Pasco County Commissioners and Developers were unable to get dredging permits for the West Pasco.
The county government and developers were denied the dredging permit to dredge and develop a deepwater channel. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' denied a dredging permit that would have opened up the area to the Gulf of Mexico. The 4-mile channel, would allow access to luxury boats also be used to develop an adjacent county park.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' rejected the permit , saying the project was not in the public interest and that the county failed to show there were no practicable alternatives that would have been less damaging to the environment.
The National Marine Fisheries Service, Center for Biological Diversity, Gulf Coast Conservancy, Save the Manatee Club, Sierra Club of Florida, Florida Wildlife Federation and Gulf Restoration Network are some of the organizations that opposed the development. The U.S. Corp of Engineers, a federal agency, presented the denial for dredging permit.
