The City of Virginia Beach, VA has been

sued at least five times for not keeping

Rudee Inlet dredged

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According to an article in the May, 1997 issue of Soundings magazine there have been numerous lawsuits against the City of Virginia Beach, VA by boat owners for not keeping the inlet properly dredged.

In the third suit in less than a year the city is being sued for over two million dollars for the total loss of a new 66 foot Ocean yacht which ran aground in the inlet in February of 1966. The $1.6 million dollar yacht was sold for $180,000, its salvage value. The suit alleged that the city's failure to properly maintain the inlet was negligent.

The city has already settled lawsuits damaging a 46 ft. motorsailer and a 61 ft. sport fishing yacht.

It was argued that the city was required to maintain the channel at its permitted 10 ft. depth.

Another pending lawsuit consists of $100,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages for a 65 ft. Breau Bay Craft which was also damaged by grounding in Rudee inlet.

Is this going to be the future of Packery Channel for the City of Corpus Christi, if the channel fills to dangerous levels between scheduled dredging periods?