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Project Sites Material dredged from the Chesapeake Bay, Patapsco River, and Baltimore Harbor is currently placed at four locations, each quite different in its purpose, scope, and structure. Over the years, these sites will reach capacity and become closed to new shipments of dredged material. The Dredged Material Management Program is actively exploring other options for placing and using the 4.7 million cubic yards of dredged material that is generated every year. |
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Hart-Miller Island Once a series of eroded island fragments (the Hart-Miller-Pleasure Island chain), Hart-Miller Island began receiving dredged material in May 1984. Dikes contain a 1,140-acre basin where the dredged sediment settles, divided into two areas: the South Cell and the North Cell. The South Cell stopped receiving material in December 1990 and is currently being restored for wildlife habitat. Plans include creating seven acres of trees, a three-acre pond, a bird-nesting island, 184 acres of wetlands and mudflats for shorebird habitat, and 110 acres of upland grasses designed as habitat for songbirds. The Maryland Port Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are transforming Hart-Miller Island into a major stopover site for migratory shorebirds—already, the Audubon Society includes the island on its list of Important Bird Areas. The North Cell, scheduled to close in 2009, is known for its nesting birds and also for the adjacent, popular public beach. The beach opened in 1981 as a new state park, which thousands of Maryland citizens visit by boat each year.
In the past, Poplar Island hosted first a thriving farm community and later a retreat for politicians like President Franklin D. Roosevelt. But by the mid-1800s, erosion was taking a toll. By the 1990s, approximately 1,100 acres had been reduced to less than ten. The loss of the island, and its critical wildlife habitat, has been reversed through the use of clean dredged material from Baltimore’s shipping channels. The process involves placing, shaping, and planting some 40 million cubic yards of dredged material on and around the island remnants, within a dike constructed to approximate the size of the island in 1847. The first two phases of dike construction were completed by 2002. Dredged material began to arrive in April 2001 from projects that widened the Brewerton Channel Eastern Extension, straightened the Tolchester “S-Turn,” and helped maintain the Port's access channels. The restoration of Poplar Island includes a variety of measures to provide homes for wildlife, including the creation of upland and wetland habitats. Biologists and citizen groups have joined together to provide underwater and wetland grasses for crabs and fish, trees for eagle nests, and a stretch of sand coated with broken oyster shells for birds. Already, the threatened diamondback terrapins use Poplar Island as a nesting ground. Site 92 has served as the placement site for clean dredged material from the C&D Approach Channels since 2001. Approximately 750,000 cubic yards of material arrive at the site each year. The site will be permanently closed to new dredged material by the end of 2010. Monitoring will track the progress of the plants and organisms as they become re-established in the area. The Dredged Material Management Program is developing a long-term plan to compensate for the site’s closure. The plan will prioritize the “beneficial use” of dredged material for environmental enhancements, which is the preferred management option. In the short-term, material removed from the C&D Canal Approach Channels will be placed at Poplar Island, beginning in 2011.
Cox Creek
The Cox Creek facility is
located just south of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, on the western shore
of the Patapsco River in the upper Chesapeake Bay. Approximately 102 acres
are available for the placement of dredged material. Its annual capacity
of approximately 500,000 cubic yards is equal to the average amount of
material generated each year by maintenance dredging in the harbor. Renovations, such as strengthening and raising the dike walls, prepared the site to receive the contaminated material that has historically existed in the harbor floor. However, Cox Creek currently receives only a small portion of harbor sediment; most is placed at Hart-Miller Island, and not all of it is contaminated. The Cox Creek facility will become increasingly important once Hart-Miller Island closes to shipments of dredged material in 2009. Explorations are also underway to determine whether some of the grounds could serve as a staging area for the innovative use of dredged material. The
aquatic and marsh environment around Cox Creek is continuously monitored
for pH, total suspended solids, ammonia, and metals. Approximately 100
acres of the 1993 purchase are permanently preserved for wildlife habitat.
The National Aquarium at Baltimore and many citizen volunteers also helped
to restore more than 11 acres of quality wetlands along the neighboring
Swan Creek. The Dredged Material Management Program is continually exploring new options for the future use and placement of dredged material. Potential sites for beneficial use, where dredged material can contribute to environmental restoration, include Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and James and Barren Islands in the mid-Chesapeake Bay. A dredged material containment facility has also been proposed at Masonville, about four miles upstream of the Key Bridge on the southern shore of the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River. For information about this process and public meetings to discuss specific proposals, visit the web page of the Dredged Material Management Program.
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