St. Johns Riverkeeper pushes to postpone JaxPort dredging

The non-profit filed a motion for preliminary injunction on Monday to postpone the project, but a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson told American Shipper Wednesday it is still anticipating the project will start in “late January.”    The St. Johns Riverkeeper filed a motion for preliminary injunction on Monday to postpone the first phase of the impending St. Johns River harbor deepening project.
   In 2013, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorized JaxPort’s plan to deepen the last 13 miles of the St. Johns River channel from 40 feet to 47 feet, but earlier this year, the port unveiled a new plan to dredge just 11 miles of the channel in order to cut costs, the St. Johns Riverkeeper explained in a statement.
   However, the St. Johns Riverkeeper contended that before federal funding can be authorized and dredging can proceed for the new 11-mile plan, it must be formally evaluated by the Corps to assess environmental impacts and the economic feasibility of the project.
   “This new 11-mile plan simply does not exist according to the Army Corps,” said Lisa Rinaman, the St. Johns Riverkeeper. “Federal law requires JaxPort’s new plan to be thoroughly studied and evaluated, including the recalculation of the benefit cost ration, yet nothing has been done by the Corps to fulfill this requirement.”
   The non-profit environmental advocacy group also expressed concerns over flooding due to the dredging.
   “In the wake of Hurricane Irma, the urgency and importance of assessing the potential flooding impacts from dredging is even more apparent,” Rinaman said. “Failure to evaluate these impacts when we know that the dredging will likely increase storm surge and tide levels only puts our community and our river at greater risk and makes us more vulnerable in the future.”
   Last Thursday, the Corps said in a scoping letter that it would reopen the National Environmental Policy Act evaluation process and would accept comments for 30 days in order to “consider whether the recent flooding conditions in the vicinity of the Jacksonville Harbor Navigation Project following the 2017 nor’easter and Hurricane Irma constitute significant new circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns and bearing on the Jacksonville Harbor Navigation Project or its impacts.”
   Commenting on the St. Johns Riverkeeper’s attempts to postpone the first phase of the impending St. Johns River harbor deepening project, an Army Corps spokesperson told American Shipper Wednesday, “We continue to move forward with the Jacksonville Harbor Deepening project,” adding that the Corps anticipates the project will start in “late January.”
   “The deepening project represents Jacksonville’s single largest opportunity to grow the port, add good jobs and better our community,” a JaxPort spokesperson told American Shipper. “After a decade of study, independent review, public input and full regulatory approval, the time has come to start this project and bring new jobs and increased opportunity to the people of Jacksonville.”