Jacksonville, Fla. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District has published a public notice for the proposed Port Tampa Bay expansion project. The permit applicant proposes to expand existing port facilities (and associated dredging) to accommodate additional demand for deep-water cargo service in the Port Tampa Bay area. Since the proposed work includes impacts to water bodies that are under jurisdiction of the Corps of Engineers, the applicant is required by the Clean Water Act to obtain a Department of the Army permit.
The proposal seeks to construct a 63-acre upland expansion to create seven new deep water berths, associated backlands and dredging of berths and turning basin. The construction of the new berths will require placement of 7,080 linear feet of bulkhead along the frontage of the berths, 63 acres of backfill and the dredging of approximately 14 acres of bay bottom to a depth of -34 feet plus two feet of over-dredge for berths 155 through 158 and approximately 42 acres of bay bottom to a depth of -43 feet plus two feet of over-dredge for berths 152 through 154. The proposed project will be constructed in three major phases.
The proposed project site is an existing basin at Port Tampa Bay. Prior to the 1960s, East Bay was a natural estuarine bay, subsequent development in the port area has created a more man-made appearance. The site is adjacent to the existing berths 151 and 152. The current conditions at the site consists of 19 acres of paved uplands created under previous permits. There are no upland, emergent or submerged vegetative communities present on site.
The Corps is in the process of evaluating the proposed project and its potential impact(s) on the public interest, and will consider all input and information received from all interested parties as a result of the public notice. Public comments are being solicited from the public; Federal, State and local agencies and officials; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of this proposed activity.
Questions concerning this application should be directed to the project manager, Candice Wheelahan, in writing at the Tampa Permits Section, 10117 Princess Palm Avenue, Suite 120, Tampa, FL 33610, by electronic mail at Candice.M.Wheelahan@usace.army.mil, by fax at (813) 760-7061 or by phone at (813) 769-7064.
The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impact inclusive cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest.
For more information about the Corps’ regulatory program, visit https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/. To view the proposed project’s public notice, visit https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Public-Notices/Article/1745366/saj-2018-01964-sp-cmw/.
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