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Audubon Opposes Rays' Plan For Waterfront Ballpark

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By CARLOS MONCADA | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 13, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - The St. Petersburg Audubon Society is opposing the proposed downtown waterfront ballpark the Tampa Bay Rays want to open by 2012.

The project would require dumping fill dirt over six-tenths of an acre of Tampa Bay considered a state aquatic preserve, the society, founded in 1909, says in a written statement issued this week.

The federal Clean Water Act requires that any project requiring "the discharge of dredged or fill material into U.S. waters" demonstrate that it is the "least environmentally damaging practicable alternative," the statement reads.

The applicable section of the act has been upheld in numerous court decisions and judicial opinions, the society says.

"Since an existing and functional stadium currently exists, we believe the least environmentally damaging alternative is to utilize our existing stadium and its surrounding land for the benefit of our city, our residents and our environment," wrote society President Mauri Peterson and conservation chairman Dave Kandz.

City voters may be asked in November to approve the proposed $450 million ballpark, which also would entail redeveloping the 86-acre Tropicana site into a massive residential-and-retail complex.

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