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DEP Opposes Permit To Dredge New Channel In Port Richey

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 31, 2007

PORT RICHEY - The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is recommending denial of one of three permits for the city's multimillion-dollar dredging project.

The city's permit request, which seeks to cut a new channel from a canal off Old Post Road to the Gulf of Mexico, will destroy too much seagrass, DEP Environmental Administrator William Vorstadt wrote in a letter to Interim City Manager James Mathieu.

'The adverse impact to over five acres of seagrass in order to service the relatively small number of homes with relatively small-draft vessels is not a good trade-off,' Vorstadt wrote. 'At this time, we must proceed with preparing a recommendation for denial.'

Besides cutting a channel for boats through seagrass beds between Brasher Park and the Pithlachascotee River, the project also would dredge a canal off Old Post Road.

To do that, the city has proposed uprooting 5.76 acres of healthy seagrass. The city has proposed mitigation for the beds, but DEP officials said that's not enough.

'The need for this new, extensive channel has not been established,' Vorstadt wrote.

Mayor Richard Rober said he hadn't seen the letter Tuesday but called it troubling.

'It's a setback, but we need to keep moving forward,' he said. 'The residents who live off those canals need access to the water, and we're not planning to leave anyone behind.'

Port Authority Board member Mike Latini said the DEP previously had recommended creating the new channel to protect seagrass beds from boat propeller scarring.

Latini also hadn't seen the DEP's recommendation for denial.

'We've heard some scuttlebutt that DEP was leaning in that direction, but we don't have the facts and information yet,' he said. 'Obviously this is something we need to discuss.'

The permit is one of three the city needs to begin the decade-old dredging project.

Another permit application would cover unclogging 26 canals. The third application would allow creation of a new waterway linking the nearby river to Lake Deedra.
DEP officials also have raised numerous concerns with the other two permit requests.

On the request to dredge 26 canals, state regulators want more information about the city's plans to store and dry the dredged material at Waterfront Park.

They also have asked for flow studies from three heavily used canals in the project.

With the Lake Deedra permit, DEP officials are concerned that poor water quality in the lake will flow back into the river when the dredging begins. They have requested that the city test the lake's water quality before moving forward with the permit request.

DEP also has concerns about the dredging depths for the canals.

'There's a lot of sticking points that need to be resolved,' DEP spokeswoman Pam Vasquez said. 'This is a huge project and our main concern is to protect the environment.'

The plan calls for dredging more than 400,000 cubic yards of mud and silt, enough to cover 10 acres with a 15-foot-high mound. If approved by DEP, the city would dry the dredged materials at the park, then truck them to an old industrial site, where the sand will be filtered and eventually sold.

But the permitting process has dragged on for more than a decade as state regulators and Port Richey officials have wrangled over the environmental effects.

Supporters say the dredging will make the waterways healthier and boost property values. Critics say the price tag - estimated at more than $15 million - is too high to justify work that benefits a handful of wealthier residents who live along the canals.

City officials and residents affected by the project have become increasingly frustrated with LPA Group, the city's dredging consultant, over delays in obtaining the permits.

In the past two years, the city has paid LPA more than $475,000 to get permits from the state and the Army Corps of Engineers. Two weeks ago, the council voted to begin searching for a new consulting firm and to hire a law firm to represent the city.

Until a replacement is found, however, the city plans to keep working with LPA Group.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082 or cwade@tampatrib.com.

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