Background of the Egans Creek Mitigation Project... 

 

  Egans Creek was the largest freshwater wetlands on Amelia Island before the mitigation project. Historically the creek is believed to have been navigated by native Americans and the early settlers of the island. In the summer of 2003, the 106 acre mitigation project known as the Egans Creek Restoration Project was a highly controversial issue within the community of Fernandina Beach.

  The Florida Dept. of Transportation (FDOT) undertook this project to mitigate the destruction of salt marsh caused by two Duval County road construction projects- the widening of a bridge on Atlantic Blvd. in Jacksonville, and the construction of a new bridge that connects Amelia Island to Fort George Island. Four and one half acres of wetlands were destroyed from these two Duval County road projects. State law requires a mitigation when wetlands are destroyed.

  Many citizens expressed outrage that the original restoration project involved only 30 acres with 25 acres to be cleared, but FDOT enlarged the acreage in the permitting process. Residents questioned why Fernandina taxpayers had previously authorized a $5 million bond issue to purchase land to preserve as a Greenway only now to see the area cleared of its vegetation and maritime forest.

  The mitigation project called for the clearing of 88 acres of the Egans Creek Greenway- 13 acres west of Egans Creek and 75 acres east of the creek, just behind the Atlantic Recreation Center. The 106 acres between Atlantic Ave. and Jasmine St. had been a freshwater ecosystem for the last 70 years since the city of Fernandina had installed permanent floodgates under the Atlantic Ave. bridge to stop the intrusion of saltwater under the roadway.

  At a heated meeting that took place on 6/13/03, citizens requested that Mayor Joe Gerrity and State Representative Aaron Bean use their influence to limit the clearing of the Greenway to the original 30 acres. Amongst many concerns, citizens noted that the exact location of an old city dump that had been covered over in the Greenway was unknown. The dump had been used for seven years during the 1960's and was thought to contain toxic materials. Citizens expressed dismay that no core samples had been taken to specifically locate the dump area. It was feared that during the clearing process old dump materials could be exposed. Citizens requested that a significant berm be created to prevent any possible erosion or leaching of toxic materials into the waterways once the mitigation project converted the freshwater marshland to saltwater.

  Since plans for the saltwater intrusion would eventually kill all 88 acres of the Greenway's  vegetation, the state decided to clear the vegetation first by bulldozing the area so it would not be unsightly or bring any liability issues to the city that would be associated with falling trees. Many citizens were opposed to this destruction of wildlife habitat. The Greenway had provided a protected nature preserve and corridor for the migration of wildlife from the south portion of the island to Ft. Clinch State Park for the past 70 yrs. Continuing development on the island had upped the importance of this corridor.

  The 106 acres of the Greenway between Atlantic Ave. and Jasmine St. had been a freshwater ecosystem, and as such it provided a habitat for hundreds of species of plants and animals. Unfortunately as this area was being cleared by heavy equipment, no attempts to relocate or provide for the welfare of the displaced animal populations were made by the city, FDOT, Dept. of Environmental Conservation, St. John's Water Management District, or any other legislative body. A large variety of wildlife including alligators, deer, raccoons, possum, resident and migrating birds, gopher turtles, snakes, and tree frogs amongst others used this area as habitat. There had been occasional reported sightings of a Florida panther, though these were never substantiated.

  Stands of maritime forest which were at one time prevalent on Amelia Island have now been substantially lessened by development. At the 6/13/03 meeting, citizens also made a special request that the mayor, City Commissioners, and State Representative Aaron Bean work to create a compromise with FDOT and other state regulatory agencies so that the 13 acres of maritime forest along the west side of the creek would be protected from the clearing process.

  Citizens suggested that a berm be built on the west side of the creek to keep the 13 acres of hardwood trees above the level of saltwater intrusion. FDOT was asked to save the 13 acres which included more than 500 trees. The compromise eventually was sacked due to the position of state officials that adapting the mitigation plan after it had begun was costly and impractical. State officials estimated that designing a berm to protect the maritime forest would have cost an additional $500,000. It was also their position that halting the project so the proper permitting processes could be undertaken for the building of this berm would incur additional penalties needing to be paid to the contractors responsible for the clearing.

  The archives of the News-Leader were consulted in the writing of this narrative... to be continued...

 

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