CONCORD, Mass. – A public information meeting on the status of the New Haven Harbor Navigation Improvement Feasibility Study and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be held on Jan. 10, 2018 in New Haven, Conn. The information meeting will provide an opportunity for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, the Connecticut Port Authority, and the New Haven Port Authority to provide a status update on the study and allow the public an opportunity to ask questions and provide comments.
The study is considering 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 public information meeting will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018 in the Nathan Hale School auditorium at 480 Townsend Avenue in New Haven, Conn. Registration will start at 6 p.m. and the meeting will start at 6:30 p.m.
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 net economic benefits and design requirements for deeper draft vessels. In addition, the study will evaluate various dredged material disposal alternatives such as beneficial use (e.g., oyster habitat and marsh creation, beach nourishment, historic disposal mound capping, nearshore placement), open water placement, and upland placement.
In response to a resolution of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works dated July 31, 2007, the 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.
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/.
Significant issues to be discussed in the Draft EIS include the effects of dredging, disposal, and beneficial use of dredged material on the physical, biological, cultural, and socioeconomic environment of the project area. The Draft Integrated Feasibility Report/Environmental Impact Statement (IFR/EIS) is scheduled to be completed in April 2018 and will be available for public review and comment.
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.