Dredging Florida coral reef is ‘lunacy’ says Philippe Cousteau, son of Jacques

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/24/florida-coral-reef-new-port-philippe-cousteau-fort-lauderdale

Expansion plans for a port near the continental US’s only barrier reef have been fiercely criticized by experts, but proponents say it will bring jobs

Dredging Florida coral reef is ‘lunacy’ says Philippe Cousteau, son of Jacques
Oliver Milman
Thursday 24 March 2016 08.00 EDT

A plan to expand a port near the continental US’s only barrier reef is “lunacy” and risks devastating the ailing coral ecosystem, Philippe Cousteau, grandson of famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, warned on Wednesday.

The US army corps of engineers plans to deepen and widen shipping channels to allow more ships to access Port Everglades, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The $374m plan, which has been sent to Congress for approval, would mean vast tracts of seabed will be dug up and deposited out at sea starting next year.

Proponents of the plan contend it will bring jobs, as well as larger ships, to Florida, but environmentalists bitterly oppose the dredging project, given its potential impact upon the only barrier reef off the contiguous US.

Recent dredging of the port of Miami, also undertaken by the US army corps of engineers, layered as much as 14cm (5.5in) of sediment on to the seafloor nearby, clogging parts of the Florida reef. There are fears that a repeat of this dredging will wipe out rare corals on the world’s third largest reef, which stretches from the Atlantic coast the Gulf of Mexico.