Opponents of the pending request of Dutra for approval of its Haystack asphalt plant application have circulated an article that appeared in a Miami, Florida newspaper on September 7, 2000. While the claims in the article related to Dutra were in relation to dredging Dutra carried out more than 12 years ago, it is necessary to refute them because they are offered by the opponents to suggest the way Dutra conducts its business. As related to Dutra, the article in effect says that the Company improperly dredged sea grass. It also implies that Dutra dumped dredged material in an improper location.

Dutra dredged Miami harbor commencing in 1994. It executed the work relying on the drawings included in its contract. That contract also included sketches of the area to be dredged in a permit issued to the Port of Miami by Miami-Dade’s Department of Resources Management (DERM). The sketches appeared to be consistent with the contract drawings but were much less detailed. Some time after Dutra had dredged the area in question, DERM asserted to the Port that its sketches were intended to exclude from the area in which dredging was authorized a narrow dredged area in which sea grass had been present. At that point, the Port sought an amended DERM permit.

Dutra dumped dredged materials only in approved offshore dump sites. All of its barge loads were towed to the authorized site and dumped. Reports of each of these dumps were made as required by the contract, including verification of the location of dumps both by personnel aboard the barges and by GPS equipment aboard the tugs that towed those barges.

It is unfortunate that a carelessly written article nearly 9 years old must be addressed in this detail. It is a reflection of tactics that have no place in helping to answer the question of whether the County will experience a benefit from approving the pending application.