Any sediment vaguely resembling sand has been strip mined from the narrow continental shelf off of Dade County for so-called “beach nourishment.” Broward County is apparently down to the dregs of its “borrow areas,” and the extremely fine sediment used in the recent Phipps Project, in Palm Beach, suggests that municipalities in Palm Beach County may have already excavated every submerged sand dune. So now, Dade and other South Florida Counties are eying the St. Lucie Shoal.

No, you’re not living in a Carl Hiassen novel. Dade County wants to dredge up the shoal then barge the sand, if it’s actually sand by any geological definition, all the way from St. Lucie to Miami Beach, and you’ll pay for it.

Located between three and five miles off the St. Lucie Power Plant, the area is better known by anglers as Marker 14. The shoal is often the only place the bluewater fleet can find live bait, and some inshore guides make the run out there, as well, when bait is in short supply around the St. Lucie and Fort Pierce inlets. The structure and bait also attract the usual suspects in terms of migratory pelagic species, including sailfish, cobia and kingfish.

Geologists say that it’s unlikely that a shoal off of Hutchinson Island would have the kind of sand found on Miami Beaches. And, changing the sediment composition of a beach can have seriously adverse impacts on turtles, beach invertebrates and the fish and birds that feed on sandfleas and other “infauna.” The detrimental impacts of previous beach dredge-and-fill projects to Dade County reefs have been well documented. For more information on the controversial and often harmful practice, read the Florida Sportsman investigative series that ran one year ago at www.floridasportsman.com/confron/0504144/.

Another concern is that the St. Lucie shoal may provide Hutchinson Island, home of the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant and thousands of residents, with a measure of storm-surge protection.

The Army Corps of Engineers is holding a series of public scoping meetings beginning tomorrow night, May 9, from 6 P.M. to 8 P.M. at the Blake Library, in Stuart. The address is 2351 SE Monterey Rd, Stuart, FL 34996-3331. Wednesday night, May 10, the Corps will hold another meeting at St. Lucie County Commission Chambers, 2300 Virginia Avenue, Ft. Pierce, Florida , 34982. Anglers and divers—-really any concerned citizens--are encouraged to attend and voice concerns. If you are unable to attend, you can send comments to your county commissioners and to Army Corps official, Ms. Terri Jordan; Terri.L.Jordan@saj02.usace.army.mil