Dredging in danger for Holiday Isle (PHOTOS)

With the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacting Destin beaches, the long-awaited emergency sand project making its way toward Holiday Isle may be in jeopardy.

“I have been told by Weeks Marine that they had a corporate policy in place that says if oil was imminent, the dredge would be relocated,” City Manager Greg Kisela said.

The project was slated to begin in the next few weeks, and would allow up to 140,000 cubic yards of sand to be dredged. The sand would be placed along a 2,600 foot-long critically eroded stretch of beach on Holiday Isle, from just to the east of Jetty East to the eastern boundary of Holiday Surf and Racquet Club.

Kisela said he spoke with a representative from Weeks Marine, who have been contracted to perform the dredge, Tuesday, and they informed him that they anticipated completing the Eglin project by June 24. He said that after that point the next step will be day-to-day, depending on what the oil does.

To see more photos from the restoration project, click here.

One concern that came out of the conversation was that Weeks Marine was in the process of working with a company based in Louisiana to work on the state’s multi-million dollar berm project.

“They may put the city’s project at risk,” Kisela said. “But nothing is definitive yet.”

Kisela did say that because of the magnitude of the proposed berm project, he believes that the dredge will make their way to where the money is.

When asked if he knew when the dredge would make its way back to Destin, Kisela said he wasn’t positive, but “I wouldn’t expect it back this year”