Assawoman canal dredge proceeding
It has been three weeks since the Sussex Conservation District broke ground on the Assawoman Canal dredging, on Oct. 3. DNREC project manager Chuck Williams said this week, “We’ve been making good progress with the mechanical dredging.”
Williams said that though there were hopes to get ahead with the hydraulic dredging of the south portion of the Canal, there were some minor complications. “We hope to hit it hard next year,” he said of the south end.
The six members from the Sussex Conservation District have moved along the canal and are currently behind the Bethany Beach Surf Shop on Route 26, continuing the mechanical dredging process.
The mechanical dredging involves using a long-reach excavator to remove the soil, creating new dimensions of 35 feet of width and 3 feet of depth for the canal. The project is expected to remove about 34,000 cubic yards of material by its completion.
The soil removed is currently being taken to Fresh Pond State Park, the first designated spoils site. Sierra Club member Steve Callahan is opposed to this spoil location. “The state is destroying this area simply because it is closest to the canal,” he said. “They want it dredged so badly they don’t care about the side-effects.”
Callahan was concerned with the young forest of loblolly pines that was bulldozed for the site and the potential threat to the emergent wetlands and fertile soil already on the property. “A larger area then necessary is being decimated,” he said.
Williams responded to some concerns about the maintenance of the spoils site. He said the Fresh Pond State Park is just a primary disposal location. He said once the soil has been taken to the site, it will be analyzed more extensively to see if it is suitable for other purposes.
Williams said there are hopes the soil can be used to aid the diamondback terrapin nesting area north of the Indian River Inlet. He also stated there is potential for the sandy sediment to aid in beach replenishment if deemed suitable. Of the destroyed trees, William said, “Loblollies aren’t endangered. There are intentions to restore and re-vegetate that area.”
Meanwhile, the Sierra Club gave their final briefing to the Delaware Supreme Court for their legal appeal against DNREC and the dredging process last Friday, Oct. 20. Sierra Club attorney Kenneth Kristl said the main aspect of the appeal is questioning the purpose of Section 81 of last year’s state bond bill.
That bond bill approved the funding for the dredging project while the Sierra Club was still in the appeals process to stop it, bypassing calls for more extensive studies of the project.
The Sierra Club appealed the 2004 permit allowing the dredging in a 2005 hearing before the Environmental Appeals Board. Before the board issued its late-July opinion that ordered a cost-benefit analysis for dredging, however, the General Assembly in June 2005 approved the project in Section 81 of the bond bill.
“It is the express finding of the General Assembly that the benefits of dredging and maintaining the Assawoman Canal exceed the costs of such project and the Secretary of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is hereby directed to initiate all necessary actions to dredge the Canal,” Section 81 of that bond bill reads.
Kristl said the biggest question the Sierra Club has in their appeal the Delaware Supreme Court is, “What is the effect of Section 81?”
Kristil said that if their arguments are successful, the dredging project, which is forecasted to take about three years to complete, should be halted. “DNREC would have to go back and get the proper permits in order to continue dredging,” said Kristil.
The Dredge
The Assawoman Canal dredging project involves both mechanical and hydraulic dredging methods from the northern end of the waterway at its confluence with White Creek, to the southern end of the waterway at Little Assawoman Bay. The channel will be dredged to a width of 35 feet and a depth of 3 feet below mean low water (MLW). An estimated 34,000 cubic yards of material will be removed from the canal as part of the project. Material will be pumped via pipeline to a second upland disposal facility located on property owned by the Division of Fish and Wildlife.
