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Charlie Crist calls on Joe Biden to intervene in jeopardized beach renourishment project

“We are spending our time trying to convince the Corps of its unwise decision while stretches of the beach erode away.”

U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist is calling on President Joe Biden to protect Pinellas County’s coast against erosion.

In a letter addressed to the President, Crist asks Biden to intervene in a recent decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that stalls plans to shore up a 9-mile stretch of sand from Clearwater to north Redington Beach — the Sand Key Shore Protection Project.

“For decades, the Army Corps of Engineers has been an important partner in supporting our tourism-based economy and protecting our community from the threats posed by climate change,” Crist said in a statement.

“But this latest decision by the Army Corps puts all of that progress at risk. It is unconscionable that the Corps would even consider cancelling such a critical economic, environmental and public safety project. I am calling upon President Biden to right this wrong and take action to protect the future of the Pinellas County Shore Protection Project.”

The Army Corps recently honed in on a once-brushed-over provision that requires Pinellas County to obtain easements from all private property owners along the shoreline — even if no sand will be placed on the homeowner’s lot.