Palm Beach County

REEF RESCUE
P.O. Box 207
Boynton Beach, Florida 332!
"!#$% #&&'(!!&
Email) etich*cu+a,aol.com
---.ree.'re*cue.or/ June 13, 2014

Sent via email
U. S Army Corps of Engineers
Jacsonville !istrict, !ivision "ffice
#.". $o% 4&'0
Jacsonville, (lori)a 32232001
Attention* Eric.p.summa+usace.army.mil
,arett.g.lips+usace.army.mil

-E* Comments on $ro.ar) County Segment // S0ore #rotection #ro1ect, SAJ
1&&&02242,
an)
-e3uest for an Environmental /mpact Statement, ,eneral -eevaluation -eport an)
#u4lic 5earing

6o 70om /t 8ay Concern*

60e purpose of t0is correspon)ence is to provi)e comments pursuant to t0e a4ove9
reference) pro1ect. !ue to t0e potential for numerous, su4stantial an) irreversi4le
negative impacts to an alrea)y severely )egra)e) near9s0ore 0ar)4ottom community
.it0in t0e pro1ect area, .e re3uest t0e Army Corps of Engineers :AC"E; reevaluate t0e
pro1ect using t0e more rigorous an) appropriate Environmental /mpact Statement :E/S;
an) ,eneral -eevaluation -eport :,--; protocols. 60e Environmental Assessment :EA;
prepare) 4y t0e AC"E fails to a)e3uately a))ress t0e full impact of t0e propose) pro1ect
an) fails to t0oroug0ly evaluate cumulative impacts from past an) propose) coastal
construction in t0e area.
A revaluation of t0e present EA must consi)er impacts from past 4eac0 restoration efforts
.it0in t0e entire coastal cell. #ast pro1ects .it0in t0is area 0ave 4urie) significantly more
0ar)4ottom t0an t0eir engineering mo)els 0a) pre)icte). /n fact, san) place) a4ove t0e
857< from t0e recent #ompano =)ry 4eac0> truc 0aul pro1ect, complete) in early
2014, 0as alrea)y migrate) into t0e nears0ore environment at an) )o.ncurrent of t0e
pro1ect causing unforeseen an) negative impacts to t0is 4iological community. 60is is 4ut
one recent e%ample of ina)e3uate pro1ect engineering an) failure to anticipate potential
pro1ect impacts.
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To monitor, preserve and protect the coral reef ecosystem of South Florida through
research, education and public aware
Palm Beach County
REEF RESCUE
#ast $ro.ar) County 4eac0 nouris0ment pro1ects can furt0er serve to focus on
ina)e3uate engineering performance mo)els .0ic0 faile) to correctly pre)ict t0e
Estimate) 6oe of (ill :E6"(; limits an) san) migration. #ast 4eac0 pro1ects in t0is area
0ave 4urie) significantly more 0ar)4ottom resources t0an 0a) 4een pre)icte) an) still
0ave not 4een mitigate) for. #ast engineering pro1ect mo)el failures an) lac of
mitigation must 4e consi)ere) .0en revie.ing cumulative impacts from t0e a4ove9
reference) propose) pro1ect.
60ree recent :2014;, AC"E 4eac0 renouris0ment pro1ects complete) in #alm $eac0
County 0ig0lig0t a lac of regulatory oversig0t an) an ina4ility to comply .it0 permit
con)itions once pro1ects are un)er.ay. 60e AC"E, on all t0ree :"cean -i)ge, $oynton
$eac0 an) $oca -aton; pro1ects, .as una4le or un.illing to enforce tur4i)ity monitoring
re3uirements :i.e., collecting compliance samples .it0in t0e )ensest portion of t0e
tur4i)ity plume; resulting in tur4i)ity values .ell in e%cess of permitte) levels .it0
resulting tur4i)ity plumes e%ten)ing .ell 4eyon) t0e pro1ect =mi%ing @ones>. Significant
)eviations in tur4i)ity monitoring permit re3uirements .ere also .ell )ocumente) )uring
t0e 2013 !elray $eac0 nouris0ment pro1ect an) t0e 2011 5ills4oro $eac0 pro1ect. /n
fact, failure to comply .it0 permit con)itions an) e%cessive silt an) se)iment migration
from t0e 5ills4oro pro1ect 0ave not 4een investigate) or mitigate) for. Evaluation of t0e
5ills4oro nears0ore impacts s0oul) 4e a component of any cumulative impact
)etermination to t0e cell .it0in .0ic0 t0e a4ove9reference pro1ect is propose).
E%amination of t0e #ort Evergla)es e%pansion must also 4e a component .0en
)etermining t0e potential negative impacts to t0e overall 0ealt0 of t0e Segment // coral
community an) nears0ore 0a4itat.
60e AC"E EA fails to provi)e tur4i)ity control measures or protocols to ensure proper
tur4i)ity monitoring. 60e EA )oes not a))ress 3uality control or continuous monitoring
of truc 0aul san) to ensure compliance .it0 permit re3uirements.
60e AC"E EA )iscusses t0e presence of fe)erally liste) stag0orn coral in t0e pro1ect
=footprint> an) colonies at ris of )irect 4urial present .it0in t0e E6"(. 5o.ever, t0e
EA fails to provi)e e%act locations or t0e num4er of coral colonies at ris of 4urial. 60e
EA proposal to relocate =colonies visi4le to t0e nae) eye .it0in t0e E6"(> to a location
outsi)e of t0e impact area to prevent 4urial of t0e colonies is totally ina)e3uate an) is an
affront to t0e En)angere) Species Act :ESA;. Any )iscussion regar)ing transplanting
coral must a))ress met0o)ologies for enumerating at ris colonies, e%pecte) survival
rates, coral )isease an) measures to prevent t0e sprea) of )isease) corals, safeguar)s to
ensure 0ealt0y corals are transplante) into )isease9free locations an) post9transplant
monitoring to evaluate coral survival an) 0ealt0.
70ile t0e EA recogni@es t0e pro1ect area is .it0in ESA )esignate) Acropori) coral
critical 0a4itat, it fails to a))ress measures propose) to evaluate an) avoi) 0a4itat
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?
To monitor, preserve and protect the coral reef ecosystem of South Florida through
research, education and public aware
Palm Beach County
REEF RESCUE
)egra)ation as it relates to su4strate loss from se)imentation an) potential impacts to
Acropori) coral recruitment, larval survival, se%ual an) ase%ual repro)uction.
Section 2.2.2 of t0e AC"E EA is unclear as to t0e results of t0e A8(S consultation or
even if one .as complete). Consultation with NMFS was initiated on June 27, 2013.
The PRD iolo!i"al #$inion 13%da& "onsultation end date is No'e()e* +, 2013.,
60e Uniform 8itigation Assessment 8et0o)ology :U8A8; .as applie) to )etermine
t0e acreage of mitigation t0at .oul) 4e re3uire) for t0e lo. relief an) 0ig0 relief 0a4itat
.it0in 4ot0 t0e #ompano $eac0B<$6S pro1ect area an) <$6SB(t. <au)er)ale pro1ect
area. 7e 3uestion .0et0er U8A8 is t0e appropriate met0o)ology to employ .0en
mitigating for t0e loss of fe)erally )esignate) Acropori) coral critical 0a4itat. (urt0er, it
)oes not appear t0e AC"E EA 0as consi)ere) t0e temporal an) spatial e%tent of pro1ect
relate) critical 0a4itat loss.
(or t0e a4ove reasons .e re3uest t0e propose) pro1ect 4e reevaluate) using an E/S an)
,--. /n a))ition, )ue to t0e potential significant an) irreversi4le impact from t0is an)
past 4eac0 pro1ects .e re3uest t0e AC"E con)uct pu4lic meetings to ai) in a full an)
complete )isclosure of pro1ect relate) issues.
Segment // represents t0e last near9s0ore coral 0a4itat in $ro.ar) County, not )egra)e)
4y 4eac0 nouris0ment pro1ects. 60e preservation of t0is last e%ample of near9s0ore coral
0a4itat is imperativeC since, once lost it can never 4e restore).
Sincerely,
E) 6ic0enor, !irector
#alm $eac0 County -eef -escue
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To monitor, preserve and protect the coral reef ecosystem of South Florida through
research, education and public aware
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