MONROE COUNTY WORKING ON OBTAINING ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR HURRICANE IRMA MARINE DEBRIS REMOVAL IN CANALS

MONROE COUNTY WORKING ON OBTAINING ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR HURRICANE IRMA MARINE DEBRIS REMOVAL IN CANALS

MONROE COUNTY, FL – Monroe County has been working on obtaining additional funding sources for marine debris removal from Hurricane Irma. The total estimated cost of cleanup for the 513 canals throughout the Keys is $52.6 million.

On Feb. 15, 2018, Monroe County submitted five Damage Survey Report application packages for Irma marine debris removal to the regional office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Resources Conservation Services.

The Damage Survey Reports Included $45 Million in eligible funding requests for unincorporated Monroe County and the municipalities of Islamorada and Marathon.

Using the program guidelines for funding eligibility in their initial review of the applications, USDA-NRCS’s Emergency Watershed Program staff deemed 103 of the most heavily impacted canals eligible for funding to date.

There is potential funding of $34 million for these 103 most impacted canals, which are in unincorporated Monroe County, Marathon and Islamorada. Eight of these canals are in the Upper Keys, 23 in the Middle Keys and 72 in the Lower Keys.

The County is anticipating receiving an agreement soon from the National Resources Conservation Services. Until that agreement is in place, no work can move forward. All the potential funds would go through the County. There is a local match of 25 percent.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]