An example of poor upland disposal is the Hendry site just south 
of Port Manatee. Dredged spoil was indiscriminately pumped into prime 
tidal creek habitat with the intention of creating an upland development 
site. Although the State of Florida extracted fines and much of the 
filled land from the owner (who was also the party responsible for the 
filling), much of the tidal creek system is lost forever. During the 
past three years Port Manatee has worked closely with several 
governmental and private agencies on the Hendry site, involving numerous 
environmental projects specifically aimed at restoring circulation to 
tidal areas, replanting coastal marshes, and transplanting seagrasses 
offshore to provide nursery habitat. 
Considering spoil disposal, by far the most controversial method 
has been open ocean dumping. The United States Environmental Protection 
Agency has designated a general disposal area in the Gulf of Mexico west 
of Tampa Bay for dredged material. Specific dump sites used recently are 
located within this area approximately 13 and 18 miles, respectively, 
from the coast. Although this method is accepted by many as the primary 
method for disposal of material generated during maintenance dredging of 
the navigation channels in Tampa Bay, it is certainly not without impact 
(see Pequegnat et al., 1981 for a review of general impact analysis 
procedures regarding ocean disposal sites). 
Numerous surveys and impact studies have been conducted in an 
attempt to locate suitable disposal areas off of Tampa Bay, but problems 
with specific sites persist (Amson 1984). Much of the controversy 
surrounding the disposal operations and site selection deals with the 
potential for disturbing emergent hard-bottom communities. Even if 
suitable sandy substrates are chosen (with the acceptance that benthic 
communities will be smothered), it is possible that off-site impacts can 
occur, depending on natural currents, storms, dumping at incorrect 
coordinates, etc. 
During the recent Tampa Harbor Deepening Project, the vast 
majority of dredged material was transported offshore for ocean disposal. 
Before the end of Fiscal Year 1989, several million cubic yards of 
additional spoil are slated for ocean disposal (United States Army Corps 
of Engineers, personal communication). 
Spill Considerations 
As was previously mentioned, the second largest tonnage cargoes in 
Tampa Bay are oil and petroleum related products. Considering the heavy 
traffic in this commodity, it is quite surprising that Tampa Bay does not 
regularly experience major oil spills -- defined by the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration to be greater than 100,000 gallons (N0AA 
1985). In fact, Tampa Bay has one of the lowest incidents of spills of 
any Gulf port community. This is not to say that Tampa Bay has not had 
its share of oil spills; many of these are not port related but are 
attributable to power plant fuel shipments. On the average there are 
between 100-150 spills per year reported to the 7th Coast Guard District 
(United States Coast Guard, personal communication). These spills are 
180 
