Sand Mountain Won't Be Moved this Year

The Army Corps of Engineers won’t be removing Sand mountain from the Apalachicola Riverbanks this year. Sand mountain is the name that’s been given to huge mounds of dirt dredged from the Apalachicola River and placed on the riverbanks, smothering wildlife and vegetation habitat and blocking water flow from side channels and tributaries. The US Army Corps of Engineers had planned to remove a large portion of the dredge this year and make it available to local governments for various projects. Franklin County, for example, had hoped to use some of the spoil to rebuild the beaches at Alligator Point – though that project is still facing state permitting problems. The Corps made the decision to demobilize the project this spring because of current dry weather conditions, as well as delays due to an ongoing study of sturgeon migration in the Apalachicola River. A two week delay for the completion of the sturgeon study would have cost the federal government 600 thousand dollars and if the weather remains dry it would make it difficult if not impossible to ship the sand downriver anyway. Because of the risks, the Corps decided this week to hold off on the sand removal project this Spring , though they will seek funding for the project again in the next fiscal year.

Thanks Betty, for bringing this NEWS to APTAWEB’s attention.