THIS IS THE CRITICAL MOMENT

 

Eastern Borrow Site / Suncoast Parkway Phase 3A

 

FDOT is now pushing forward a massive new borrow excavation project in Crystal River — and the permitting process is moving quickly.

 

A newly signed May 6, 2026 State Environmental Impact Re-Evaluation (SEIR) confirms that the proposed “Eastern Borrow Site” would:

 

• Disturb approximately 344.9 acres

• Excavate more than 5.1 MILLION cubic yards of material

• Directly interact with shallow groundwater

• Impact wetlands and floodplain areas

• Displace approximately 342 potentially occupied gopher tortoise burrows

• Expand disturbance within a sensitive springs recharge area connected to Kings Bay and Crystal River

 

This is happening NOW.

 

SWFWMD is actively reviewing FDOT’s responses and public comments are urgently needed before decisions move forward.

 

 

WHY THIS MATTERS

 

FDOT’s own documents now confirm this is not simply a minor roadway feature.

 

This is a separate large-scale excavation project involving major land-use change within an Outstanding Florida Springs Priority Focus Area — one of the most environmentally sensitive groundwater regions in Florida.

 

Combined with surrounding roadway disturbance, the total impacted area now approaches approximately 894 acres within this short 5.5-mile stretch of the Suncoast Parkway corridor.

 

 

HOW YOU CAN HELP RIGHT NOW

 

Please send a respectful public comment asking SWFWMD to require full, transparent, and independent environmental review before this excavation proceeds.

 

Even SHORT comments matter.

 

Suggested comment:

 

“I support full and independent review of the Eastern Borrow Site before excavation proceeds. I am concerned about impacts to groundwater, springs, wetlands, wildlife, and the Kings Bay / Crystal River system.”

 

Send comments to:

 

Alex Tolksdorf

alex.tolksdorf@watermatters.org

 

Cory Catts

cory.catts@watermatters.org

 

 

Be sure to include this in you email:

 

Please include this correspondence in the official public comment record for, SWFWMD ERP 43016897.016 / Application 935264 (Eastern Borrow Site)

 

 

 

THIS IS THE TIME TO SPEAK UP

 

Once permits are issued and excavation begins, the impacts to groundwater, wetlands, and springs may be permanent.

 

Public comments submitted NOW are critical.

 

SEE our How 2 Help page for additional information and examples you can use. Also Please share our website Stopthesandmine.com

 

Here is a copy of the email we sent for public comment today

 

Please Include in Official Public Comment Records – FDOT May 7 Response Does Not Demonstrate Prior PD&E Review of Eastern Borrow Site

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Dear Ms. Tolksdorf and Mr. Catts,

​

Please include this correspondence in the official public comment record for:

• SWFWMD ERP 43016897.016 / Application 935264 (Eastern Borrow Site)

• ERP 43016897.012 (original Suncoast Parkway Phase 3A roadway ERP)

 

Stop the Sand Mine is writing to address FDOT’s May 7, 2026 response to SWFWMD’s request for clarification regarding whether the PD&E study covers the limits of the Eastern Borrow Site.

SWFWMD asked FDOT to provide documentation demonstrating that the proposed borrow site is within the project limits of the prior PD&E review.

​

FDOT’s response still does not demonstrate that the Eastern Borrow Site was previously evaluated as part of the original roadway corridor. Instead, FDOT states that, “an additional reevaluation of this PD&E has been completed which includes the project site.”

​

That is a critical distinction.

​

The May 6, 2026 SEIR re-evaluation itself confirms that the Eastern Borrow Site is a newly added major design change, not merely an incidental roadway drainage feature. The SEIR states that the proposed construction of the borrow site will result in changes to land use and will be located on approximately 344.9 acres of currently undeveloped property adjacent to the Suncoast Parkway Phase 3A mainline limited access right-of-way.

The SEIR also identifies approximately 313 acres of excavation limits and more than 5.1 million cubic yards of embankment material. This is a major borrow excavation project, not simply a roadway feature within previously evaluated right-of-way.

​

FDOT’s May 7 response further confirms that no roadway stormwater is being routed or piped to the borrow site and that the roadway project’s permitted stormwater ponds will function independently of the borrow site. This reinforces that the Eastern Borrow Site is operating as a separate excavation and hydrologic system, not as part of the roadway stormwater treatment system.

​

The timing is also significant. The SEIR re-evaluation incorporating this borrow site was signed on May 6, 2026, only one day before FDOT’s May 7 clarification response. A newly completed May 6, 2026 re-evaluation does not demonstrate that the borrow excavation was evaluated under the original 1998 PD&E or prior roadway approvals. It confirms that FDOT is now attempting to incorporate a large, separate borrow excavation through a late-stage re-evaluation.

​

This matters because the Eastern Borrow Site involves approximately 344.9 acres of undeveloped land, major land-use change, expanded right-of-way needs, wetland impacts, floodplain/water-resource impacts, direct groundwater infiltration, and protected-species impacts. The SEIR documents approximately 342 potentially occupied gopher tortoise burrows within the project area, including 258 active burrows.

​

Accordingly, FDOT’s May 7 response should not be treated as resolving SWFWMD’s question regarding whether the prior PD&E review adequately covered this borrow site. The record shows that the Eastern Borrow Site was added later through a May 6, 2026 re-evaluation and should be reviewed as a separate major excavation activity with its own environmental, hydrologic, and public-interest impacts.

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To be clear, we are not opposing the Suncoast Parkway itself.

​

At minimum, the current record demonstrates that significant questions remain regarding the scope of prior environmental review, hydrologic impacts, groundwater interaction, and the applicability of earlier roadway evaluations to the current borrow excavation proposal. Until those issues are fully resolved, it is difficult to conclude that the application presently provides the reasonable assurance required under SWFWMD ERP permitting standards.

​

The concern is whether this particular borrow excavation belongs in this location.

​

The current proposal would convert hundreds of acres of undeveloped land within a sensitive springs recharge area into a large excavation project designed to interact directly with shallow groundwater connected to the Kings Bay / Crystal River system.

​

Combined with surrounding roadway disturbance, the overall impact area now approaches approximately 894 acres within an identified Outstanding Florida Springs Priority Focus Area along this relatively short 5.5-mile stretch of the Suncoast Parkway corridor.

​

This is precisely the type of location where the public expects heightened scrutiny, transparency, and careful protection of Florida’s water resources.

​

Respectfully, the public deserves full, transparent and independent review before this excavation proceeds.

 

Stop the Sand Mine Committee
stopthesandminecc@gmail.com

 

Email sent on May 11, 2026