Dredging may have damaged coral

LIGHTHOUSE POINT -- The dredging of Hillsboro Inlet is suspected to have extensively damaged coral reefs, sea fans, sponges and other marine life, environmental officials said.

The damage was discovered in recent weeks by recreational divers, who videotaped the area and gave those tapes to state and Broward County officials.

Divers have righted 150 reefs that were turned over, presumably by cables towing large rocks out of the dredged area.

"There's vast damage," said Steve Attis, president of Vone Research, a nonprofit underwater conservation and research group based in Pompano Beach. "A 4-foot boulder was ripped out of one reef. All over, the coral was overturned, the sponges. It looked like someone took a weed whacker to the reef."

County biologists say the damage to the coral is repairable.

Weeks Marine Inc. of Cranford, N.J., is the firm hired to complete the $3.3-million dredging project, which is designed to create a safer boat path to the ocean.

The project includes deepening the channel and cutting large rocks, then removing them to deeper water.

Weeks Marine company officials declined comment Wednesday.

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