Dredging delays are unacceptable

Thousands of boaters who use the St. Lucie Inlet in Martin County have been waiting more than a year for a major dredging project to begin.

Unfortunately, they'll have to wait a little longer.

Illinois-based Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, the lone company that bid on the project, was scheduled to start work Dec. 6. However, faulty equipment and bad weather pushed the launch date back to Jan. 1.

Well, it's now Jan. 8 and the long-overdue, much-needed dredging project still hasn't begun.

This is unacceptable.

Great Lakes Dredge and Dock has a $10 million contract in hand from the Army Corps of Engineers. The company needs to honor the contract by solving its equipment problems and completing the project ASAP.

Time is of the essence — for various reasons.

The first is public safety.

Channels are being buried under piles of drifting sand. Consequently, the inlet has become an increasingly hazardous stretch of water for boaters to navigate. If you're a boater who hasn't used the waterway in recent months, exercise extreme caution.

There's also an economic reason to start and finish the project in a timely manner. Poor conditions in the inlet have forced organizers of some fishing tournaments to move events to Fort Pierce. These hazards are likely to discourage other boaters from launching their watercrafts in Martin County.

The marine industry has an enormous financial impact on the local economy: $688 million in Martin County, according to the Marine Industries Association of the Treasure Coast, a Florida not-for-profit trade association.

The nesting season for sea turtles starts April 30. If the dredging project isn't completed by then, Great Lakes Dredge and Dock will have to pull its equipment off the beach — another reason to get the project under way right now.

Just how bad is the St. Lucie Inlet? In January 2006, the waterway was given the dubious distinction of being named the "most treacherous inlet" on the Atlantic Coast by Saltwater Sportsman magazine. That's bad.

Equally bad is the fact Great Lakes Dredge and Dock has failed to uphold its contractual agreement with the Corps of Engineers — and the taxpayers of Martin County.