Commodore Robertie’s update on our unplanned dredging problems- January 2020:

We have suffered a setback in our efforts to dredge the marina

As you may know, the Army Corp of Engineers has issued PCYC a permit to dredge. A significant part of the original permit included permission to dispose of the dredged materials at the deepwater Massacussettes Bay Disposal Site. This was important for cost reasons, as disposal of the soil “upland” would pose significant additional costs thought to put the project out of our reach.

On January 21st PCYC received notification from the Army Corp of Engineers that the part of our permit allowing the disposal of dredging materials at the deepwater Massacussettes Bay Disposal Site has been revoked. Note, we still have a permit to dredge, but as of now, we need to figure out where to put it - at a cost we can afford.

So, what happened?

The Army explained in their letter to PCYC that they had made an error in their original analysis of soil toxicity levels. They further explained that during an audit they discovered their mistake, have rerun their tests, and have concluded that our material “is unsuitable for open-water disposal at the Massachusetts Bay Disposal Site pursuant to the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972.”

On February 3rd Commodore Larry Robertie, Past Commodore and Dredging Chair Rob Straznick, and PCYC dredging consultant Luke Fabbri met with personnel of the Army Corp of Engineers at the Corp facilities in Concord, Massachusetts. 

The Army restated that they had made a correction to their original mistake, resulting in the revocation of permission to conduct deepwater disposal. They also expressed the conviction that their new findings are correct, and would not be changed.

During our meeting, The Army stated they would grant PCYC an extension of our permits to 2028 in order that we may evaluate and take action on our alternatives. We also discussed some possible alternatives - all of which pose additional costs.

What does this mean?

We will not just throw in the towel. This project is not dead.

PCYC will continue to evaluate our alternatives. 

We will seek alliances with others in the area to see if together we can come up with an economically viable method to dispose of dredged material.

We will evaluate a possible opportunity to dispose of the soil at a shore-side construction site in Lynn. 

We will review, as well as we can, the new analysis of the Army Corp to see if we can contest and reverse these new findings.

We will begin a financial analysis comparing the costs of any viable alternatives.

Once again, we will not just throw in the towel. This project is not dead.

However, the probability of dredging this year, as we had originally planned, seems remote. -Commodore Robertie