News Release
| Release Number: | 02-039 |
| Dated: | 3/6/2002 |
| Contact: | Heidi Y. Helwig, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore.-The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is seeking public comments on three environmental documents regarding the Corps' Mouth of the Columbia River Maintenance Dredging plan.
The Draft Environmental Assessment; Section 404 Evaluation; and the final Coastal Zone Management Consistency Determination documents are posted at https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/issues/MCR/welcome.htm under "Publications." Copies of the documents will be available for review at the CREST office in Astoria and at the Portland District office. Also, you may receive copies by calling the Corps' Eric Braun at (503) 808-4348.
Comments received on these documents by April 5, 2002, will be considered in the preparation of the final documents. Also, comments received during the earlier public notice coordination, including the public hearing, will be considered before the documents are finalized. Comments may be sent electronically to eric.p.braun@usace.army.mil or mailed to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District, Attn: Eric Braun, CENWP-OP-NW, P.O. Box 2946, Portland, Ore., 97208-2946.
The documents focus on the Corps' proposed new dredge material sites-Benson Beach and the Deepwater Site-for placing material dredged from the mouth of the Columbia River. Three other sites were addressed in previous environmental documents.
Maintaining consistent depths in the navigation channel is essential for the safety of ships navigating the Columbia River, a major import and export route important to the region's economy. The authorized federal navigation project at the mouth of the river is 2,640 feet wide with the north 2,000 feet -55 feet deep (Mean Lower Low Water [(MLLW]) and the south 640 feet -48 feet deep (MLLW). These depths are achieved by removing naturally occurring shoals with a hopper dredge. Up to five feet of allowable overdepth dredging is performed to ensure authorized depths for a longer period between dredging operations.
Dredging is performed on an annual basis with an average of 4 million to 5 million cubic yards dredged each year.
The Corps considers the clean sand dredged at the MCR project an important resource and uses as much of the dredged material as possible for beneficial uses. Therefore, the Corps will place as much of the sand as practical in sites that keep it in the littoral system. Disposal options create a balancing act, however, as the Corps must meet conflicting objectives, including minimizing potential wave impacts, adverse environmental impacts and interference with navigation, while striving to retain sand in the system.