By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has come out against a proposed marina in Taylor County that already faces intense environmental opposition.
Secret Promise Ltd. and Dr. J. Crayton Pruitt are proposing to scoop out 26 acres of the salt marsh and to fill in almost 9 acres for a marina. They also propose dredging a two-mile long channel offshore through the Big Bend Seagrasses Aquatic Preserve.
The EPA says the proposed Magnolia Bay Marina and Resort near Dekle Beach threatens what it considers to be an "aquatic resource of national importance." The EPA has authority under the federal Clean Water Act to block a project but it hasn't followed the process for yet for Magnolia Bay.
The EPA said the applicants haven't shown how the project avoids or minimizes environmental harm. The project will cause a "significant degradation" of aquatic resources and cause a variety of harms, including reduced ability for the coast to handle wave energy during storms.
Developer Chuck Olson said the agency's comments came before Secret Promise submitted a plan for managing and protection sea grass in the area. He said the plan should convince agencies to support the project.
Environmental groups have lined up in opposition to the project while Taylor County business groups are supporting it as a boost for local tourism. More than 1,000 comments in opposition to the project have been submitted to the Corps of Engineers, said Ed Sarfert, senior project manager in the agency's Pensacola field office.
For more on this story, read Saturday's Tallahassee Democrat.
http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070406/BREAKINGNEWS/704060363
Article published Apr 6, 2007