CONCORD, Mass. – The city of New London is seeking a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct work in waters of the United States in conjunction with installing and maintaining moorings at the New London Waterfront Park in New London, Conn.

The work is proposed in the Thames River off of property located at the New London Waterfront Park. The city of New London proposes to install and maintain 26 additional moorings within an approximately 12-acre Federal Anchorage (mooring area B) off of the New London Waterfront Park. The applicant also proposes to retain 15 moorings within an approximately 3.68-acre area (mooring area A) located between the newly re-designated Federal Anchorage and the New London Waterfront Park.

The moorings in mooring area A will have a swing radius of 100 feet and the moorings in mooring area B will have a swing radius of 142 feet. All of the moorings will be used by transient boaters and will be held in place by helix anchors.

The city of New London received a Corps permit on Jan. 28, 2003 authorizing the installation and maintenance of 15 moorings for transient boaters within a triangular-shaped area immediately south of the Coast Guard pier within the city’s Waterfront Park. The permit also authorized the installation and maintenance of an additional 30 moorings for transient boaters within an area which was designated as Federal Navigation Channel provided re-designation to a Federal Anchorage. The re-designation of this area was executed by H.R. 1495: Water Resources Development Act of 2007, Sec. 3181 (b) and was made into law on Nov. 9, 2007. The time limit for completion of work authorized by that permit expired before the re-designation was finalized. 

The application for the federal permit was filed with the Corps of Engineers in compliance with Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, which provides for federal regulation of any work in, or affecting navigable waters of the United States. The public notice can be viewed on the Corps website at  http://www.nae.usace.army.mil. Select Regulatory/Permitting and then weekly public notices.

Public comments on the Corps permit review (File # NAE-2001-1611) should be forwarded no later than May 25, 2011 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, Regulatory Division (ATTN: Diane Ray), 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742-2751. Additional information is available from Permit Project Manager Diane Ray at 978-318-8831 or toll free 800-343-4789 or 800-362-4367 (if calling from within Massachusetts) or by email to: diane.m.ray@usace.army.mil.