Army Corps releases dredge plan

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed a final plan to manage dredged material from 52 navigable sites in the Long Island Sound, 31 of them in Connecticut, 17 in New York and 4 in Rhode Island.

Collectively these federal, state, local and private dredging activities total about 53 million cubic yards over a 30-year period, according a statement from the Army Corps of Engineers.

Connecticut”™s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection supports the plan, which keeps open the option for open-water dumping. Only a portion of those 53 million cubic yards is likely to be dredged in that period, the Army engineers said with future projects contingent on local and federal budget decisions.

The dredge-management plan ”“ called a DMMP ”“ was tasked with identifying options to be considered by those projects that are ultimately funded, but with an eye toward reducing spoil dumping in the open water.

“This plan identifies a range of environmentally sound alternatives for the handling of materials created by dredging projects ”“ including beneficial uses such as beach nourishment and marsh restoration, as well as continued use of open water sites in Long Island Sound,” said DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee. “Our ability to conduct dredging in coastal waterways is critical to sustaining Connecticut”™s water-dependent economy and the practical, cost-effective, and environmentally acceptable management alternatives offered by the Army Corps will help meet the needs of our ports and harbors.”

The DMMP was requested by the governors of Connecticut and New York in a letter dated Feb. 8, 2005. The need for a DMMP was also identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency”™s June 3, 2005, rule that designated two of the Sound”™s historic open-water placement sites, the Central Long Island Sound and Western Long Island Sound Sites, for continued use.

The EPA”™s rule required preparation of a DMMP to examine alternative placement practices, with the goal of reducing or eliminating open-water placement of dredged material in the waters of Long Island Sound wherever practicable.

The plan calls for clean dredged sand to build beaches and for clean, finer-grained material to build wetlands and cap landfills.

“Where feasible, dredged materials are put to beneficial reuse and that will continue to be a top priority as we work toward the goal of reducing open water disposal,” Klee said. “Much of the sediment taken from Connecticut waterways is fine-grained, however, and since reuse alternatives often are not feasible existing open water sites must remain available for the foreseeable future. We applaud the Army Corp”™s DMMP for recommending that this important option remain open to us.  Thirty-five years of monitoring and active management of open water disposal sites in Long Island Sound have shown this option to be an environmentally sound and cost effective sediment management alternative.”

In its statement, the Army Corps said, “Dredged materials which do not pass the stringent testing requirements and are determined to be toxic are not, and will not in the future, be placed in the open waters of Long Island Sound. These materials presently and in the future will require either containment or treatment.”

Six public comment sessions last year preceded the document’s release, including in Stamford.

The Army Corps noted other federal agencies operate Long Island Sound facilities and require navigational access promoted by dredging. They include the U.S. Navy, the Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration.

“State and local cooperation and involvement will be key to achieving the goals of the DMMP to reduce, where practicable, reliance on open water placement of dredged materials in Long Island Sound,” the Army Corps said.