Environmental Assessment: The Development of a Borrow Source Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to Provide Material for Future Emergency Renourishment Projects Patrick Air Force Base

Abstract : The shoreline at Patrick Air Force Base (PAFB) has been experiencing beach erosion during the past 50 years. In response to threats to military facilities and public rights-of-way, the Air Force has been replenishing beach sand first through truck-haul from upland sand sources (about 39,000 cubic yards per year [cy/yr], on annual average) from the 1970s through 1998 and in 2001 completed its first major beach replenishment by placing approximately 540,000 cy from an offshore sand source. The quality of sand from most upland sources tends to be poor and of marginal compatibility with the native beaches. Smaller scale renourishment activities required between major renourishment projects (such as that of 2001) to protect base facilities and State Route A 1 A from storm damage require maintenance and permitted fill limits that are not typically of sufficient volume to justify mobilization of dredge and other equipment. PAFB needs to secure an upland sand borrow source of reliable quality and beach compatibility to use for beach maintenance between these major renourishment events. The Air Force is currently permitted to perform beach restoration activities along 3.1 miles of the Atlantic Ocean shoreline at PAFB through the use of two offshore borrow areas (Permit No. 0134869- 001-JC). The purpose of the proposed action is to identify an additional, reliable borrow source for the base's intermittent and emergency-response restoration/renourishment activities.