State Seeks Contractor to Finalize Statewide Dredging Disposal Plan

October 29, 1997
Contact: Anne Donovan
(617) 727-9530, x411

The Cellucci Administration announces the next major step in dredging the major ports of Massachusetts. The state has inventoried the quantity and location of material that needs to be dredged coastwide and has identified potential disposal options. To obtain the information necessary to select the disposal sites, the state has released a Request for Responses (RFR) for a contractor to develop Environmental Impact Reports on these disposal options.

"Shipping is a key to a healthy Massachusetts economy," said Governor Paul Cellucci. "We know our ports are not deep enough to handle the major shipping traffic of the 21st Century, so we have to find an affordable and environmentally sound way to dredge these channels."

"The real issue is disposal of contaminated dredged material from the urban ports," explained Environmental Affairs Secretary Trudy Coxe. "Until now, suitable disposal methods have been out of our reach because they were presumed to be financially or environmentally costly, creating a tremendous dredging backlog in Massachusetts. This plan will identify disposal solutions that will enable port economic development to proceed while ensuring the protection of Massachusetts' natural resources."

To address dredging needs along the coast, the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA) directed Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management (MCZM) to develop a state-wide Dredged Material Management Plan (DMMP). The purpose of the DMMP is to identify and permit disposal alternatives with sufficient capacity to accept dredged material unsuitable for unconfined ocean disposal from public and private dredging projects over the next 20 years. The DMMP focuses initially on the ports of Gloucester, Salem, New Bedford, and Fall River. MCZM completed Phase 1 of this project, the inventory and analysis of existing conditions, this September.

The significant results of the Phase 1 analysis include:

• 4.0 million cubic yards of material need to be dredged over 20 years.
• Potential aquatic disposal capacity exists within each of the ports.
• Upland disposal capacity may be limited because of a surplus of material from other major infrastructure projects.
• All potential upland and aquatic disposal alternatives require site-specific assessments.

"The information provided in Phase 1 gives us a firm understanding of the scope of the dredging needs out there, as well as the possible disposal options," said Peg Brady, Director of MCZM. "Phase 2 will give uss the technical information to narrow down the options. This information will enable agencies, communities, and all other interests to come to the best decisions."

MCZM will now hire a consultant to complete Phase 2, developing individual Environmental Impact Reports for each of the ports under the provisions of the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA). Specifically, the consultant will perform site-specific analyses of the resources present at potential disposal sites, and will assess the potential environmental and economic impacts associated with the use of the sites. Once this is completed, MCZM will work with the port communities, maritime industry, environmental interests, and local citizens to identify those sites that best meet the goals of cost-efficiency and environmental protection.

Copies of the RFR for this work are available through Comm-PASS at http://www.comm-pass.com on the World Wide Web, or by calling the MCZM Information Line at (617) 727-9530, ext. 420. For Information Line requests, the requestor's name and address and name of the RFR must be left on voice-mail. In addition, any questions about the RFR can be left on the MCZM Information Line voice-mail.