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WPEC-TV CBS12 News :: News - Treasure Coast News - Crews remove 500 football fields of sand for St. Lucie Inlet dredging project

Crews remove 500 football fields of sand for St. Lucie Inlet dredging project

ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. --  A multi-million dollar project to dredge the inlet in Martin County. The inlet is so filled with sand, it is threatening to limit boating in the area. Commissioners deemed the project so vital they declared a state of emergency to get the job done.

Crews are removing 500 football fields of sand from the inlet and they are ahead of schedule.

If you want to know how common it was for boats to get stuck out near the St. Lucie Inlet, ask the guy who tows them home.

"Soft groundings, hard groundings, we are out here everyday. The constant shifting shoals out there, did make it problematic, especially for people not here on a daily basis," said Captain Fred Newhart.
 
Sea Tow's Captain Fred Newhart says the completion of the inlet dredging is good news for boaters, but may slow things down for him a bit.

"With the fishing that happens here and how popular the inlet is, although it is a very dangerous inlet, having the dredging is important."

Crews removed tons upon tons of sand.

"Somewhere around 470,000 cubic yards, we feel it should give us 3 or 4 years before we have to be back out there again," said Kathy Fitzpatrick, Martin County Coastal Engineer.
 
The $6.5 million emergency dredging project is a temprary fix, before the federal government steps in with massive funding.
 
"In Martin County the properly dredged inlet is the root of everything we are here, it speaks to water quality, it speaks to our economy, it speaks to our way of life," said Fitzpatrick.
 
Boating, the third largest economic driver on the Treasure Coast, just got easier.

Now the channel has been dredged, the Coast Guard moved those channel markers back so you've got a straight shot into the inlet, and that's where your deep water is. Don't go where you used to because that is not deep water anymoreCrews remove 500 football fields of sand for St. Lucie Inlet dredging project

Tuesday, May 1 2012, 02:34 PM EDT

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