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Request public comments be submitted by Feb. 23, 2017; Corps, New Haven Port Authority hold public meeting on New Haven Harbor Navigation Improvement Feasibility Study and EIS

Published Jan. 27, 2017

CONCORD, Mass. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District and the New Haven Port Authority held a public information meeting for the New Haven Harbor Navigation Improvement Feasibility Study and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on Jan. 24, 2017 in New Haven, Conn. The public scoping meeting was for the EIS being prepared as part of the feasibility study.

 

In response to a resolution of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works dated July 31, 2007, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District is conducting a feasibility study and Environmental Impact Statement to examine navigation-improvements to the existing New Haven Harbor Federal Navigation Project. The non-Federal sponsor for the study is the New Haven Port Authority in partnership with the Connecticut State Port Authority.

 

About 28 people attended the public meeting to learn more about the feasibility study and to identify any issues they felt needed to be included in the preparation of the EIS. The study will consider navigation improvements including deepening and widening the federal navigation project.

 

Inadequate channel depths result in navigation inefficiencies in transporting goods into and out of the harbor. To reach the terminals, larger ships must lighter outside the breakwaters and/or experience delays while waiting for favorable tide conditions, or both. Deeper and wider navigation features (main channel, maneuvering area, and turning basin) are needed to increase the navigation efficiency and safety of New Haven Harbor.

 

The feasibility study will identify, evaluate, and recommend to decision-makers an appropriate, coordinated and workable solution to the navigation inefficiencies at New Haven Harbor. Alternatives will include analyzing various incremental channel depths and widths based upon need, as well as alternative dredging methodologies. In addition, the study will evaluate various dredged material disposal alternatives such as beneficial use (e.g., marsh creation, beach nourishment, historic disposal mound capping, nearshore placement), open water placement, and upland placement.

 

More information on the New Haven Harbor Improvement study is available on the Corps website at:

http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Projects-Topics/New-Haven-Harbor/.

 

Following the scoping process, a public information meeting will be held in 2017 to present and discuss potential project alternatives. The Draft Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement (IFR/EIS) is scheduled to be completed in April 2018 and will be available for public review and comment.

                                                                 

Significant issues to be discussed in the Draft EIS include the effects of dredging and disposal on the physical, biological, cultural, and socioeconomic environment of the project area.

 

Comments or questions about the EIS can be directed to Mr. Todd Randall, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742-2751, or by email to todd.a.randall@usace.army.mil. Request that public comments be submitted to Mr. Randall at the Corps of Engineers by Feb. 23, 2017.


Contact
Tim Dugan
978-318-8264
cenae-pa@usace.army.mil

Release no. 17-004