8 NATCHEZ ON THE WATERFRONT


During the period from 18 January-18 March, Exo Environmental, in collaboration with the Brightlingsea Harbour Commissioners (BHC), successfully carried out the maintenance dredging of 11,000 cu m of accumulated sediments from within the two basins of Waterside Marina in Essex, UK.


it is fast becoming uneconomic to undertake the process of dredging. Take a look at the USACE and


USEPA websites or other online literature and there can be found an abundance of studies, plans and alternatives for dredging and dredge material relocation, beneficial use, etc, all generally geared to providing both environmentally-friendly and affordable options. Almost all involve massive dredging projects. Yet, when I look into the options available to most marinas, the options typically range from 0 to 1. If the bottom sediments are


mostly clean sand, then rebuilding nearby shoreline beaches (beach nourishment) can be a viable option. However, most demonstration projects that have been undertaken, such as mixing with concrete for paving or other construction uses, are often so expensive that they are not economically feasible, which translates to putting the facility out of business.


‘Green fee’ The ‘green fee’ for dredging (i.e. the testing) has gone from a few hundred dollars to tens of


thousands of dollars and, if levels of concern arise, the testing cost can go into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even just getting approval of a testing plan in some places has evolved from a fairly simple process to a multi- agency bureaucratic mess that can take months and significant dollars to get through. At the end of that process and review of the test results, it is increasingly common for applicants to be told that they failed – no in-water options available, even with mitigation and management and upland options, to the extent they may have been available have also been limited or eliminated. Today, the result of not being able


to economically dredge and relocate the materials is a significant decrease in access into the water for the public. It flies directly in the face of most Coastal Zone Management programs’ principles of access. There are some private concerns that have tried to step in to solve the problem. They have been met with numerous regulatory delays. They readily admit that small volumes are not really economically feasible. In fact, almost all of the


AUGUST 2018 • MARINA INDUSTRY SOUTH-EAST ASIA & PACIFIC


literature is aimed at extremely large volume governmental projects. There’s a private operator here in the North-East of the US trying to make a go of it as an independent dredge material drop-off site. Send your dredged material to them and they will take care of it, whether through beneficial use or more traditional upland disposal. At the moment, they are quoting $190 per cubic yard for a typical marina dredge project – and that price does not include the actual dredging or barging the material to them!


Crossroads So governments are now at a crossroads. Either they want access to and into the waters or not. If access into the water is really desired, the governments need to step up to the plate, not as naysayers or claiming, “it’s not my job”, but being proactive by facilitating relocation of dredge materials and providing sites and programs for the relocation of dredged materials. These can include approaches such as the use of deep holes, containment islands, waterfront unloading areas for staging and dewatering of dredge


materials for transfer to other approved upland sites. I am a big believer in being


proactive and allowing dredging with relocation of dredged materials in an environmentally-safe manner to large ‘potholes’ and, where needed, managed with mounds of cleaner cap materials, as well as to suitable upland sites. It is important for governments, politicians and the industry to take a broader and wider look at the cause and effect issues. Not dredging and relocating materials from the shallow estuary areas where marinas are most commonly located only causes more environmental long-term concerns, as well as reducing and eliminating access into the water.


*Dan Natchez is President of Daniel S. Natchez and Associates Inc, a leading international environmental waterfront design consulting company specialising in the design of marinas and marina resorts throughout the world. Your comments and enquiries are invited on Tel: +1 914 698 5678, by Fax: +1 914 698 7321, by E-mail: dan.n@ dsnainc.com or on his Website: www.dsnainc.com


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