25/07/2026
Preserving Paradise: STOP the Bahama Rock Mining Expansion — Protect Freeport Harbour, Lovers Beach, & Grand Bahama’s Future
Petition to the Government of The Bahamas, the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection, the Grand Bahama Port Authority, and all relevant regulatory authorities.
Freeport Harbour and the surrounding communities, coastline, forests, groundwater systems, marine habitats, and public recreational areas face a decision that could permanently alter this part of Grand Bahama.
Bahama Rock Limited is seeking approval for a proposed harbour-expansion and aggregate-mining project involving approximately 269.39 acres of the former Bahamas Cement Company property at Southwest Point. The Government’s public-consultation notice confirms that the proposal involves excavating aggregates to create additional turning basins and deep-water berths in Freeport Harbour.
We are calling for the "current mining proposal not to be approved in its present form" and for no irreversible excavation, blasting, dredging or destruction of natural habitat to proceed until the Bahamian people can be satisfied that the environmental, social and economic consequences have been independently and comprehensively evaluated.
This is not an argument against development.
It is an argument for better development.
The EIA itself identifies serious reasons for concern
Bahama Rock’s Environmental Impact Assessment describes an extraction operation that could continue for approximately 15–20 years and involve land clearing, blasting, aggregate extraction and dredging.
The same EIA acknowledges that:
* ecologically important pineland habitat will be removed;
* the pinelands on the property represent some of the last intact pineland sites on Grand Bahama, and their loss would represent a considerable loss to the island’s terrestrial biodiversity;
* approximately 132,483 protected trees and shrubs were estimated within the surveyed area;
* protected, endemic and species-of-concern wildlife occurs within or around the project area;
* hard corals presently growing along the western harbour boundary would be removed and some would require relocation;
* economically important marine species, including bonefish, occur in the area;
* removal of geological material may affect nearby groundwater resources;
* geotechnical drilling encountered what was described as a cave and cavern underground;
* Lovers Beach, the Boiling Hole and nearby Eight Mile Rock communities fall within the broader area potentially influenced by the project.
These are not speculative concerns raised only by opponents. They are issues identified within the project’s own environmental documentation.
Before we excavate it, we must know what we are giving up.
Once hundreds of acres of Bahamian limestone, forest, habitat and geological structure are excavated below sea level and converted into a harbour basin, that landscape cannot simply be restored.
That makes this fundamentally different from an ordinary development decision.
Before approving, the public deserves answers to a much larger question:
Is extracting the rock actually the highest and best long-term use of this strategic harbour-edge property for Grand Bahama and The Bahamas?
We believe that question has not yet been adequately answered.
We therefore call for:
1. A full independent environmental audit of Bahama Rock’s existing operations and environmental record.
Historical blasting, excavation, groundwater conditions, dust, noise, marine effects, coastal changes, compliance, complaints, monitoring data and mitigation performance should be independently reviewed and publicly disclosed.
2. Independent peer review of the Environmental Impact Assessment.
The EIA, its assumptions, methodologies, baseline studies, groundwater analysis, biodiversity surveys, blasting analysis, marine studies, hurricane and flood modelling and proposed mitigation measures should be subjected to independent scientific scrutiny.
3. A cumulative-impact assessment.
The project must be evaluated together with existing quarrying, Freeport Harbour operations, industrial activities, residential communities, utilities, transportation infrastructure, coastal systems and foreseeable future harbour development—not merely as an isolated parcel.
4. A genuine alternatives analysis.
Before destroying remaining natural areas, authorities should examine redevelopment of already disturbed and previously industrialized land, alternative harbour configurations, alternative industrial development strategies and non-extractive economic uses of this strategically located property.
5. A comprehensive Western Freeport Harbour Development Plan before further excavation.
The Bahamas should know what Freeport Harbour is intended to become over the next 25, 50 and 100 years before permanently excavating strategic waterfront land.
6. Full public disclosure and meaningful public participation.
Environmental studies, permits, monitoring information, mitigation commitments, commercial assumptions and relevant government decisions should be accessible to Bahamians before irreversible approvals are granted.
7. A long-term national-interest test.
The decision should compare the economic value of extracting aggregate against the potential value of preserving and developing this land for higher-value industries, logistics, research, technology, tourism, recreation, conservation, housing, innovation and other sustainable economic opportunities.
Redevelop what has already been disturbed before destroying what remains.
Grand Bahama has substantial previously disturbed, abandoned and underutilized industrial land.
Responsible development should prioritize restoration, remediation and redevelopment before sacrificing additional natural habitat wherever practicable.
There is an opportunity here to transform deteriorated industrial property into productive land without automatically accepting large-scale extraction as the only—or best—economic future.
Development should leave Grand Bahama more valuable, not merely more excavated.
We must evaluate value differently.
Not simply:
How much rock can be removed?
But:
What can this land generate for Bahamians over the next century?
Jobs matter.
Investment matters.
Freeport Harbour matters.
But so do our freshwater resources, coastline, beaches, forests, biodiversity, fisheries, communities, climate resilience and the inheritance we leave future generations.
Economic development and environmental stewardship are not mutually exclusive. Properly designed, they reinforce one another.
Our position is straightforward:
Do not approve irreversible mining first and ask the larger development questions later.
Study first.
Verify first.
Compare alternatives first.
Plan the harbour first.
Protect the public interest first.
Then decide.
Once the land is excavated, the decision cannot be undone.
Sign this Petition.
Stand with us in calling upon the Government of The Bahamas, DEPP, GBPA and every responsible authority to pause and reconsider the Bahama Rock extraction proposal and require a transparent, independent, comprehensive assessment of its environmental impacts, cumulative effects and economic alternatives before any final approval is granted.
Preserve what cannot be replaced.
Redevelop what has already been disturbed.
Protect Freeport Harbour.
Protect Grand Bahama.
Protect our future.
PRESERVING PARADISE
The future of Grand Bahama should be developed — not excavated without first proving that excavation is the best choice.
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Preserving Paradise: STOP the Bahama Rock Mining Expansion — Protect Freeport Harbour, Lovers Beach, & Grand Bahama’s Future
https://www.change.org/StopBahamaRock
Please Sign and SHARE this Petition.
StopBahamaRock.com
(242) 824-9400
wa.me/12428249400
