News - Articles

Stay up to date with all of ECE’s editorials and publications.

Open or Shut Case

Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Doug Sword - July 2008
Along the spit of sand once known as Midnight Pass, time stopped when the channel was bulldozed closed 25 years ago. All efforts to reopen the channel have failed, while time has created a new ecosystem in Little Sarasota Bay that environmentalists say should be left alone.

But, for good or ill, the Midnight Pass clock is about to start ticking again.

This week, Saraso ta County will begin sending a final package of scientific data, argument s and commitment s to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Midnight Pass Plan has Interlocking Parts

Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Doug Sword - July 1, 2008
Midnight Pass will stay open this time because of a 260,000-square-foot sand trap designed to capture sand pushed in during storms, and because of a uniquely shaped inlet that will keep the water flowing.

At least, that is the plan. The $15 million project to reopen Midnight Pass and restore dozens of acres of sea grass and mangroves is either beautiful in its array of interlocking pieces or doomed to failure by its complexity.

Midnight Pass may open again

Doug Sword – April 24, 2008
For 25 frustrating years, "Open Midnight Pass" has been a passionate slogan of boaters and residents and a top political issue, yet nothing happened.

On Wednesday, though, members of this patient group were pinching themselves as they realized their long effort might actually be nearing success.

Midnight Pass creeps closer to a rebirth

Sarasota Herald-Tribune – July 28, 2004
Despite some doubts they can succeed where twice before they failed, the County Commission voted Tuesday to seek the environmental permits needed to reopen Midnight Pass.

Watershed Moment

Sarasota Herald-Tribune – November 30, 2003
A coastal engineer who successfully relocated an inlet in North Carolina readies her proposal to restore the much-contested passage to Little Sarasota Bay.

County tackles Midnight Pass again

Sarasota Herald-Tribune - December 3, 2002
Putting past failures aside, the County Commission voted Tuesday to move ahead with an ambitious plan to reopen Midnight Pass. “The time is now to move forward with this,” Commissioner David Mills said. “It’s an issue that needs to be dealt with. It has to be done.”