Palm Beach County Commission voted 5-2 today to have Environmental Resource Management (ERM) withdraw its 1.1 mile permit to construct breakwaters offshore of Singer island. The $30-50 million project, would have involved the construction of 11 limestone and granite structures placed in 12 feet of water, designed to dissipate beach erosion. Because of the downfalls in project planning and design, the Palm Beach County Commissioners have requested staff to drop its permit seeking to install these breakwaters off the coast of Singer Island and no longer continue the pursuit of other county breakwater projects. The breakwaters are a significant threat to the geological and biological coastal systems, would adversely affect sea turtle nesting and increase down drift erosion, and are a beachfront subsidy that taxpayers would have to pay for. The proposed breakwaters would have been the largest of its kind in Florida. We hope that Florida state agencies will use these examples as to why such structures should not be considered as an acceptable management strategy along our coastline.
