CRMC Response to Pt. Judith Dredging Concerns

Concerned Citizens:

Thank you for your emails and your concerns about the South Kingstown Town and Matunuck Beaches. As the state’s coastal zone management agency, we share your concerns about the trash that washed up on the beaches, and pride ourselves in taking swift action when something of this magnitude occurs, as well as proactive planning to prevent future mishaps and disasters. Like all of you, we use the beaches. Our hope is that we can rectify this challenging and emotionally charged issue with reason and science so that all of the resource considerations are taken into account.  We hope that out of this unfortunate event we can educate all of the users of our precious Bay that just because it went out of sight, it didn’t go away.

Please be assured that the contractor is out on the beaches cleaning up and properly disposing of the debris that was put into the harbor by others. As of today, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007, the areas that were affected by last Thursday’s trash have been cleaned up. They have cleaned the beach now, and we will continue to monitor and require additional cleanups, as necessary, including one final cleanup when the dredging project is completed.

The Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) has surmised that the fishing-related debris we are seeing on the beaches came from a specific area near the docks in Point Judith Pond, which was dredged for only two days earlier in the project. The contractor is no longer dredging there, and we do not expect to have additional debris in the remaining areas. We are basing this on the fact that sand disposal for beach nourishment had been going on for a month before this event and it appears that no additional material has been coming ashore since last Thursday.

As for terminating the dredging project itself, the CRMC appreciates the many concerns that have been provided, but halting the project now is unlikely to benefit anyone. The ferries that are vital to Block Island residents, the Coast Guard vessels, and the fishing fleet need clear channels to safely perform their functions. The ACOE project is working within a dredging window so that these operations do not disturb vital fish spawning during critical times of the year. Delays may affect winter flounder spawning. Our role is to weigh the clear benefits of safe navigation and bringing sand to our eroding beaches with the issue of suspending the project due to a problem that can be cleaned up. Should additional debris wash ashore, we and the ACOE and the contractor will react appropriately.

Another thing to remember is that this material, while unsightly, is not contaminated. The ACOE, CRMC and Coast Guard walked the beaches to arrive at this conclusion. The debris is comprised mostly of fishing-related gear such as rubber boots, gloves, plastic mesh (bait) bags, fishing line, rope, lobster claw bands and many beverage cans. The old cans appear to have been buried for a long time.

We would like to emphasize that all of the debris, no matter its source however, will be cleaned up. We also plan to use an underwater camera to inspect the bottom at the beach nourishment feeder bar site offshore, so that we can determine what debris, if any, still remain there.

Please contact Ed O’Donnell, Chief, Navigation Branch, at the ACOE at 978-318-8375, or Tim Dugan at 978-318-8264 with any additional questions. We are in contact regularly with the ACOE and the contractor.

The CRMC wants to assure you that the beaches will again be in a better condition than when we started since we will have more sand on them and will continue to work with the ACOE until the beaches are clean. We ask that each and every person who is concerned take a proactive approach to eliminating the dumping of trash into our harbors in the future.