The sand and sediment that will be dredged from Hunter Springs, in order to open up vents that pump freshwater, will now go to the facility on Schatz Island, to be filtered and dewatered. It originally was to go to Christmas Island, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rejected that plan.
The sand and sediment that will be dredged from Hunter Springs, in order to open up vents that pump freshwater, will now go to the facility on Schatz Island, to be filtered and dewatered. It originally was to go to Christmas Island, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rejected that plan.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is not going to allow the sand and sediment that will be dredged from Hunter Springs to be deposited at Christmas Island, which is privately owned. Instead, it will be sent to Schatz Island, where it will be dewatered; it was originally believed that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) had made the above decision.
“We’re fine with that,” said Lisa Moore, president of Save Crystal River (SCR). In April, the Citrus County commissioners unanimously OK’d the relocation of $250,000 from a Save Crystal River grant to go toward the restoration of the Hunter Springs Basin. At that meeting held April 11, it was decided the sand and sediment would go directly to Christmas Island rather than go to a facility where it would be dewatered and then stored.
