BRANCH OFFICE
513 US Highway 1 Suite 215 North Palm Beach, FL 33408
MAIN OFFICE
665 SE 10th Street, Suite 104
Deerfield Beach, FL 33441
Phone 954.591.1219
Fax 954.653.2981
South Amelia Island Shore Stabilization Project, Beach Renourishment Environmental Assessment and Biological Assessment
Amelia Island is located on the northeast coast of Nassau County and is the northernmost barrier island in Florida. The island is bordered by St. Mary’s River to the north, Nassau Sound (St. George’s Inlet) to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW) to the west.
The southern portion of the Amelia Island shoreline has
experienced chronic to severe erosion over the last 30 years, and the shoreline is designated as a “Critically Eroded Area” by the FDEP-Bureau of Beaches and Coastal System. The undeveloped portion of the island adjacent to Nassau Sound is principally comprised of public lands located within Amelia Island State Park. Amelia Island State Park protects over 200 acres of sandy beach, dune habitat, maritime forest, coastal scrub, and marshland. Concerns over the loss of valuable shorebird nesting habitat andcritical wintering habitat for the threatened piping plover, unique upland maritime forest, and important sea turtle
nesting habitat led to issuance of a Joint Coastal Permit for Phase I of the South Amelia Island Shoreline Stabilization Project in 2002 and permit issuance for Phase II in 2003.
Approximately 1.9 million cubic yards of sand were placed along 3.4 miles of shoreline in 2002. Beach fill was obtained from an offshore borrow site located east of the southern tip of Amelia Island. In 2004, a nearshore rock breakwater and permeable terminal rock groin structure were constructed as Phase II of the shore stabilization project.
The purpose of the proposed South Amelia Island Shore Stabilization Beach Renourishment Project is to replenish the volume of sand lost since the 2002 nourishment of the project area shoreline. The project (both phases) was predicted to have an 8 to 10-yr renourishment interval. The proposed renourishment project involves placement of approximately 2 million cubic yards of beach-compatible sand along the project area shoreline.
Under subcontract to the engineering prime consultant, Olsen Associates Inc., Coastal Eco-Group scientists prepared the Environmental Assessment and Biological Assessment to evaluate the potential impacts of the proposed beach renourishment project on significant environmental resources/habitats and federally listed species, and describe the avoidance, minimization and conservation measures pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.