UPDATE: The closure has been extended through Aug. 7.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has closed a portion of Route 2 of the Lake Okeechobee Waterway through Aug. 7 for the installation of a pipeline that will be used to remove muck from the lake bottom.

The Sea & Shoreline project is one of five projects funded by grants from Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) that use new technologies to remove nutrients from Lake Okeechobee. Excess phosphorus and nitrogen in the lake can feed harmful algal blooms in the summer heat.

The USACE permit issued to Sea & Shoreline LCC explains the specifications of the muck dredging project:

• Dredge of approximately 300 acres of unconsolidated muck via hydraulic dredge vessel and pipeline to a target depth of 1 foot.
• The pipeline will have a maximum top pipe elevation of 6.0 feet (above sea level, NAVD 88), approximately 0.6 feet below the channel depth.
• A maximum of 25,000 cubic yards of dried sediment will be generated and staged at an 11-acre upland processing site.
• Dredged material will be stockpiled, dewatered, tested for contaminants and hauled to upland application sites for beneficial use as a soil amendment at a future time.

According to the USACE permit, the time limit for completing the authorized work ends on March 15, 2031.

The permit requires that the portions of pipe within the federal channel must rest on the bottom. Buoyant or semi-buoyant materials must be securely anchored to prevent lifting under any conditions.

The five FDEP-approved projects will be paid based on the kilograms of nutrients removed from Lake Okeechobee. The FDEP contract with Sea & Shoreline lists the cost per kilogram of phosphorus at $500 ($250 per pound) and the cost per kilogram of nitrogen at $61 ($27.73 per pound).