Environmental advocacy groups withdraw objection to Apalachicola River snagging

Late yesterday the Apalachicola Bay Riverkeepers, Inc., (Riverkeepers) and the Florida Wildlife Federation, Inc., (FWF) both environmental advocacy groups through their attorney filed notice to withdraw their petition for a formal administrative hearing opposing the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) notice of intent to issue an Environmental Resource Permit to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE).

The Riverkeepers and the FWF filed a petition with the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings back in March, which held up the permit that would have allowed the ACOE to remove snags out of the Apalachicola River.  The notice to withdraw filed eight months later followed a November 8 telephone conference requested by both groups to discuss the petition.

The permit had already been approved by the FDEP and the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife Services and supported by the Northwest Florida Water Management District and several other governmental entities, but the issuance of the permit was delayed by the filling of the petition by the Riverkeepers and the FWF.

The telephone conference came shortly after the City of Apalachicola passed unanimous resolutions in September and October of this year endorsing the issuance of the permit because of the clear danger snags pose to navigation of the river and the economic benefit to the Apalachicola Bay area for having them removed.

During the conference it was reiterated by the ACOE counsel, Michael Creswell, and staff that the specifications of the permit without any changes already met every concern raised by the two environmental advocacy groups.

Regardless, the Riverkeepers and the FWF opposition to the permit were again addressed and again demonstrated by the ACOE that all of their concerns were already met by the permit specifications and that the snagging plan plainly disclosed in the permit included: 

Annual reporting and monitoring; the stated purpose of the permit, which is the removal of snags in the 100’ x 9’ channel of the Apalachicola River that cause or create a danger to navigation; certification that experts had already evaluated the permit plan; and that if any issues were encountered with stabilization of the outer bank, the process for addressing those issues were also already included as part of the permit conditions.

The Riverkeepers and the FWF notice to withdraw now means the FDEP can immediately issue the permit and the ACOE can proceed with the removal of dangerous snags from the Apalachicola River without any further delay or deviation from the originally written permit approved back in March.