EPA Raises Serious Environmental Concerns Over Summer’s End Marina Project at Coral Bay

The long-debated Summer‘s End Marina project at Coral Bay, St. John, faces new scrutiny after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a letter on Aug. 15 expressing grave concerns about the environmental impact of the proposed development.

The EPA’s Region 2 administrator emphasized the project’s potential violation of the Clean Water Act and its adverse effects on aquatic resources of national importance, specifically seagrass meadows in Coral Bay. The Summer‘s End Group, LLC, has been pushing the marina project since 2014, proposing a development that includes 127 boat slips and extensive infrastructure. Despite multiple revisions over the years, the EPA remains unconvinced that the project can proceed without causing significant harm to the environment. The latest iteration of the project, which reduces the marina’s footprint slightly and eliminates the need for dredging, still falls short of meeting federal environmental guidelines, according to the EPA.

In its detailed assessment, the EPA highlighted the impact on seagrass meadows, which serve as critical habitats for threatened and endangered species. The letter pointed out that while some design changes, such as grated decking to reduce shading, have been made, they are insufficient to mitigate the expected loss of seagrass due to construction and ongoing marina operations. The EPA estimates that more than 2.4 acres of seagrass could be lost due to the project, which represents more than a third of the seagrass area that would be impacted by the marina.