Page 22 - Port of Baltimore Magazine March/April 2011
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The Port of Baltimore
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March/April 2011
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while dredging in Baltimore’s
Chesapeake Bay channels by
restoring James Island at the
mouth of the Little Choptank
River. Another of the Bay
islands lost to erosion, James
has now dwindled to three tiny
islands. The Mid-Bay Island
Restoration Project would
restore it to about 2,000 acres.
“We’re looking again at
going back to the historic
footprint of the island,” said
Hamons. The project has been
approved at every level except
the U.S. Congress — such
projects must be included
in the Water Resources
Development Act, which
Congress is supposed to pass
every two years. But it hasn’t
passed one since 2007.
“We have every step
completed, it’s now a matter
of waiting for the next WRDA,”
Hamons said.
Since keeping the
Baltimore Harbor open for
business means dredging
about one-and-a-half million
cubic feet each year, another
site needs to be developed for
the harbor area.
The MPA had been
negotiating with Severstal,
which owned the old
Bethlehem Steel property.
But in March, the
Baltimore
Sun
reported that the private
equity firm Renco Group Inc.
agreed to acquire the facility
from Severstal, meaning new
discussions will need to occur.
Even if a deal could be
struck, “we would need to
remediate the area, which has
serious contamination issues,"
Hamons said, "and right now
the EPA holds the owners
responsible for contaminants,
and that’s one of the things we
would have to work out before
there is any transfer of land."
Despite its problems,
the site does have the space
needed to ensure channels
remain open for years to come.
“At this point in time, it’s
the next preferred option,”
Hamons said.
•
POPLAR ISLAND
, located south of
the Port, is being restored with dredged
material from lower Chesapeake Bay
shipping channels.
HART-MILLER ISLAND
received
dredged material for 25 years until
2009. The project created 1,100 acres of
wildlife habitat and recreational land.
Maryland Environmental Service
