Tonight, from 6 P.M to 8 P.M., the Miami Rod & Reel Club will host the final scoping meeting regarding the proposal to stripmine the St. Lucie shoal and give the sand, if the material is sand, to Dade county for so-called “beach nourishment.”

The Army Corps of Engineers already hosted three scoping meetings, one in Miami, one in Martin County and one in St. Lucie County. The experiences could not have been less pleasant for Corps officials and dredging industry consultants who attended the meeting. Anglers, divers, surfers and a variety of residents lined up to blast the project and its proponents. Senator Ken Pruitt (R, St. Lucie) called the proposal, the “most bizarre and ill-conceived plan I’ve heard in my 16 years in politics.” Pruitt also vowed to fight the project “to its death.”

While 30 years of beach fill operations in Dade County have resulted in the death of the county’s nearshore reefs and considerable damage to reefs around the dredging sites, the St. Lucie shoal is a critical component of the Treasure Coast’s bluewater fishery. It attracts bait year-round and a variety of pelagics seasonally.

“We have four huge tournaments a year here,” said Fort Pierce Mayor Bob Benton, “and we just can’t afford to give the shoal to Miami.”

The shoal also may provide substantial storm-surge protection to Hutchinson Island, home of the St. Lucie nuclear power plant.

30 years of dredge-and-fill operations have exhausted Dade County’s offshore sand supplies, at tremendous taxpayer expense, and years ago dredging interests successfully lobbied to create a law that requires all domestic sand supplies to be exhausted before Dade can look for sand abroad.

The Corps project manager incensed the audience by saying that “we as Americans voted to defend the Dade County Shoreline.” “Are you calling me “un-American,” for protecting my fishing,” asked one citizen, angrily?

“The Treasure Coast should not have to pay for the sins of South Florida,” said Pruitt. You can send comments to your county commissioners and to Army Corps official, Ms. Terri Jordan; Terri.L.Jordan@saj02.usace.army.mil. Comments are due by May 31.