Endangered fish causing pricey problems for homeowners
Nov 03, 2010 6:13 PM EDT
By Sarah Hollenbeck
NBC News
LEE COUNTY: A rare and endangered fish is causing big problems for seawall repair in Lee and Charlotte counties. It's delaying the permitting process and leaving homeowners with repair bills more than triple the original estimate.
With more than 400 miles of canals, work rarely runs dry for David Mulicka's Cape Coral seawall construction company – HONC Marine Construction.
"We've built over 13,000 seawalls in 55 years," said Mulicka.
But in the past week, Mulicka says he's getting more customer calls than actual work.
"We've gone from, 'We'll put you on the schedule for next week, Mr. Jones,' to `I'm not sure when I can get you a permit,'" he said.
He said the problem is with the endangered part-shark, part-ray smalltooth sawfish.
"Once found from Texas up through the Atlantic Coast and now only populated in South Florida," said Tunis McElwaine, with the Army Corps of Engineers.
Its critical habitat is in Charlotte and Lee County. And as of last week, that even includes man-made canals in Cape Coral.
"I think it's a terrible burden on property owners," Mulicka said.
Mulicka's cheapest fix for failing seawalls is adding "rip rap" - or rocks - for stabilization. It's a technique that changes the depth and texture the sawfish needs to swim.
So before any repairs can be made, environmental agencies have to investigate.
Ordinarily, permitting for a seawall takes a week. Under the new regulation, permitting can take up to 465 days.
By then, the seawall could go from a $6,000 to a $30,000 replacement. But, the Army Corps of Engineers warns, the species has no replacement.
"We know more about the stock market than our ecosystem. We really don't understand the interconnect between this species and us as humans," McElwaine said.
The agency is trying to speed up its permitting process.
And Mulicka says he just pleading to elected leaders for help.
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