Thumb up: Oysters provide Rockefellerian stimulus in St. Lucie River

By Editorial board
The Stuart News
Saturday, July 11, 2009

HELP FOR OYSTERS: This is one federal stimulus project that almost certainly won’t cause any controversy in Martin County.

As part of President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the county recently received a $4 million grant to restore oyster bed reefs in the St. Lucie River.

A total of 200 acres of oyster bed reefs will be built in the river between the Roosevelt and Evans Crary bridges, and in the Northwest Fork of the Loxahatchee River near Tequesta.

On Tuesday, the County Commission awarded a contract for the project, scheduled to begin immediately, to CSA International. The restoration project will provide more than 100 jobs.

Incredibly, one oyster filters 40 gallons of water per day. With about 600,000 oysters per acre of reef, about 24 million gallons of water a day will be filtered in the river.

Acres of oyster bed reefs. More jobs in Martin County. Cleaner water in the river. Who can argue with that?

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