County commission intervenes in Big Pass dredge

The Sarasota County commissioners voted 5-0 to request an environment impact statement regarding a city of Sarasota plan to dredge Big Pass to renourish Lido Key.  

An environmental impact statement follows an environmental analysis, which the Army Corps of Engineers performed in 2002 and updated in 2015. No environmental impact statement was submitted because the Corps filed a “finding of no significant impact” regarding the environmental effects the dredge.

However, several Siesta Key organizations, including the Siesta Key Association, have voiced skepticism in the Army Corps’ finding.

The organization wrote a letter to county commissioners in July requesting that Sarasota County petition the Army of Corps of Engineers to withdraw its the “finding of no significant impact” and ask for an environmental impact statement.

According to a presentation submitted to county commissioners, the statement serves as an acknowledgement that the project will have a significant environmental impact, but does not serve any regulatory function. It is used to inform decision makers ahead of permit issuance. 

The Army Corps of Engineers identified Big Pass as a potential dredging site in 2014. Since then various Siesta Key residents and organizations have voiced opposition to the project, citing concerns that the dredge will cause unintended environmental consequences on Siesta Key.

“When you take sand from a pass, it’s hard to predict what the impact will be,” Siesta Key Village Association president Mark Smith told the Sarasota Observer in an earlier interview.

The Siesta Key Village Association as wells as the Siesta Key Association have aligned themselves with Save Our Siesta Sands 2 (SOSS2), an organization that is currently raising funds to launch a lawsuit against the city of Sarasota and the Army Corps of Engineers pending permit issuance.

“We’re all in this together,” SOSS2 Chairman Peter van Roekens said in an earlier interview.