Talks about the lacking funds for local area beach nourishment projects, or Coastal Storm Damage Reduction, played out in Congress last month. Days after, Gov. Roy Cooper stationed himself among a group of state and national politicians working toward a solution.
There has been a scramble for replacement money in the months since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers excluded mentions of Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach and Kure Beach in the organization’s 2021 federal work plan. The three beach towns were scheduled for nourishment events beginning later this year, and without funding from the Corps, the projects designed to protect the shores against hurricanes and other forces would be postponed.
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As the threat of blue-green algae looms on Lake Okeechobee, Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Rep. Brian Mast are lobbing pressure at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with determining when, where and how much lake water is sent east and west to coastal estuaries.
In a letter sent Monday to Corps leadership in Washington D.C., DeSantis told the agency it must do better to manage the lake and prevent releases carrying potentially toxic cyanobacteria to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers.
Mast, known to speak outwardly against the federal agency, Tuesday urged President Biden to intervene in the mounting environmental mess by directing top Corps leadership to visit South Florida and address the situation personally.
Gov. Baker Heads to DC to Meet With White House COVID Czar, Mass. Lawmakers and More Earlier this week, Baker was one of six governors to participate in a videoconference with President Biden, touting vaccination efforts in their states By Katie Lannan •
Updated on May 13, 2021 at 2:20 pm
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Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is traveling to Washington, D.C., on Thursday for a series of meetings with federal officials and members of the state s congressional delegation.
After meetings on Thursday and Friday, the governor and first lady Lauren Baker plan to visit family over the weekend and return to Massachusetts on Sunday, his office said.
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(Photo: The Maryland Port Administration)
The Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Port Administration (MDOT MPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) are marking a milestone of environmental stewardship this month on the landmark restoration of Poplar Island near Talbot County. Simultaneously, the agencies are advancing plans for their next partnership using dredged materials to preserve and protect Maryland’s waterways: the Mid-Chesapeake Bay Island Ecosystem Restoration.
Since 1998, Poplar Island has been Maryland’s primary site for reuse of sediment dredged from shipping channels leading to the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore. Construction for the island’s final expansion, adding four new wetland cells and one upland cell, was completed January 20. The expansion adds 575 acres and capacity for 28 million cubic yards of material.