Leave It Alone
What once was known as Midnight Pass, a charming shallow cut through the beach, is a far cry from what is being proposed. The current proposal to "Open Midnight Pass" is massive, unnatural, unnecessary, and unsustainable. It is a huge boating channel that will cost tens of millions and forever change one of the few remaining natural coastal parks.
Dilution of pollution is not a solution.
Ok, so there are Siesta Key homeowners that once had water that looked like the Gulf and now they have an estuary. Instead of blue-green it is darker. The new ecosystem is healthier than the old ecosystem and does not flush pollutants in to the Gulf of Mexico. Beach closings due to run-off pollution are increasing and flushing the bay will not help! The bay does not look the same as it did 40 years ago but it is providing a nursery for fish and turtles, a serene spot for nesting birds, and is visited by beach walkers, kayakers, canoe paddlers, and flat boats.
Taxpayers and voters are confused. What are the priorities of the Sarasota County Commission?
Spend on baseball to promote tourism.
But we need budget cuts now.
Fund new advertising programs promoting eco-tourism and beautiful beaches.
But dredge a 3000 foot long, 60 foot wide, 6 foot deep boating channel through environmentally sensitive beach, park and estuary.
Raise $250 million to save environmentally sensitive lands and protect watershed.
Spend $15 million on a new environmentally destructive boating channel and commit to spend tens of millions for 20 years to maintain the channel when we can't afford to maintain the channels we have open now.
Create new restrictions on storm water runoff and fertilizer application to help clean up the Gulf Beaches.
Dilute pollution and runoff by flushing it in to the Gulf through a new Midnight Pass.
Spend millions re-nourishing barrier island beaches.
Spend millions to cut right through a pristine barrier island natural beach. Spend millions more to pay for lawsuits and damages to homeowners. Also pay to re-nourish Sarasota County owned beaches eroded by the new Midnight Pass.
Hire experts to engineer a plan to create Midnight Pass
Experts were hired, a plan was submitted and the permit was denied more than15 years ago! The Midnight Pass Society sued and Sarasota County did NOT appeal because their legal counsel advised that they had a very slim chance of winning and pursuing the appeal would be costly.
Why spend more money for a more elaborate and equally unachievable project.
Always campaign with a promise to Open Midnight Pass
Commissioners promise to keep trying. They authorize taxpayer money and staff time in a charade to make it appear as though it is possible to obtain a permit and funding for the project. They shift the burden of saying, "No", to a state or federal agency when the project is clearly in violation of Sarasota County Ordinances, Army Corps of Engineers regulations, FEMA rules, U. S. Fish and Wildlife protections, National Estuary Program protections, and Environmental Protection Agency Endangered Species Act, to name a few. They know the chance to succeed expired when the Bay healed itself and became a nationally recognized estuarine system. It is too late now to "Let it Flow". That would require a massive engineering project and constant maintenance. Regardless of the wrongs committed when private homeowners received county approval to fill in the Pass, which was wrong, 24 years have gone by. Don't Let it Flow. Just say no!
Commissioners know the new pass will not be permitted but they don't want to vote against it or discuss it in a public forum because they need to quiet the loud and persistent voices of a few politically powerful Siesta Key homeowners. So for 24 years, despite their desire to just exercise some common sense, almost every commissioner has said, "Should we open Midnight Pass? Yes, I will try." How's that working out for ya?
Midnight Pass. Let it Flow.
The Bumper sticker says, "Midnight Pass. Let it Flow". It implies some small barrier is impeding a natural system that would otherwise be flowing. Here is what is really required to "Let it Flow": It begins with digging a 3000 foot long, 60 foot wide, 6 foot deep channel through the beach, mangroves, turtle and bird nesting habitat. The plan then calls for trapping 260,000 square feet of sand and pumping it back onto the beaches on an ongoing basis. The new Midnight Pass boat channel will require ongoing dredging. Engineers will remove 3.3 acres of mangroves, 12.5 acres of sea grass, slice through the Jim Neville Marine Preserve area, including the bird islands, and eliminate an acre of beach. It will open fish, turtle and bird nurseries to predators. It will introduce power boats to an area where manatees swim freely with their young. It will cost as much as $52 million and will need monitoring and maintenance for 20 years and there is no money to pay for it. Two wrongs don't make a right. Leave Midnight Pass Alone.
What Can I Do?
If you think we should leave Midnight Pass Alone, here are three ways you can help.
