FDEP has issued a Notice of Violation Warning letter asserting Broward County beach renourishment projects have buried and killed acres of protected coral reefs.
Broward officials claim the dead coral is not their fault saying hurricanes are to blame for washing millions of cubic yards of sand onto the reefs. Broward has plans to move forward with more beach renourishment projects while trying to sidestep FDEP required mitigation for past reef burial. Potential mitigation costs could easily run into millions of dollars.
Dan Clark, director of Cry of the Water, a Broward-based environmental group that monitors marine projects for damage, ridiculed the county’s attempt to blame storms for the damage.
Federally protected staghorn coral killed by beach renourishment, Hollywood, FL. Photo: Cry-of-the-Water.
See Sentinel article: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-beach-coral-damage-20140822,0,7957259.story
See FDEP Notice of Violation Warning letter: http://www.scribd.com/doc/237558040/Broward-County-Segment-III-0163438-001-JC-WL-1-1
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