Dusty May, a Port St. Joe dentist and longtime local resident, asked the Bay County Board of County Commissioners on May 6 to write a letter of support for a joint feasibility study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection into the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway's diversion of Apalachicola River water and sediment into St. Joe Bay and St. Andrew Bay.

May told commissioners the Corps has indicated responsibility for the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) and that a 2/16 feasibility study authorized by federal statute would be time‑limited to three years and capped at $3 million, split equally between state and federal funding (less in‑kind contributions). He said the Corps is willing to proceed but that DEP cooperation is needed and that local letters of support would help secure that cooperation.

May said government data from the Northwest Florida Water Management District, Florida DEP, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Geological Survey show large daily diversions of Apalachicola River water and sediment through the GIWW into St. Joe Bay and St. Andrew Bay. He described sediment deposition on the floors of those bays as harming seagrass beds and the estuarine food chain, and he said a federally mandated feasibility study would be required to recommend solutions, though any follow‑up action would be a separate political process.

The presentation included maps and core‑sample images provided in a handout May distributed to commissioners. May said the Port of Port St. Joe supports the study and argued the study could inform whether reestablishing historic watershed boundaries would reduce channel maintenance costs and improve water quality at Bay County beaches, including Mexico Beach and Panama City Beach.

During the public‑comment period, resident Derek Thomas of 1100 West 10th Street thanked May for his presentation and urged the county to include measures of organic life and plant life in any study or monitoring program. Thomas raised concerns about the cumulative environmental effects of mosquito control spraying and runoff nitrogen that he said are increasing algal growth and affecting aquatic food chains. He cited county mosquito‑control budgets and asked the commission to study the ecological effects of spraying and of nutrient runoff.

The commission did not take a formal vote on May’s request during the meeting; the item was a presentation and call for a letter of support rather than a noticed agenda ordinance or interlocal agreement. May said he was available for follow‑up questions and provided contact information to staff.

Why this matters: May framed the request as narrowly asking only for a letter endorsing a Corps–DEP feasibility study; such a study would generate a federally required feasibility report and recommended remedies but would not itself implement solutions. Commissioners received printed materials and core images referenced during the presentation but did not adopt or decline a letter at the meeting.

Sources: Presentation by Dusty May (Port St. Joe), public comment by Derek Thomas; handouts distributed to commissioners.