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New Beach Nourishment, Borrow Area, Dredging, and Marine Mining Projects Representative Areas of Experience: 
Summaries of CSA International's Representative New Projects Mining Federal OCS Sand Sources Off Florida
Biological Report for a Borrow Area Off Gulf Shores, Alabama CSA International prepared the "Biological Report for the Offshore Borrow Region Associated with a Beach Restoration Project at the City of Gulf Shores, Alabama." The report provided sections concerning the project purpose and need, description of the proposed action, existing benthic (infauna, epifauna, and demersal fishes) and pelagic (zooplankton, squids, sea turtles, and marine mammals) environments, benthic and water column field surveys, potential impacts, conclusions, literature cited, and survey data appendices.
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CSA International
was awarded a 32-month contract in April 2000 by the
U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management
Service (MMS), International Activities and Marine Minerals
Division (INTERMAR). CSA is serving as prime contractor
for the study titled "Environmental Surveys of Potential
Borrow Areas on the East Florida Shelf and the Environmental
Implications of Sand Removal for Coastal and Beach Restoration."
The purpose of the project is to provide information
that can be used in a National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) document (Environmental Assessment or Environmental
Impact Statement) for decision making concerning potential
impacts associated with dredging sand from the Federal
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for beach nourishment.
Federal OCS sand resource areas of interest are offshore
Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Brevard Counties.
CSA is responsible for overall project management and
the biological component of the study. Biological field
surveys will be conducted in September 2000 and May
2001 to collect data concerning infauna, epifauna and
demersal fishes, hard/live bottom, sediment grain size,
and water quality. Benthic literature and data will
be summarized, and assessments will be made of the potential
impacts relative to benthic organisms and recolonization.
CSA will synthesize information concerning the spatial
and temporal occurrence of pelagic, endangered, and
threatened species and assess potential impacts and
dredging windows. The physical processes component of
the study includes modeling of wave modifications and
assessments of sediment transport processes and patterns
to evaluate potential impacts. Coordination will occur
with the Florida Geological Survey (FGS). A Technical
Report, Executive Summary, Technical Summary, Non-Technical
Summary, refereed scientific publication, and slide
set will be produced. Results of the study will be presented
at an MMS Information Transfer Meeting and a technical
conference.