USA: Debate Continues Over St. Johns River Dredging

The Public Trust Environmental Legal Institute of Florida has filed a lawsuit over the St. Johns River dredging.

JAXPORT officials and the local community stressed the importance of this dredging project in bringing more cargo ships and business to town.

According to WJCT News, Public Trust Environmental Legal Institute of Florida is concerned about the amount of information about the project.

They consider more information about environmental impact of blasting the river bedrock with dynamite and the number of jobs that the project will bring are needed.

The project would include dredging the existing channel of the St. Johns River from 40 to 47 feet. Thirteen miles of the river would be deepened, from the mouth of the St. Johns River to just west of the Dames Point Bridge near Blount Island, and two areas of the channel close to Chicopit Bay and Ft. Caroline National Memorial would also be widened.

This would result in the removal of 18 million cubic yards of dredged material.

In addition, up to 56 million cubic yards of dredge material would be removed from annual maintenance dredging over the 50-year life of the project.

Dredging Today Staff, June 3, 2014