Be cautious with funding for dredge project

Written by Opinion Monday, 06 February 2012 14:29

To the editor:

There is a $1 million dredge project being launched in Ocean City. I have deep concerns about the disposal of the spoils, and the chemical composition of this material. The plan calls for at least 300,000 cubic yards of sludge being dredged. In the past, Site 83, which is in the wetlands on 34th Street, was used and the walls collapsed on a couple of occasions releasing spoils into neighboring wetlands. Another site near Somers Point was used to contain spoils and its walls also collapsed.

Where will the sludge go? There is one idea of placing some of it on North End beaches. In order to do that the spoils must be composed of at least 90 percent sand. According to the Army Corps of Engineers, “All nourishment material will consist of clean sand fill material (i.e., 90 percent or greater sand) obtained from approved offshore borrow (dredge sites) areas. Grain size of fill material will be suitable for beach nourishment and will be similar in composition to the existing beach substrate on the targeted deposition site.”

Already a few hundred thousand dollars have been assigned to Duffield Associates for work to be done. This is taxpayers’ money. With the coal fired plant emitting toxic fumes into the air and releasing more into the water, there is an extremely good chance that these spoils are not, indeed, clean.

I urge council and the administration to think hard about the consequences of this dredge. Not only will our local waterways be endangered, but also possibly our North End beaches. Will there be a call for more money in the budget to transport this sludge by land to some site approved by the NJ Department of Environment when the city realizes there is really no space? Since it is the taxpayers who are funding the project, I ask that you be fiscally cautious with the use of hard-earned money.

Already, with permitting and testing costs adding up before the dredging has even begun, please assess where this plan is going and act in a responsible way for the community and the environment.

Georgina Shanley

Ocean City