Page 16 - Port of Baltimore - Issue 3 - 2022

[14] The Port of Baltimore ■ ISSUE 3 / 2022
EcoPort Environmental Management at the Port of Baltimore
Terrapin Releases at Poplar Island
Every year, students visit Poplar Island for a one-of-a-kind experience. As part of the Maryland Port Administration-sponsored Terrapin Education and Research Partnership (TERP), 127 diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) hatchlings collected from Poplar Island were delivered to classrooms for the students to raise over the 2021/2022 school year, which gave the terrapins a good head start.
In late spring, the students travel to Poplar Island for a tour and
to release their terrapins. The release trips are filled with bittersweet goodbyes as the students wish their terrapins good luck on their next journey. “The students would not have the interaction with animals without this program,” said Ms. Simpkins, a teacher at Ruth Parker Eason School in Millersville.
The TERP program also conducts research in partnership with Ohio State University, studying how changes in the environment affect terrapin populations. Sometimes the terrapins are recaptured by onsite researchers who post updates on Facebook (www.facebook.com/roosenburglab). 􏰀
Diamondback terrapin release at Poplar Island
Top: Members of the Cox Creek Citizens Oversight Committee and staff. Above: Dike-raising construction at Cox Creek Dredged Material Containment Facility.
Cox Creek Citizens Oversight Committee Tours Site Expansion
The Cox Creek Citizens Oversight Committee (CC COC) meeting on May 25 included a site visit to the Cox Creek Dredged Material Containment Facility (DMCF). Attendees toured the DMCF complex and the Cox Creek expansion project, which raised the dikes from an elevation of 36 feet to 60 feet.
Increasing capacity at the Cox Creek facility is critical for the long-term plan for placement capacity of harbor material and for maintaining the 50-foot-deep channel necessary for the competitive movement of cargo. The DMCF expansion began in August 2021, and the project is scheduled to be completed by May 2024.
The CC COC oversees the implementation of the
DMCF project and provides advice to the Maryland Port Administration on the expansion and operation of the facility and the potential impacts on nearby communities.
FIND MORE INFORMATION on upcoming events at www.maryland-dmmp.com. 􏰀
MARYLAND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
KATRINA JONES/MPA
KRISTINA MOTLEY/MARYLAND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES