ACE is sticking with it…

The people who frequent this forum are among the primary users of this resource. Let us be its primary defenders. SAVE THE REEF!

Stay tuned.  More details to follow.....

Sebastian Inlet Chapter - Surfrider Foundation

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Waiting for more details, anything new?

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Well, as of about a week ago (3/15) there is some news. If you read what's below, note that there is a public comment (via mail or email) until 4/14/12.

The ''project'' now includes a full dredge and fill on the southern 1.4 miles of Mid Reach; and using that area as a dump for ''material'' to be trucked north. Lots of big trucks and heavy equipment on beach for a long time.

http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Divisions/Regulatory/pnwebshare/Florida_Public_Notices/20120315-SAJ-2005-08688-PublicNotice.pdf

It's been a few months since our letters and comments were received by the ACOE, and they took four months to respond - with a big ole 'We don't give a sh!t what you think or what the science is, we believe in our own flawed plan.'

What is worse, it that they concede that if it doesn't work and they stop dredge and filling the northern end - it would go back to the same NATURAL state in a couple of years (which means they don't know where the sand is going to go).

They also concede that the 100' wide dredged beach at the southern end (south of Futch Park - for all the private homes and condos with the fewest number of public parking spots) won't immediately go away and covers 100% of the reef in a one mile stretch. But they believe that dredging it and placing it all there is the same as putting the dredged sand inland and then trucking it in - since both only bury 3 acres of REEF. They even did tests on the mitigation reef that failed (<5% survival rate for sabellariid worms that make the reef and 0% survival for brown algae, a food staple for sea turtles) and don't acknowledge the failure! For a $35 million price tag - just for the first dredge, with an option to pay do it every 3-5 years, we all are going to lose. Here is the link to their reply to my letter and Surfrider's letter. Please write the paper and your county representatives, Bill Posey, and Bill Nelson, who control the purse strings on this possible man made environmental disaster.

ACOE reply to comment letters sent in April 2012 on MidReach dredge project

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