Midnight Pass: Hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted

by Glenn Compton

The Sarasota County Commission recently directed county staff to prepare an amendment to amend Florida statutes to allow permits to be sought to develop a tidal connection between Little Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. If Sarasota County is successful, such an undertaking would negatively impact water quality and environmental protections throughout Florida, all given the very slim chance of obtaining a permit to dredge Midnight Pass.

Applied Management Technology (ATM) recently introduced several options for creating a tidal connection between the Gulf and the Bay. The commissioner’s reaction to the study was predictable: Excavators open Midnight Pass. It’s clear that the priority for county commissioners is not improving water quality in Little Sarasota Bay, but rather providing boat access to the Gulf.

Unfortunately, ATM left the door ajar when it concluded that a change to Florida statutes would be required if the commissioners wanted to seek permits to dredge the pass. Commissioners grabbed that carrot and found the state legislature wasting $500,000 on the effort.

A new coastal bay would require an update to the state’s manatee conservation plan and a costly update to FEMA’s flood hazard maps. When a new bay opens in Little Sarasota Bay, more people and property will be in storm surge areas.

Pursuing changes to Florida statutes is a complete waste of taxpayer dollars and a waste of county staff time. If the county chooses to proceed with dredging Midnight Pass, it will cost taxpayers for at least the next 30 years. This will be one of the largest environmental and financial fiascos in Sarasota County history.

Chapter 62B-41.005(12) of the Florida Administrative Code specifically prohibits the creation of artificial new inlets or scavenge outlets. Apparently the county commission incorrectly believes that deleting or changing a few words in a law could allow the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to issue permits for dredging Midnight Pass.

However, numerous changes would be required at both the state and federal levels, affecting:

• coastal bays
• Manatee protection
• Protecting wading bird habitat
• Threatened and Endangered Species
• Protecting seagrass and fisheries
• Outstanding Award for Florida Waters
• Turtles nest
• Protection of wetlands
• Public beach access regulations

The environmental sensitivity of the Midnight Pass area makes dredging impractical. Little Sarasota Bay is considered an “Outstanding Florida Waters” and is one of the best remaining estuarine wetlands in Southwest Florida.

There is a strong likelihood that a challenge to a dredging permit for Midnight Pass would be successful based on comments from FDEP recommending rejection of Sarasota County’s two previous attempts to dredge the pass.

Whether Sarasota County can obtain permits to dredge Midnight Pass has been answered three times, twice by the FDEP and once by the courts. The answer is clearly no.

The opportunity to spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on additional studies would be better spent enforcing existing regulations by the various agencies tasked with protecting the health and well-being of Little Sarasota Bay.

There is no doubt that dredging Midnight Pass would be environmentally damaging and fiscally irresponsible.

ManaSota-88 strongly recommends that the Sarasota Board of County Commission withdraw its consent and financial support to conduct additional studies to clear Midnight Pass.

Glenn Compton is the chairman of Mana Sota 88a nonprofit organization that has worked to protect the environment in Manatee and Sarasota counties for over 30 years.