FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.— Conservation and dive groups warned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and National Marine Fisheries Service today that the agencies are violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to reopen formal consultation over the Port Everglades Inlet Sand Bypass Project. The project involves the dredging and excavation of submerged sediment, rubble and boulders for construction projects.
New information shows that the project is more detrimental to threatened staghorn coral and queen conch than the agencies anticipated.
“The reef around Port Everglades holds some of the last surviving corals of their kind in Florida. For reasons we still don’t fully understand, they are hanging on here — and that makes the stakes of this dredging project extraordinarily high,” said Rachel Silverstein, CEO and Waterkeeper at Miami Waterkeeper. “Unfortunately, we are already seeing warning signs that echo the PortMiami dredging disaster, where massive sediment plumes devastated reefs that were never restored. We are calling for commonsense safeguards, science-based oversight, and stronger mitigation before more of these irreplaceable reefs are lost.”
Satellite imagery and sediment monitoring show that the project has produced larger-than-predicted plumes of sediment that are likely harming the nearby reef. This added pressure comes after an unprecedented 2023 marine heatwave caused widespread mortality of the threatened corals, leaving them at dire risk of extinction. Those events also illustrated that even relatively small harms can have an outsized effect on the species’ prospects of survival.
The notice also asserts that a biological opinion prepared by the National Marine Fisheries Service to assess the impacts of the sand bypass project is arbitrary and unlawful because it underestimates harms to coral and conchs, ignores critical information, and relies on mitigation strategies that are unlikely to benefit the protected species. The letter also states that the Army Corps is likely taking staghorn coral colonies without authorization.
“Staghorn coral are clinging to survival in Florida, with some of the very last healthy populations living near Port Everglades. This project threatens these vulnerable corals right at the moment they need the most protection and threatens to cause far more damage to the reef than federal agencies anticipated,” said Danika Desai, senior attorney with Earthjustice. “We plan to sue to prevent the project from causing even more damage and to protect threatened coral and queen conch from further harm.”
“Florida's Coral Reef is one of the most ecologically and economically vital ecosystems in the entire country,” said Sarah Gledhill, CEO of the Florida Wildlife Federation. “It protects coastlines, supports fishing communities, and sustains hundreds of species. When federal agencies fail to apply the safeguards the law requires, the consequences ripple through the entire ecosystem. Alongside our partners we are committed to holding the agencies accountable when permitted projects threaten the wildlife and wild places Floridians depend on, and this project is a clear example of oversight falling dangerously short.”
“Like Florida’s Coral Reef, queen conch are fighting for survival and the sediment from this project is making their future all the murkier,” said Alex Muir, a Florida attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Even with a ban on harvest off Florida’s coast, this iconic species is struggling to recover in the face of habitat degradation and illegal fishing. We have to hold these agencies accountable when a federally permitted project harms threatened creatures and the habitat these agencies are required to protect.”
“The Port Everglades Sand Bypass Project is showing evidence of sediment impacts beyond the federal agencies' initial predictions, which could cause greater harm to the Staghorn coral and queen conch located near the Project area. The destruction of this biologically important reef is also inflicting direct, measurable economic harm to South Florida’s dive, snorkeling and fishing industries,” said Nicole Russell, interim president and CEO of DEMA. “The harmful sediment from the project, which obscures light and limits visibility so necessary to a healthy reef, is also causing the potential loss of millions of dollars in direct, annual economic output from these small family-owned businesses, including the loss of thousands of jobs. The economic effect could also include losses in the broader hospitality economy: hotels, restaurants, transportation, retail, and equipment rental businesses, all of which benefit from the marine recreation visitors that healthy reefs attract. DEMA cannot stand by doing nothing and allow the destruction of such a biologically and economically important reef.”
Today’s notice was submitted by Miami Waterkeeper, Earthjustice, the Center for Biological Diversity, Florida Wildlife Federation and the Diving Equipment & Marketing Association.
The Sand Bypass Project could impair corals, conch and other marine species that are also at risk from the proposed Port Everglades Expansion dredging project. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said the expansion project would result in “the largest impact to coral reefs permitted in U.S. history.” It would put more than 10 million corals at risk including some of the last remaining wild stands of threatened staghorn coral in the region, as well as queen conch, dolphins, turtles and fish.
Following more than 35,000 petition signatures calling on regulators to stop the Port Everglades expansion project, the Army Corps has indicated that elements of the project are being reconsidered, which may result in changes to the project’s scope.
Florida’s Coral Reef stretches along the Atlantic coast from Monroe to Martin Counties. It is the only nearshore coral reef in the continental U.S. and is home to hundreds of species, supports fishing and diving, and reduces wave energy by an average of more than 95%. This equates to an estimated $675 million in coastal protection every year in averted damages to buildings and economic activity. The reef provides flood-protection benefits to more than 5,600 people annually in Florida. Coral reefs have declined rapidly in recent years, with coral cover declining more than 80% since the 1970s.
Staghorn coral, once abundant throughout the Caribbean and Florida Keys, has been listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act but recently suffered widespread mortality following a 2023 heatwave and was declared functionally extinct in Florida in 2025. Some of the only known naturally occurring survivors live next to Port Everglades and will be critical to the recovery of the species.
