Florida Opposes Resumption Of Apalachicola Dredging
Florida environmental regulators have formally notified the Mobile Engineer District that they oppose restarting dredging the Apalachicola River to re-enable commercial navigation. The Florda State Clearinghouse, which reviews federal actions, sent a letter to the Mobile District on September 28, responding to an August 14 Notice of Intent by the Corps to restart dredging. It was signed by Lindsay Weaver, the Clearinghouse’s coordinator.
The river has not been dredged since 2005, when the state denied the Corps a needed water-quality certification.
The letter reiterated Florida’s previously expressed opposition to the dredging, saying “Florida’s position remains unchanged since its denial of the Corps Water Quality Certification (WQC) for dredging in 2005. Further, given that downstream freshwater releases remain unchanged since 2017, Florida would reinforce the need to first increase flow to restore Apalachicola Bay, a designated Area of Critical State Concern.”
The state agencies offering comments include the Department of Commerce, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; the Florida Department of State; the Florida Department of Transportation; and the Northwest Florida Water Management District. “Based on agency review, the state of Florida has serious concerns about the impacts to Florida’s environment, economic competitiveness and quality of life,” according to the letter.
The letter claims that proposed dredging would directly threaten and/or reduce the habitat of endangered and critical plant and animal species, including the Torreya tree, a rare coniferous species, as well as historic properties, the region’s Tupelo honey industry and the Apalachicola oyster industry in the bay.
The Corps’ Notice of Intent can be found at: https://www.sam.usace.army.mil/Missions/Program-and-Project-Management/Civil-Projects/ACF-Dredging-Project/.
