To monitor, preserve, and protect the coral reef ecosystem of
South Florida through research, education, and public awareness.
Phipps Park Beach Renourishment
The Problem
The Town of Palm Beach could have renourished the beach at Phipps Park AND protected the reef at the same time, but that did not happen. While spending a lot of money every year to pile sand back onto a beach doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, as there are better ways to do it, we are not here to debate that. What we firmly insist on is that if piling up sand is to be done, we not kill the reef in the process. Safeguards to the environment written into the dredge and fill permits must be enforced, not ignored.
The Abuses
PBCRR measured turbidity values nearly 3 times more than the legal limit over the several mile long plume.
The problem with this picture is the silt plume in the water resulting from the Phipps Ocean Park 2006 beach renourishment project. Silty sand pumped onto the beach created large turbidity clouds which traveled miles from the jobsite. Water samples analyzed by Reef Rescue found the turbidity measurements far in excess of the maximum level permitted. The permit also required the silt plume not to travel more than 150 meters (about 1/8th of a mile) for the renourishment site, not the several miles documented by volunteer observers.
Links to Reference Material about this project:
Smothered Reefs
Paul’s Reef smothered by silt from the Phipps Ocean Park 2006 beach renourishment project.
Like fires in buildings, there is often more danger from the smoke than the fire itself. The silt plume settles out and smothers the reef, often far away from where the dredge is working. Sponges, corals and habitat are degraded and may not recover.
When poor quality sand is used it quickly washes away, smothering the reef a second time. This 5 foot high escarpment makes it impossible for sea turtles to nest.
The permit requirements are designed to prevent damage while allowing the beach to be renourished. By not complying with all permit requirements excessive turbidity plumes were generated resulting in damage to near and offshore reefs for several miles along the coast.
Palm Beach County Reef Rescue
P.O. Box 207
Boynton Beach, FL 33425
(561) 699-8559