CAMPAIGNS
Long
Island Sound Dredged Materials
Victory!
In
the Spring of 2005, Governors George Pataki
and Jodi Rell agreed to phase out dumping
of untreated dredged material into Long
Island Sound! This is a major victory for
Long Island Sound and the citizens of New
York and Connecticut. The agreement calls
for the development of a Dredged Material
Management Plan for the Long Island Sound
that focuses on alternative technologies
for dredged materials and establishes the
phase-out of open water dumping.
Click
here to read CCE's Press Release (5/19/05)
Click
here to read the Newsday Article (5/19/05)
Dredging
the Sound
Many
harbors and inlets in the Sound need to be routinely
dredged because of sediment build-up. Dredging
is the removal of the excess sediment, referred
to as “dredged materials”. The dredged
materials contain varying amounts of hazardous
constituents including toxic chemicals, such as
mercury, lead, copper, PCBs and pesticides. The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) analyzed
four sites to be utilized as long-term dumpsites
for dredged materials in the Long Island Sound.
Unfortunately, the EPA and the Army Corp of Engineers
(ACE) highly recommended two sites, the Western
Long Island Sound Alternative (WLIS) and the Central
Long Island Sound Alternative (CLIS).
The
WLIS is located only 2.7 miles from the shoreline and
has already received 1.7 million cubic yards of dredged
material. It was once a prime lobster producing area,
which has died off significantly within the last five
years. The CLIS is between New Haven, CT and Riverhead,
NY and has already received close to 14 million cubic
yards of dredged material. Higher levels of toxic waste
and problems with low dissolved oxygen (hypoxia) are
found in and near these sites. The new plan
calls for an additional 20 million cubic yards of dredged
materials to be dumped into the Sound!
Alternatives
Even though dredging is sometimes necessary, open water
disposal of the dredged materials is not. Some of the
alternatives include upland disposal, containment, and/or
treatment technologies. These alternatives have
not been considered.
CCE
POSITION
On April 9, 2004 the EPA released the Final Environmental
Impact Statement concerning the dumping of dredged materials
in the Long Island Sound. A thirty-day public comment
period began on April 16, 2004. Citizens Campaign
for the Environment does not support open water disposal
of dredged materials and believes that the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps
of Engineers (ACE) are quick to rule out safer alternatives
including upland disposal, containment, and/or treatment
technologies.
CCE
recommended that the Environmental Protection Agency
and the Army Corps of Engineers:
- Extend
the thirty-day comment period to ninety days and increase
the number of public hearings from two to eight;
-
Abandon the plan designating a long-term open water
disposal site for dredged material in Long Island
Sound;
- Begin
exploring alternatives for the treatment and upland
disposal of contaminated dredged material;
- Conduct
a thorough review of beneficial reuse of benign dredged
material, including possibilities for development
of technology and/or methods for decreasing the cost
of such disposal techniques; and
- Review
the long-term cost that this dredge disposal plan
may have on the economic impact of the Long Island
Sound.
The
immense value of the Long Island Sound cannot be overstated.
Recreational activities, tourism, boating, fishing,
shell fishing and commercial enterprises all affirm
that it would be shortsighted to allow the long-term
use of such a waterway to be utilized as a dump for
hazardous material.
During
the public comment period, CCE and its members asked
the EPA and ACE to consider upland disposal and a full
environmental review of ALL options, excluding open-water
dumping.
The official comment period ended on June 1,
2004. EPA will now take at least 30 days before coming
out for or AGAINST the proposal to dump 20 million cubic
yards of toxic dredged materials into the Long Island
Sound.
CLICK
HERE FOR INFORMATION ON THE CCE PRESS CONFERENCE (MAY
17, 2004) WITH SENATOR HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON AND OTHER
STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS OPPOSING THE EPA-PROPOSED
DUMPING PLAN
Click
here to view comments submitted by CCE to the US EPA
on May 31, 2004
|
