dredging Archives | Coastal Review

Corps to host meetings on maintenance of federal harbors

Staff Report — Thu, 28 May 2026 16:42:43 +0000

The state port in Wilmington is 26 miles from the ocean on the Cape Fear River. Photo: North Carolina Ports Authority

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Wilmington District is hosting a series of public meetings in June to discuss long-term strategies for maintaining North Carolina’s federal harbor channels.

The meetings, which will be held in-person and virtually, are an opportunity for the community to engage on the development of environmental impact statements for the Morehead City and Wilmington harbors.

Notices of intent for the Morehead City Harbor and Wilmington Harbor were published on Thursday.

The environmental impact statements will evaluate “reasonably foreseeable” environmental-related impacts to proposed updates to operation and maintenance, or O&M, dredging and associated activities, according to a Corps release.

Key topics include environmental compliance, navigational safety, and risk-based analysis.

The environmental impact statements will not evaluate or examine any changes in channel dimensions, dredged material volumes, or options where dredged material may be placed.

“Updates to O&M activities are expected to improve operational flexibility by updating avoidance and minimization measures, including adjusting the timing of dredging operations,” the release continues.

Morehead City Harbor meetings are scheduled as follows:

In-person on Monday, June 8 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Morehead City Elementary School media room, 3316 Arendell St.
Virtual, session 1, on Tuesday, June 9 from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Virtual, session 2, on Monday, June 15 from 5:30-7 p.m.

Meetings for the Wilmington Harbor will be held:

In-person on Tuesday, June 9 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Edwin A. Alderman Elementary School cafeteria/multi-purpose room, 2025 Independence Boulevard.
Virtual, session 1, on Monday, June 15 from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Virtual, session 2, on Tuesday, June 16 from 5:30 – 7 p.m.

The Corps will accept public comments at the meetings as well as by email to CESAW-WHOMEIS@usace.army.mil, online at https://sardn-eis-sardn.hub.arcgis.com/, or by mail: Attention: Teresa Young, Environmental Resources Section, USACE Wilmington District, 69 Darlington Avenue, Wilmington, NC 28403.

Comments will be accepted through June 29.

Corps says initiative will streamline infrastructure permitting

Catherine Kozak — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 04:00:00 +0000

The Army Corps’ Dredge Murden, a special-purpose vessel employed to maintain shallow-draft inlets and transport the material to downdrift beaches for nourishment, is shown from above. Photo: Corps

Notorious for its bloated and rigid regulatory structure, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works program is looking to slim down and speed up, all while redirecting resources and prioritizing programs.

As detailed in 12 memorandums released in March, the agency’s new initiative, “Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork,” seeks “to deliver critical projects and programs for the nation more efficiently, sooner, and at less cost than the current ways of doing business,” Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam R. Telle stated in a February press release.

“This will eliminate bureaucratic delays and provide fast, clear decisions needed to save lives and empower our economy,” he added.

According to the release, the plan’s 27 initiatives are grouped under five categories: maximizing ability to deliver national infrastructure, cutting red tape, and focusing on efficiency, transparency and accountability and prioritization. The plan would not affect the Corps’ execution of its emergency response support to natural and human-made disasters.

Even by federal government standards, the Corps’ Civil Works is massive, managing about $259 billion in water resource assets and employing an estimated 37,000 full-time-equivalent employees, 98% of whom are civilians, according to a 2025 congressional report.

Through the initiatives, there are assurances that all projects are reviewed for the best path forward, said Eugene Pawlik with the Corps’ public affairs in an email, responding to questions from Coastal Review. “(The Corps) will be focused on strategically allocating available resources to prioritize the most pressing infrastructure needs across the country.”

The slow pace of the permit approval process will be addressed with new technology and geospatial tools that will expedite jurisdictional and permitting decision-making as well as reduce subjectivity in identification and elimination of Clean Water Act areas, Pawlik said.

Additional permitting goals, he wrote, include reissue and expand the existing Nationwide Permit program, eliminate barriers that prevent establishment of new mitigation banks, leverage private capital to modernize and expand generating capacity at Corps facilities, provide long-term leases with rights to additional revenues to entities willing to pay for capital improvements, and reform how the Corps conducts Section 408 reviews and engineering oversight.

The Section 408 program allows people or entities to make changes to a civil works project following reviews that are to verify that the changes do not have negative effects on the public interest or the project itself.

No additional funds nor dedicated budget item is being requested to implement the program.

“We believe the transformation initiatives will be a more effective use of annual appropriations,” Pawlik said.

But a closer look at just two interconnected and increasingly important tasks that the Corps is charged with in North Carolina and numerous other states — that is, dredging clogged inlets and nourishing eroding beaches by pumping in sand — may seem logical and sensible. But it’s not that simple.

With both activities being done more frequently, while sand supplies are becoming more sparse, the Corps is more often being asked to put the dredged sand from navigation channels on the beach. And more often, and to the enormous frustration of the permit applicant, it’s not permitted.

“In the Wilmington District, maintenance dredging often serves a dual purpose through the Beneficial Use of Dredged Material,” the Corps press release said, referring to a program created under the Water Resources Development Act of 2016. “The district uses beach-quality sand removed from navigation channels and inlets to provide for North Carolina’s coastal communities.”

On the Outer Banks, for instance, dredged material from Oregon Inlet in past years had been pumped onto an adjacent beach on the north end of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge.

“Maintenance dredging is about more than just keeping the channels clear and ships moving; in North Carolina, it’s also a critical tool for coastal resiliency,” said Col. Brad A. Morgan, commander of the Corps’ Wilmington District. “By placing dredged sand back onto our beaches, we aren’t just maintaining a channel—we are protecting coastal infrastructure, supporting the local tourism economy, and restoring vital habitats.”

But the state Division of Environmental Quality has to permit sediment placed on state beaches, and it requires that sand to meet standards. On federal lands, such as the Pea Island refuge and Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the U.S. Department of Interior also must permit the sand placement. Even when sand is removed from a nearby location, it’s not necessarily transferable to the beach where it’s needed. Dredged sand may be the wrong color or size, or testing has revealed pollutants or toxins. It might be mucky and unsuitable for bird habitat. It might be too fine for the targeted location, meaning it would soon blow away. Or as happened in 2015 at North Topsail Beach, it could be too rocky.

Still, the Corps would continue to ensure that dredged material used as beach fill meets required standards, Pawlik said.

“The Flood and Coastal Storm Risk Reduction programs reduce risk for millions of Americans and billions of dollars of infrastructure,” he wrote. “(The initiative) will ensure USACE pursues cost efficiency through better use and scheduling of dredging assets nationally and increased use of dredged materials for beneficial use.”

Pawlik said that the Corps’ district commanders would review all projects and be “key players” in forward motion of projects and allocation of resources “to prioritize the most pressing infrastructure needs across the country.”

Each of the 12 memorandums provides details of different aspects of implementation of the “Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork” program, addressing what many people have frequently noted about the agency.

As one excerpt from the memo, “Prioritization of Efforts Within the Army Civil Works Program” reveals, there’s room for improvement: “In recent years, the Corps has prioritized every effort all at once, which of course means there are no priorities and that we can mask lack of delivery with progress on paper.”

Coastal Review will not publish Friday as our offices will be closed in observance of Good Friday.

Port plan would have ‘significant adverse impacts’: DCM

Trista Talton — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 05:00:00 +0000

The ZIM Kota Pekarang calls at the Port of Wilmington in May 2018. Photo: NC Ports

The North Carolina Division of Coastal Management has objected to the proposed Wilmington Harbor project, concluding that a federal study of the plan is too scant on details and that, as presented, deepening and widening the channel would have “significant adverse impacts to coastal resources.”

The Army Corps of Engineers’ review lacks an evaluation of PFAS in the sediment in the lower Cape Fear River, fails to adequately assess cumulative flooding impacts or thoroughly detail areas where dredged material would be placed, and does not sufficiently account for potential effects on fisheries habitat, freshwater wetlands, shorelines, or state, historic and other properties along the river, the division concluded.

The draft environmental impact statement, or DEIS, the Corps released last September also falls short in analyzing the project’s economic benefits and evaluating “potential economic losses associated with environmental degradation,” Division of Coastal Management Director Tancred Miller wrote to the Corps’ Wilmington District in a 15-page letter dated Feb. 24.

A Corps spokesman, in a statement Wednesday, called the state’s objection “disappointing” and highlighted what the Corps describes as offering “numerous opportunities” to engage with the public and work with state and federal agencies.

The Corps “felt we had been working hand in hand with all our State and Federal partners and resource agencies since we began coordination regarding this project nearly 3.5 years ago,” Jed Cayton, a public affairs specialist with Wilmington District, said in an email. “Given all the integration and engagement throughout this process, the objection provided at this late stage in the process is disconcerting.”

The Corps and North Carolina State Ports Authority are reviewing the division’s letter “to determine how we will proceed,” Cayton said. “Since we are very early in this review, we cannot yet give a specific date for completion.”

The Corps may pause the project and work with the state to try and resolve the state’s concerns or initiate a formal dispute resolution process.

The division’s objection comes a little more than a month after the division granted the Corps’ request to pause its review of whether the proposed project was consistent with state coastal management program laws, regulations and policies.

Miller wrote that, during that pause, the division “detailed its concerns along with possible paths forward to address the information deficiencies.”

On Feb. 16, the Corps asked the division in an email to resume its review of the project, one that has been highly scrutinized for its potential effects to the environment, shorelines and historic and culturally significant areas along the shores of the lower Cape Fear River.

“Our objection was based on a combination of lack of sufficient information to determine the impacts from PFAS and flooding and anticipated significant adverse impacts to fisheries resources, wildlife habitat and cultural and historic resources,” Miller told the Coastal Resources Commission during its meeting Wednesday in Atlantic Beach.

In his letter, Miller wrote that the lack of information regarding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances was “of particular concern.”

“The DEIS does not evaluate the potential for contaminant resuspension during dredging and the resulting fate and transport of these chemicals into nearby water bodies and land areas,” the letter states. “This is of particular concern since extensive scientific research has documented the presence and persistence of PFAS over the past decade within the [Cape Fear River Basin], including a growing body of research indicating significant negative ecological implications of PFAS in fish, birds, and reptiles.”

The proposal calls for extending the entrance of the federal navigation channel farther offshore, deepening the channel by 5 feet and widening portions of it from the mouth of the Cape Fear River more than 25 miles to the Wilmington port.

The ports authority says the project is needed to accommodate larger ships, which will attract more import and export business to the port, ease shipping congestion on the East Coast and keep the state’s ports competitive.

But opponents of the proposed project argue it will accelerate erosion and exacerbate flooding, destroy habitat, disperse PFAS in the riverbed’s sediment into marshes and onto public beaches, is not economically justified, and threatens historic and cultural resources along the river.

One such historic site is Orton, a privately owned property that spans some 14,000 acres off the lower Cape Fear River’s western bank in Brunswick County and that includes a former plantation.

Orton owner Louis Bacon has spent millions restoring an expansive rice field system and earthen dike that enslaved Africans built more than two centuries ago to protect the rice fields from the river.

In a statement to Coastal Review on Wednesday, Bacon said the Division of Coastal Management’s objection to the proposed harbor project, “is proof that facts and persistence matter.”

“My concern has always been simple: this project, as proposed, puts undue and unacceptable risk on important historical and ecological sites,” Bacon stated. “The corps has not provided the analysis or safeguards the law requires. At Orton, dredging so close to a 250-year-old earthen dike creates a very real risk of catastrophic failure according to two separate expert firms – collapsing and flooding 350 acres of freshwater rice fields and exceptional wetlands with Atlantic saltwater, thereby eradicating the legacy of enslaved African Americans who built these systems over centuries, a monument to their efforts that I have spent years restoring.

“My objection is rooted in the fact that the project cannot be considered ‘consistent’ with North Carolina’s coastal protections if it causes this much damage,” he continued. “Large infrastructure decisions must be grounded in rigorous scientific evaluations, transparent disclosure, and enforceable protections, because these valuable resources cannot be rebuilt once lost.”

Several towns in Brunswick and New Hanover counties have adopted resolutions urging state and federal agencies to protect a series of islands within the lower Cape Fear River that support 30% of the state’s coastal shorebird population. Those towns have also asked for the creation of a comprehensive, long-term, and fully funded environmental and adaptive management plan to cover costs related to monitoring and mitigation to prevent and repair environmental harm.

Last month, the Wilmington City Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling for state and federal decision makers to further review the proposed project.

In his letter, Miller noted that an overwhelming majority of the written comments the division received last year regarding the proposed project opposed it. And everyone who spoke at a public hearing the division hosted in downtown Wilmington last November opposed the project.

Kerri Allen, coastal management program director of the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, was one of the 72 people who expressed their concerns about the proposed project at that meeting.

“I’m encouraged to see DCM thoughtfully consider the many strong public comments submitted on this project,” Allen said in an email on Wednesday. “The level of engagement from coastal residents, local leaders, and partners shows how much people care, and it matters when that input is reflected in decisions. Our public trust waters belong to everyone, and transparent review like this helps lead to better, more resilient outcomes for our coast.”

Southern Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney Ramona McGee echoed similar sentiments in a release Wednesday.

“This decision is welcome news for the people of Wilmington and beyond who cherish the lower Cape Fear River and its surrounding natural areas,” McGee stated. “This $1.3 billion project would put at risk the communities and wildlife that call this region home by exacerbating flooding, destroying habitat, and damaging wetlands. The Lower Cape Fear is already threatened by sea-level rise and industrial pollution – we shouldn’t be further damaging this special place with an unnecessary and costly project.”

Ocean Isle seeks to modify permit, nourish beach at east inlet

Trista Talton — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Sandbags line the roadway through The Pointe at Ocean Isle Beach in this undated NCDEQ photo.

Ocean Isle Beach hopes to pump tens of thousands of cubic yards of sand onto the beach at the easternmost tip of the island by this spring as an erosion stopgap.

The Brunswick County town has asked the Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District for authorization to have up to 70,000 cubic yards of sand placed east of its terminal groin where erosion has been chipping away at the shoreline in front of a luxury neighborhood.

The Corps announced late last week that it is accepting public comments through March 8 on the town’s application to modify the federal permit it received in 2016 to build the terminal groin at Shallotte Inlet.

As it stands, that permit does not allow sand to be placed east of the terminal groin.

A terminal groin is a wall-like structure built perpendicular to the shore at inlets to contain sand in areas with high rates of erosion.

Proposed modifications to the permit include placing sand along an 1,875-foot stretch of shoreline at The Pointe, a gated community whose oceanfront property owners have been desperately trying to hold back an encroaching sea.

Under the terms of the proposed permit changes, this would be a one-time beach nourishment project.

The town is also asking for its permitted sand borrow source in Shallotte Inlet to be expanded from about 83 acres to a little more than 117 acres, to add a new borrow area within the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and be allowed to work outside of the environmental window for dredging from April 30 to June 15.

Ocean Isle Beach Town Manager Justin Whiteside said on Tuesday that the town wants to get the modified permit as quickly as possible in hopes that the sand placement project would coincide with a federal dredging project.

Map shows the existing Shallotte Inlet borrow area and proposed expanded area. Source: Army Corps of Engineers

The Corps announced last September it had awarded a nearly $8.5 million contract to maintenance dredge several areas along the Intracoastal, including at the Shallotte Inlet crossing.

Whiteside explained that Ocean Isle Beach anticipates receiving 25,000 cubic yards of sand “that the town is paying for” from the Corps through the inlet crossing project.

“The hope is to get this permit modified within the timeframe that the Corps’ contractor is here on site and then we could contract with them possibly to dredge more in that federal channel or go into that inlet borrow area to put that additional sand there,” he said.

Whiteside said the town does not yet have an approximate cost of its proposal to nourish the beach east of the terminal groin.

Ocean Isle’s east end had for decades been losing ground to chronic erosion, the worst of which occurred along about a mile of ocean shoreline beginning near the inlet.

An encroaching ocean claimed homes, damaged and destroyed public utilities and prompted the North Carolina Department of Transportation to abandon state-maintained streets there.

To stave off further erosion, the town in 2005 was permitted to install a wall of sandbags to protect public roads and infrastructure from getting swallowed up by the sea.

In 2011, Ocean Isle Beach was, along with a handful of other beach communities, allowed to pursue the option of installing a terminal groin at an inlet area after the North Carolina General Assembly repealed a law that banned hardened erosion control structures on the state’s ocean shorelines.

Five years later, the town received state and federal approval to build a 750-foot terminal groin.

But before construction could begin, the Southern Environmental Law Center in August 2017 filed a lawsuit on behalf of the National Audubon Society challenging the Corps’ approval of the project.

More than three years passed before the lawsuit, which later included the town, concluded after an appellate court affirmed a lower court’s decision that the Corps fairly considered the alternatives included in an environmental impact statement examining the proposed project.

Construction of the $11 million project was completed in the spring of 2022, the same year the final plan for The Pointe, a 44-lot subdivision, was approved for development.

By fall 2025, The Pointe’s oceanfront properties were suffering significant erosion.

Last November, the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission unanimously agreed to grant permission to the owners of eight lots in that neighborhood to install larger than typically allowed sandbag structures waterward of their land.

Whiteside said Tuesday that those sandbags had not been installed.

Sand in the area east of the terminal groin, he said, appears to be “recovering a little bit.”

“We think over the past month and a half or so that we’ve gained, just looking at aerial photographs, approximately 5,000 cubic yards of sand that’s deposited east of the groin, so some of the beach is building back up in that area,” Whiteside said.

He explained that in 2022 the town’s federal beach nourishment project took place in conjunction with the construction of the terminal groin.

“The dredger came through and we had a huge spit on the east end of the island and that contractor came through and just dredged right through that spit and took it down to a negative 15-foot elevation,” Whitesaid said. “It’s kind of filled back in now and we’re thinking that’s why we’re seeing the growth back east of the groin. We’re hoping this shows that that’s some of what contributed to it, that it was maybe our own nourishment project through the Corps.”

“But, in the meantime, we know this is a short-term solution that we’ve got to figure out some type of long-term solution to, so our engineer firm is going to be doing some modeling to see what kind of modifications, if any, need to take place to the existing groin,” he continued.

Comments on the proposed project should refer the permit application number (SAW-2011-01241) and may be submitted to the Corps electronically through the Regulatory Request System at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs or by email to Tyler Crumbley at tyler.a.crumbley2@usace.army.mil.

Written comments may be mailed to Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District, Attention: Tyler Crumbley, 69 Darlington Ave., Wilmington, NC 28403.

The Corps will consider written requests for a public hearing to be held to consider the proposed application modifications.

Elizabeth II unable to leave for overdue maintenance … again

Catherine Kozak — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 05:00:00 +0000

The 43-year-old, 69-foot-long, three-masted, square-rigged, sailing ship Elizabeth II built as a representation of late-1500s vessels is surrounded by ice and snow Sunday at its mooring in Manteo. Photo: Wes Snyder Photography

MANTEO — Shoaling in a Roanoke Sound channel just outside Shallowbag Bay has once again prevented the state attraction Elizabeth II from leaving its moorings at Roanoke Island Festival Park for maintenance.

And once again, Dare County has agreed to help manage another dredging project for the state so the ship can motor to the Wanchese state shipyard for its overdue haul-out.

“We’re still essentially in the planning stages,” Dare County Waterways Commission administrator Barton Grover said in a recent interview. “We’re not exactly sure what path we’re going to take moving forward.”

The 43-year-old wooden-hulled vessel, built to represent a 16th-century English sailing ship that participated in Sir Walter Raleigh’s 1584-1587 Roanoke Voyages, was last hauled out for dry-dock maintenance in 2021, after sitting in brackish water for four years.

Grover said that the proposed project would be addressing the same clogged area near where the channel intersects at Roanoke Sound and Shallowbag Bay that had earlier blocked the ship from moving.

In November 2020, the county had approved a contract and a grant application to conduct maintenance dredging in the channel to allow larger vessels, including the Elizabeth II, to access Manteo harbor. The vessel, which has an 8-foot draft, was able to safely leave its dock in Dough’s Creek about a week earlier than completion of the project in late February 2021, according to the county website.

Although the Roanoke Channel is officially a federally authorized channel, Grover explained that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pipeline dredge does not do work north of Wanchese. Ultimately, a bucket-and-barge method was used for the 90-day project, which increased the depth of about 2.2 miles of channel from as little as 1 to 5 feet to 9 feet. Another 290 feet in a connector channel to the ship’s berth was also dredged. Costs for the $1.9 million project were appropriated by the North Carolina General Assembly, with an additional $170,000 provided by the state’s Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging and Aquatic Weed Fund and the town of Manteo.

Some of the factors that come into play with the proposed dredge project, Grover said, include higher costs to dispose of the dredged material, as well as the lack of an obvious disposal area.

In the earlier projects, the material — scooped from the channel, piled onto a barge and then transported to land — was hauled off in a truck to the be placed on top of the county’s Manns Harbor landfill. But the increased expense may have made that option less attractive, he said. Other possibilities could include placement in a permitted area of water, or beneficial re-use along a shoreline or other area, he said.

Another consideration under review is whether the local hopper dredge Miss Katie would be capable of doing the necessary work instead of again using a bucket-and-barge method, Grover said. But the choice of an appropriate disposal site could also come into play in determining costs for that dredge to reach the site.

Typically planning and permitting for a similar dredge project takes at least “six-plus” months, he said. Also, the state has yet to secure the funding. Ideally, he said, a project would be ready to go during the upcoming winter of 2026-2027.

By then, the 69-foot-long ship will have been sitting in the brackish water alongside its dock in Dough’s Creek for about six years.

Michele Walker, assistant communications director at the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, said in an email responding to questions from Coastal Review that the last condition report was done by surveyor Paul C. Haley with Capt. G. W. Full & Associates Marine Surveyors in 2016, when numerous issues, including signs of rot and deterioration of the exterior and interior, were detailed.

When the vessel was hauled out in 2021, she added, Haley did not travel to the Outer Banks because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but he verified with the firm’s staff on site that the earlier repair recommendations had been completed.

The Elizabeth II’s portside aft framing is visible with planks removed in this photo by Alex Hadden in 2021 that’s included in the review report by Capt. Paul Haley of Capt. G. W. Full & Associates Marine Surveyors of West Hyannisport, Maine.

“In addition, the ship is inspected annually by the U.S. Coast Guard,” Walker wrote. “This provides us approval to operate as an attraction vessel, which allows us to have passengers on board while moored.”

Walker added that the ship is maintained above the waterline throughout the year, with more extensive maintenance done while Roanoke Island Festival Park, a state museum that memorializes regional English precolonial and Native American history, and the adjacent Elizabeth II State Historic Site are closed January through mid-March.

Haley’s 2021 report, while emphasizing his familiarity with the vessel from doing the surveys in 2004, 2011 and 2016, also lauds the park for always following through on the surveyors’ recommendations.

Notably, when compromised planking documented in the earlier survey had been replaced, he said, the frames exposed during the work were observed to be in good condition. Also, all the critical repairs and plank replacements had been completed, he said.

“The vessel has a good maintenance program by the park and they haul out the vessel on a regular basis for repainting of the bottom and doing any maintenance work that requires the vessel being out of water,” he wrote.

Except for a few months in the winter, the Elizabeth II welcomes visitors aboard to experience a sailor’s view of ship life and duties, guided by interpreters in period costumes who regale them with stories.

The replica ship Elizabeth II of Manteo is shown under sail, a sight rarely seen because of shoaling at the intersection of Shallowbag Bay and the Roanoke Sound. Photo: Friends of Elizabeth II

As a representative vessel, the Elizabeth II was built based on knowledge of the tools, materials and basic designs used in Elizabethan-era shipbuilding, but there are no original design sketches of the actual merchant ships that sailed during the late 1500s to Roanoke Island from England. Still, the three-masted, square-rigged ship with dashing blue-and-white markings contrasting with its wooden hull — even while rarely moving from its dock across from the Manteo waterfront — has reliably served its mission as an ambassador for the state, the Outer Banks and Manteo’s heritage as the site of the first English colony in America.

But since the flashy ship’s 1984 launch during the town’s 400th anniversary celebration of the Roanoke Voyages, which culminated in the ill-fated “Lost Colony” that was never seen again after its governor left for supplies in 1587, once-routine day trips to visit coastal ports or join in community festivals fell by the wayside due to lack of funds, scheduling difficulties and other challenges. And gradually, even annual haul-outs started being delayed for multiple years, despite that prolonged time in the water for wooden hulls can lead to damage from shipworms and rot.

The ship’s current dockside stranding was not anticipated during the last review five years ago.

“It is the plan of this office to be present and to conduct a full survey at the haul out at the beginning of 2022,” Haley wrote in the report. “With this in mind, it is our opinion that the vessel is suitable for her present use.”

On Dec. 18, the nonprofit Friends of Elizabeth II indicated no intent to give up the ship, so to speak, posting a notice seeking to hire a new captain for the vessel. Applications were due Jan. 29. In addition to overseeing the maintenance of the ship and leading the crew and interpreters, the job’s responsibilities include training staff and volunteers in rigging, sailmaking and marine woodworking.

The required duties also illustrate that the Elizabeth II isn’t just a pretty ship decorating a small historic North Carolina town’s harbor. The captain must not only understand Coast Guard regulations associated with “moving watercraft” through waterways, the captain must be capable of “sailing the Elizabeth II as needed.”

Division OKs Corps’ request to pause state consistency review

Trista Talton — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 05:00:00 +0000

The cargo container ship Zim Hong Kong arrives at the North Carolina Port of Wilmington in an undated photo from the State Ports Authority.

The Army Corps of Engineers wants more time to mull over concerns that have been brought up on the proposed project to deepen and widen portions of the Wilmington Harbor channel.

The North Carolina Division of Coastal Management announced late Tuesday afternoon it had granted the Corps’ request, indefinitely pausing the division’s review of whether the proposed project is consistent with state coastal management program laws, regulations and policies.

“The decision to pause allows time for the Corps to review and consider issues raised by DCM and the public before DCM completes its review,” according to a release. “A timeline has not been established for when the pause may be lifted.”

The pause follows a series of deadline extensions that have been made in recent weeks on the proposed project, one that is being highly scrutinized for its potential effects to the environment, shorelines and treasure of historic and culturally significant areas along the shores of the lower Cape Fear River.

The N.C. State Ports Authority says the project designed to accommodate larger ships would attract more import and export business to the port, ease shipping congestion on the East Coast, and keep the state’s ports competitive. The proposal calls for deepening the harbor channel by 5 feet and widening portions of it from the mouth of the Cape Fear River to the Wilmington port.

In late December, the division announced that the Corps’ Wilmington District was giving the division more time to complete its review of the federal determination, pushing its deadline from Jan. 5 to Jan. 19.

The Corps requested the pause on Jan. 16, just days after state fisheries and wildlife resources officials sent the division memorandums saying those agencies continue to have concerns about impacts to fish and wildlife resources within the proposed project area.

A Corps spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment by deadline for this report.

In its Jan. 14 memorandum to the Division of Coastal Management, the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries reiterated its concerns about the proposed project’s effects on habitat essential to fish in the river, wetlands connected to the river, and the overall water quality in the river.

Deepening and widening the harbor as planned “will have significant adverse impacts to fisheries resources due to the permanent loss of state-designated nursery and anadromous fish spawning areas along the Cape Fear River estuary and its tributaries,” the memorandum states.

“There is also potential for significant adverse impacts to wetlands, (submerged aquatic vegetation), shellfish resources, and water column habitat due to insufficient mitigation plans and uncertain impacts associated with the proposed actions that are not adequately discussed,” in the federal letter report and draft environmental impact statement of the Wilmington Harbor 403 navigation project released in September. The figure 403 refers to the relevant section of the Water Resources Development Act.

N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission officials raised similar worries, stating in a Jan. 15 memorandum to DCM that while it had been involved throughout the project’s development process, “our agency still has concerns regarding impacts the proposal will have on wildlife resources in the project area.”

“These comments include concerns regarding the proposal’s direct impacts to wildlife habitats, whether impacts to these habitats have been adequately assessed, inadequacies of mitigation proposals, the need to consult appropriate agencies prior to moving forward with the proposal, and the subsequent impacts to wildlife and their habitats (particularly nesting waterbirds and shorelines) from larger and increased vessel use.”

A number of towns in Brunswick and New Hanover counties have adopted resolutions urging state and federal agencies to protect a series of islands within the lower Cape Fear River that support 30% of the state’s coastal shorebird population.

Those towns are also calling for the creation of a comprehensive, long-term, and fully funded environmental and adaptive management plan to cover costs related to monitoring and mitigation to prevent and repair environmental harm.

A Corps official earlier this month confirmed to Coastal Review that the agency was implementing a programmatic agreement with the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, the General Services Administration, the state Ports Authority, “and possibly the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation” to review historic and culturally significant areas along the river that may be impacted by the proposed project.

The agreement must be signed before the agency finalizes project plans, which would occur after the Corps releases its final environmental impact statement.

The final environmental impact statement is expected to be released sometime this summer, according to a tentative timeline released by the Corps. It is unclear how the Corps’ request of the state to pause its review may affect that projected timeline.

Once the review process resumes, DCM must decide whether to concur with or object the Corps’ determination.

“If DCM objects, it can offer alternatives or conditions that, if agreed to by the Corps, would allow the project to proceed,” according to the division.

Construction on the proposed project would begin no earlier than 2030 and take about six years to complete, a schedule Corps officials have said is optimistic.

Dredging, sand placement project underway on Oak Island

Staff Report — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 19:15:59 +0000

A combination of dredge and sand placement projects, including one by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will result in more than 1.6 million cubic yards of new sand on Oak Island’s ocean shore. Photo: Oak Island

A dredging and sand placement that began last week in Oak Island will continue with around-the-clock operations as part of the town’s 2025-26 beach nourishment project.

Hopper dredge RB Weeks began work Friday afternoon in the area of 37th Place East and Southeast 43rd Street, according to a town release.

Work on the project will be conducted 24 hours a day, conditions permitting. Residents and visitors in the Brunswick County town may notice loud noises and ground vibrations and see moving machinery and closed beach areas.

Equipment has been staged in the parking lots of the Kevin Bell Skatepark and the the adjacent Southeast 49th Street beach access, which remain closed to the public.

Town officials urge residents and visitors to steer clear of closed staging construction areas and asked not to attempt to speak to or ask questions of crews working on the project.

In all, Oak Island’s ocean shore will be plumped with more than 1.64 million cubic yards of sand through a combination of three projects, including the Lockwoods Folly Inlet, Wilmington Harbor and offshore Oak Island projects.

The offshore project that began Friday is scheduled to be complete in January, subject to conditions.

For up-to-date information, visit the town’s beach nourishment information webpage, which includes a new progress tracker.

Wilmington residents see no good in proposed harbor project

Trista Talton — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 05:00:00 +0000

Those in attendance at the Division of Coastal Management hearing on the Wilmington Harbor project, many wearing blue in a show of solidarity, pose for a group photo. Photo: Trista Talton

WILMINGTON — Deepening the Wilmington Harbor would disperse PFAS now mingling in the riverbed’s sediment into marshes and onto public beaches, accelerate erosion, exacerbate flooding, destroy habitat, and is not economically justified, area residents said during a state-hosted public hearing.

Many who spoke at the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management’s hearing in downtown Wilmington Monday night argued that the federal draft environmental statement released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers earlier this fall fails to fully examine potential impacts associated with the proposed project.

The draft study examines different alternatives for the North Carolina State Ports Authority’s aim to accommodate larger container ships at the Wilmington port.

The preferred alternative selected in the study calls for deepening the harbor from 42 to 47 feet, widening the channel in multiple areas, and extending the ocean entrance to the river. These changes would accommodate vessels that can carry 14,000 20-by-8-foot shipping containers, ports officials say.

But several of the nearly 20 people who spoke argued that the proposed project would not benefit the local economy, and its environmental harms would drastically overwhelm any associated economic benefits. About 70 people attended the hearing.

“This project is a poor economic decision given the massive cost compared to the miniscule benefits,” said Jessica Hardee, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “The cost of deepening the harbor and the channel is projected to be over $1 billion. However, the only noted benefit of this project are cost savings to international shipping companies who use the port, not North Carolina or local communities. This project provides little benefit to the Wilmington area and North Carolinians while also threatening significant damage to the coastal region.”

One striking absence from the study is how churning up and moving per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in the sediment of the lower Cape Fear River might affect the environment, animals that rely on that environment, and human health, some speakers said.

“Even though we all know that there’s PFAS in the sediment of the river, the Corps says we can’t consider that because it’s not a regulated chemical,” said Wilmington resident and geologist Roger Shew.

But PFAS, or similar chemical compounds of which there are more than 14,000 used to make a host of consumer goods from food containers to stain-resistant clothing and carpet, will be regulated by the time the channel would be deepened in the early to mid-2030s, he said.

“And since 15 million of the 35 million cubic yards of dredge material will be used as beneficial placement in marshes on our area beaches, we should know the content of that sediment and potential impacts with sediment placement,” Shew said. “A core function of an (environmental impact statement) is consideration of potential harm. Therefore, they should and must include PFAS in the study.”

A study published late last month found concentrations of 56 PFAS in blood samples obtained from 119 Wilmington residents between 2010 and 2016.

Two chemical compounds – TFA and PFMOAA – were the dominant PFAS in the samples, “despite their likely short half-lives in the human body,” according to the study.

TFA, or trifluoroacetic acid, and PFMOAA, or perfluoro-2-methoxyacetic acid, are ultrashort-chain PFAS, which are the smallest type of PFAS and hardest to remove from drinking water sources.

The blood samples examined in the study were obtained before the public was made aware in 2017 that an upstream industrial facility had been discharging PFAS directly into the Cape Fear River, the drinking water sources for tens of thousands, since the 1980s.

“While current TFA and PFMOAA levels have likely decreased substantially from those in the historical blood serum samples evaluated here as a result of mandated discharge controls at the upstream fluorochemical manufacturer, this study, along with other recent studies, highlights the importance ultrashort-chain PFAS can play in determining the overall human PFAS burden,” the study states.

Wilmington resident Kaiti Sheehan said the fact that PFAS is not considered in the draft environmental impact statement, or DEIS, “is a slap in the face to residents who are paying for a $42 million granulated active-carbon filtration system and still facing the health consequences that have come from 40 years of contamination from our upstream bad actor.”

“I do genuinely hope that you will look and you will see how much the community has come out tonight in recognition that this is bad for Wilmington and this is bad for North Carolina,” she said.

Others raised concerns about how deepening the harbor to allow for larger ships to travel the 28 miles upriver to the port would increase erosion on the string of bird islands that pepper the lower Cape Fear River and the riverbanks themselves.

The Cape Fear River supports almost 30% of the state’s nesting American oystercatchers.

Audubon North Carolina’s Lindsay Addison, a coastal biologist, said she and her staff are on the Cape Fear River two to three days a week between March and August and at least once during each of the other months of the year.

“We have seen progressively the impacts of the larger and larger classes of ships coming up the river,” she said. “We saw larger, more severe wakes. The DEIS does not take this into account. The Corps, in its beneficial use plan, talks about maybe putting sediment on 2 miles of the shoreline.”

Birds nest on high-tide lines, Addison said. Waves created by a large ship’s wake push water “like a tsunami” over nests and sweep nests away.

“There is no model in the DEIS that accounts for this,” Addison said. “There is no data collection in the DEIS that accounts for this. In fact, there’s no new data collection in the DEIS. They’re relying on data that was already collected. They told us in the stakeholder meeting, flat out, that they’re not going to collected new data so impacts to the migratory birds in the DEIS are not taken into account.”

Officials with the Division of Coastal Management, which is under the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, announced Monday night that the public comment period on the draft study has been extended from Dec. 5 to Dec. 20.

Written comments may be mailed to Federal Consistency Coordinator, 400 Commerce Ave., Morehead City, NC 28557, or emailed to Federalconsistencycomments@deq.nc.gov with “Federal Consistency: USACE Wilmington Harbor 403 Navigation Project” in the subject line.

More information on the proposed project is on the Corps’ website.

State accepting comments on proposed harbor dredging

Staff Report — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 20:03:56 +0000

N.C. Port of Wilmington. Photo: Army Corps of Engineers

The state agency that manages coastal resources will accept public comment until Dec. 5 on the draft environmental impact statement for a proposed project to deepen and widen portions of the Wilmington Harbor navigation channel.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District submitted to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management the draft document that “evaluates the potential environmental, social, and economic impacts of the proposed project and alternatives in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act,” or NEPA, for the proposed Wilmington Harbor 403 Navigation Project, officials said.

A more thorough description of the proposed federal actions is available online.

The state’s review of the submitted federal consistency determination request will determine if the proposed project in Brunswick and New Hanover counties is consistent with the enforceable policies of North Carolina’s Coastal Management Program, the division notes in a press release.

An in-person public hearing is scheduled for 5:30-7:30 p.m. Monday at Skyline Center, 929 N. Front St., Wilmington. Speaker registration opens onsite at 5 p.m. Speaker time may be limited depending on the number of registered speakers.

The division will accept written comments until 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5. Comments should be mailed by 5 p.m. Dec. 5 to Federal Consistency Coordinator, 400 Commerce Ave., Morehead City, NC 28557, or emailed to Federalconsistencycomments@deq.nc.gov. Write “Federal Consistency: USACE Wilmington Harbor 403 Navigation Project” in the subject line.

Officials said all comments will be considered in developing the state’s consistency response.

Port’s Cape Fear dredge project fails taxpayers, environment

Brayton Willis — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 05:00:00 +0000

A cargo ship departs the North Carolina Port of Wilmington. Photo: State Ports Authority

Guest Commentary

To stimulate discussion and debate, Coastal Review welcomes differing viewpoints on topical coastal issues.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently working on an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Port of Wilmington’s plan to deepen the Cape Fear River, with the stated goal of accommodating larger cargo ships. As a retired Corps of Engineers senior project engineer, I feel it’s crucial to raise some serious concerns about this initiative.

The North Carolina State Ports Authority has significantly overlooked other viable alternatives, besides incremental deepening, and failed to assess the extensive infrastructure damage that increased freight traffic could inflict on our roads and bridges. This is particularly evident in major new projects like the replacement of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge and Wilmington’s Rail Realignment Project. Both are billion-dollar investments intended to accommodate the large volume of new truck and rail freight movement. One only need to look at the definition of the secondary effects as defined by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). These secondary effects clearly relate to the need to expand the port’s freight-handling capacity.

Deepening the river will only worsen flooding, affecting areas around the downtown Wilmington waterfront and the historically significant North Carolina Battleship site. It will also lead to a substantial loss of vital wetlands and floodplains due to increasing saltwater intrusion, a value the Ports Authority conveniently understates in its Section 203 report required under the Clean Water Act.

From 1980 to 2017, DuPont, and now Chemours, released vast quantities of hazardous PFAS compounds, polluting nearly 100 miles of the Cape Fear River, including the proposed dredging prisms defined in the port’s set of alternatives. This legacy of contamination must be a central part of the EIS evaluation, as it directly challenges the claimed benefits of the project. Additionally, the reverse osmosis water treatment plant in Brunswick County, which aims to remove PFAS from drinking water, will release highly concentrated PFAS-contaminated wastewater 3 miles upstream of the port. This will further complicate the environmental challenges posed by the proposed dredging project, as well as future dredging operations and maintenance requirements, which once again go unaddressed in the port’s Section 203 report.

Why is this a critical oversight? PFAS clings to or settles into fine sediments like silt and clay found in the soil in and around the dredge-soil prism proposed to be dredged. It’s only logical that when these contaminated sediments are dredged, a safe disposal management plan would be an essential requirement for both federal and state regulators. When PFAS is detected in the dredged sediment, our regulators need to determine whether the material is suitable for placement or disposal, especially regarding upland sites or beach renourishment projects.

The Corps’ “Beneficial Use” strategy aims to repurpose the dredged material as a resource. However, this faces significant hurdles within the scope of this proposed project, as regulators decide how to prevent PFAS from being released back into the environment. The Eagles Island disposal area, which predates NEPA and was built on a previously healthy wetland and floodplain, is not an appropriate site for disposing of contaminated dredged soil because it lacks a liner. Furthermore, researchers in North Carolina and across the globe continue to investigate the damage that PFAS is causing to aquatic ecosystems as it transfers from sediment back into the water column during dredging and placement operations.

Without the Corps thoroughly addressing PFAS contamination, there is zero chance of ensuring the health and well-being of those who rely on the river’s resources in the future. This is particularly important when considering deepening options for the beneficial uses of these contaminated sediments. PFAS contamination adds another layer of complexity that will require extensive testing and could significantly impact project costs and feasibility.

There is no question that this proposed dredging project will certainly disturb sediments, releasing PFAS and other contaminants back into the water, which poses risks to aquatic life and human health.

Key issues include the following:

Contamination — Dedging stirs PFAS, disrupts water quality.
Aquatic risks — PFAS can bioaccumulate in marine organisms.
Health concerns — Contaminated fish and drinking water pose human health risks.
Regulatory challenges — Lack of consistent state or federal guidelines will create confusion for any of the deepening alternatives proposed under the port’s Section 203 study.

To enable the federal and state governments to properly manage PFAS risks related to deepening or maintenance dredging within the navigation channel, increased testing, ongoing research, development of standards, and best management practices are essential.

PFAS contamination is impacting rivers and harbors across our country. Michigan’s Department of Environment now mandates PFAS testing for sediments in harbor dredging, which is causing project delays, such as in Grand Haven, due to unclear safety standards. The Corps warns that this could reduce dredging operations from 24 to only three to five harbors annually due to rising costs — up to 200% higher with resampling — and the lack of precise guidance.

Given these critical issues, taxpayers should be alarmed by a proposed port project that fails to account for its environmental and infrastructural costs. Suppose we don’t consider the long-term implications of the port’s proposed alterations to our river. In that case, we might find ourselves stuck with unsustainable financial and environmental costs, while the economic benefits remain questionable at best.

It is our river, yet it has been treated as a stepchild compared to other, less critical economic priorities. Standard economic models often overlook the real financial value of natural resources and ecological systems like those on the lower Cape Fear River. Since nature’s “goods and services,” such as clean air, fresh water, and fully functioning floodplains and wetlands, are often considered free, they are becoming overused and undervalued. As I’ve tried to explain here, the degradation of our environment directly affects our citizens, taxpayers, and the species that depend on healthy ecosystems.

As the Corps prepares its EIS, it is essential to find more sustainable alternatives than digging us into a deeper hole that we can’t escape. If not for us, then how about our kids, grandchildren, and their grandchildren?

If you have an opinion or concerns about this project, please submit your comments to:

By Email: WilmingtonHarbor403@usace.army.mil, or by mail to ATTN: Wilmington Harbor 403, 69 Darlington Ave., Wilmington, NC 28403, or by comment cards at the public meetings.

Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of Coastal Review or our publisher, the North Carolina Coastal Federation.

Cape Fear ghost forests tell tale of ever-saltier water upriver

Rhonda Waterhouse — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Rising saltwater has left behind the bleached trunks of a ghost forest along Smith Creek, a tributary of the Cape Fear River. Photo: Monica Rother

As you near Wilmington for your beach vacation, you take in the classic coastal Carolina scenery — tall longleaf pines, grassy marshes, and the wide Cape Fear River. But then something strange catches your eye: a forest of bare white tree trunks rising from the swamp like a field of bones. The eeriness of this ghost forest — a place where living woods have turned to watery graveyards — leaves you wondering, “What killed all the trees?”

The answer researchers with the University of North Carolina Wilmington found in the boneyard may surprise you.

For centuries, bald cypress trees thrived on the banks of the Cape Fear River and its tributaries. Bald cypress trees — ancient survivors — are not fragile. These giants can live for thousands of years, stretching to 120 feet tall and standing strong through hurricanes thanks to buttressed roots that prevent the tree from toppling in high winds. An hour away, cypress trees on the Black River are some of the oldest trees in the world with some in Three Sisters Swamp found to be aged at over 2,600 years using tree-ring dating in a 2019 study. But here along the Cape Fear River — like much of the East Coast — many of them are dying and leaving behind ghost forests.

The cost of ghosts

Ghost forests aren’t just spooky. They’re a warning sign. Remote sensing photos from a 2020 paper by Jessica Lynn Magolan and Joanne Nancie Halls show Smith Creek’s freshwater wetlands giving way to salt marsh. Old-growth freshwater swamps are engines of life. They shelter birds, fish and reptiles. They store vast amounts of carbon. Their roots absorb floodwaters, buffering nearby communities when hurricanes roar ashore.

Ghost forests, by contrast, provide little protection. They are markers of loss — loss of biodiversity, of resilience, of time.

And they’re spreading.

Digging into the past

On a warm morning standing in the mud near Smith Creek, graduate student researcher Kendra Devereux of the University of North Carolina Wilmington holds a cylinder of tree core to the light. Each ring tells a story of a year in the tree’s life: how much it grew, whether it was stressed, whether conditions were good or bad.

A researcher uses an increment borer to extract a core sample from a bald cypress. This minimally invasive method causes no lasting harm to the tree and enables researchers to study its growth rings for valuable environmental insights. Photo: Monica Rother

Devereux and her team are piecing together a mystery. Along with her research advisers, Dr. Monica Rother and Dr. Andrea Hawkes, and a team of other collaborators and students, she’s collected tree cores and sediment samples from two sites on Smith Creek, looking for clues hidden in growth rings and in the microscopic remains of creatures. Tiny, fossilized organisms buried in the layers of river mud act like timekeepers, revealing how salty the water was at different points in history. By studying them, the team can reconstruct how salty the water was when they lived.

And the evidence revealed in their report points to what may be a surprising culprit.

A river made deeper

The cypress deaths weren’t just caused by globally rising seas or regular tides. It appears that the trees were undone, in large part, by ongoing dredging.

Dead bald cypress trees haunt the edge of Smith Creek, a tributary of the Cape Fear River. The large old-growth tree in the foreground was likely centuries old when it died. Photo: Monica Rother

Over the last century, the Cape Fear River was repeatedly deepened to allow bigger ships to reach Wilmington’s port. Each time the channel grew, for example, in 1912, 1930, 1946, 1950, 1970, and from 2000 until 2005, more ocean water pushed upstream, according to a 2011 UNCW study for the Army Corps of Engineers that monitored how deepening the Wilmington Harbor would affect tidal range. Combined with rising sea levels, that extra saltwater slowly crept farther upriver and into tributaries like Smith Creek. Even tiny increases in salt can stress or kill bald cypress trees. For people, it was invisible. For trees, it was deadly.

And the problem may only be exacerbated if the Wilmington Harbor channel is deepened from a depth of 42 feet to 47 feet.

Earlier this month, the Corps released a draft environmental study on the proposed multimillion project, which would permit larger ships to cruise from the mouth of the Cape Fear more than 20 miles up river to the North Carolina Port of Wilmington.

Salt: silent killer

Freshwater has almost no salt. Ocean water is about 3% salt, or about 35 parts per thousand. Bald cypress trees start struggling when there’s just a trace more salt than they’re used to. To put it in kitchen terms, just over a pinch per gallon is enough to start killing them. Older trees, despite their size, seem more vulnerable. Along the saltier stretch of Smith Creek, untold numbers of older trees have died, leaving only snags — the standing skeletons of once-living giants.

Rising saltwater has left behind the bleached trunks of a ghost forest along Smith Creek, a tributary of the Cape Fear River. Photo: Monica Rother

Upstream, where the water is fresher, cypresses are still thriving, with at least one more than 800 years old. But closer to the Cape Fear, trees that have managed to survive amidst the ghost forests show signs of years of stress, with observable ring patterns that coincide with the dates of major dredging projects. In the 1970s, cypress growth was suppressed in the area with high salt. By 2000, whole stretches of trees had died, leaving behind today’s ghost forest.

A warning rising with the tide

As Wilmington faces sea level rise and continued dredging, Rother, Devereux and the other authors found, the salty tide will keep pushing inland. That means more ghost forests, fewer living cypress trees, and greater risk of flooding for the people who call this coast home.

The white skeletons along Smith Creek are more than strange landmarks. They are warnings etched into the landscape, reminders of how human choices and a changing climate can reshape even the hardiest of forests. As Rother explains, “Climate change and sea-level rise will form more ghost forests across the Atlantic and Gulf coasts,” leaving communities with less natural protection from flooding. And with continuing dredging of the Cape Fear River bottom, hurricane-prone Wilmington could face even greater risks.

Next time you cross that bridge, look again. The ghost forest isn’t just haunting the swamp, it’s a warning carved into bone-white silence.

Corps awards dredge contract for Ocracoke Island channels

Staff Report — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 15:08:53 +0000

Ocracoke’s Silver Lake Harbor is shown from aboard a state-run vehicle ferry as it approaches the island’s Pamlico Sound ferry terminal. Photo: Jennifer Allen

Two heavily shoaled channels used by state ferries to Ocracoke Island are expected to be dredged next year, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Corps’ Wilmington District announced Wednesday its award of a contract for maintenance dredging of Rollinson Channel, also known as the Hatteras Ferry Channel, and the Big Foot Slough portion of Silver Lake Harbor at the opposite end of the island.

Chesapeake, Virginia-based Cottrell Contracting Corp. was awarded the $11,778,000 contract to restore the channels to their authorized depths, “which is vital for the safety of mariners, navigation, and the local economy that relies on waterborne commerce and recreational boating,” according to a Corps release.

“This effort will help ensure the continued navigability of these important waterways and support the essential work of our stakeholders at the North Carolina Ferry Division,” the release states. “The Wilmington District is committed to working closely with the contractor and local stakeholders to minimize disruption and ensure a successful project completion.”

Corps, Dare meet to discuss suspended dredge permits

Staff Report — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 16:58:22 +0000

Miss Katie dredge. Photo: Dare County

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representatives met to “determine a path forward” with Dare County officials a week after all five of the county’s permits were suspended for dredging deeper and wider channels than allowed.

The Corps Wilmington District on Sept. 18 suspended the permits authorizing work in Oregon and Hatteras inlets because of a third recorded instance of noncompliance.

Data from the National Dredging Quality Management Program, which monitors operations and efficiency through sensors placed on dredges, between September 2023 and June 2024 “shows that work was unnecessarily conducted by dredging well outside the authorized widths and depths of the navigation channels,” the Corps said.

Dare County Commissioner Steve House, who is chairman of the Oregon Inlet Task Force, Dare County Manager Bobby Outten and the county’s consulting engineers met with Corps representatives in Wilmington Wednesday, according to county officials.

The Oregon Inlet Task Force advises Dare County commissioners, and serves as the liaison between the county and the federal agencies involved in the continual maintenance of Oregon Inlet. The Oregon Inlet Task Force is responsible for overseeing the public-private partnership dredge, the Miss Katie, built and owned by the Greenville-based EJE Dredging Service.

The first two notices were issued April 2023 and August 2023. “The suspension is necessary due to the continued disregard of permit conditions and failure of implementing any corrective actions,” the Corps said in a release last week.

Corps officials said the meeting was to discuss and define responsibilities, establish a compliance protocol and work toward reauthorizing the five suspended permits.

At the meeting, it was agreed that the Corps will provide data that was previously not available to the county or the contractor so that all parties are working from and can reference the same information, and clarification for some of the ambiguities in the permits.

Dare County staff and engineering consultants are to review the newly available dredging data to ensure compliance by the county’s dredging contractor, according to the county.

“We are committed to ensuring that our contractor’s dredging efforts are in compliance with the county’s permits,” Outten said in a statement. “We very much appreciate the efforts of the Corps of Engineers to resolve this issue. Now that we will all have access to and can work from the same data, this will help ensure the contractor follows all permitting terms.”

Corps officials said that the meeting was productive, and believe that a path forward has been agreed upon that will enable work to resume.

“It was determined that each permit will be addressed and modified sequentially, in an order prioritized by Dare County. Each modified permit will list a specific set of required conditions that must be met to achieve compliance. Conditions will include comprehensive surveys that will illustrate location and volume of material to be dredged,” Corps said.

The Corps must ensure work conducted in navigable waters of the U.S. does not violate section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act 1899 or the Clean Water Act.

“Once the County provides us with their priority dredging action and requisite survey data illustrating a dredging requirement, we will be able to reactivate their first permit in a matter of days. The timing of reactivating the remaining permits will depend on Dare County’s ability to demonstrate compliance following the reactivation of their first prioritized permit,” the Corps said.

Corps suspends Dare dredge permits for noncompliance

Staff Report — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 14:38:41 +0000

Miss Katie dredge. Photo: Dare County

Dredging operations in Dare County came to a screeching halt this week after federal permits authorizing work in Oregon and Hatteras Inlets where suspended because channels have been repeatedly dug deeper and wider than allowed.

The Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District announced late Wednesday afternoon its suspension of all five of the county’s permits, immediately shuttering all dredging activities, on the heels of the county receiving its third notice of noncompliance.

“The suspension is necessary due to the continued disregard of permit conditions and failure of implementing any corrective actions,” a Corps release states.

Nearly all – 98% – of EJE Dredging Service’s dredging loads from the inlets were removed either partially or completely outside the designated channels between September 2023 and June, according to data the Corps reviewed from the National Dredging Quality Management Program, which monitors operations and efficiency through sensors placed on dredges.

EJE Dredging Service was formed by Greenville business owner Judson Whitehurst in 2018 after state lawmakers funded $15 million to Dare County for dredging, according to a Raleigh News & Observer article.

Jordan Hennessy, a sitting member of the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission, or CRC, is EJE Dredging Service’s CEO.

Looking back: New dredge Miss Katie arrives on Outer Banks

Hennessy is a former legislative aide who worked in convincing lawmakers to provide the dredging funding, which was used to buy the hopper dredge Miss Katie, according to the News & Observer article.

Hennessy is named in two subpoenas related to a federal criminal investigation on a different project state lawmakers funded in 2020, according to the article.

Dare County received two noncompliant notices last year from the Corps, first in April 2023 and again in August, for work in the Manteo/Shallowbag Bay federal channel near Oregon Inlet.

“The data shows that work was unnecessarily conducted by dredging well outside the authorized widths and depths of the navigation channels,” according to the Corps.

Before the suspension is lifted, the county will have to provide the Corps “with proper documentation that an enforceable and viable protocol is in place to ensure compliance. Dare County must monitor, prevent, and self-report any future violations and non-compliance.”

Corps and county officials must meet to “discuss and define responsibilities, a compliance protocol and a path forward to reauthorize” the permits, the release states. It is unclear when that meeting will occur.

“USACE remains committed to a strong partnership with Dare County, however, the permit conditions must be met to minimize adverse long term negative impacts to aquatic and cultural resources,” the release states.

Cape Lookout dredge spoils used to restore vanishing island

Trista Talton — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This aerial view shows the island restoration in progress, with the remnants of the original Sandbag Island in the upper-left corner. Photo: N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission

A near-vanished island popping up from the channel between the Cape Lookout Lighthouse and Harkers Island has been restored, offering itself once again as a haven for waterbirds.

Around since at least 1970, Sandbag Island is a human-made, dredge spoil island built up by the sand, mud and other material scooped and sucked up from clogged waterways.

The island, owned and managed by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission sprawled as large as 18 acres in the late 1990s.

But it began slowly disappearing after that time. Dwindling in 2019 down to 2 acres and, by last winter, 0.1 acre, land where waterbirds gathered to nest, rest and forage in peace was erased.

A $6.9 million dredging project to improve waterway access at Cape Lookout National Seashore has brought new life to the little island, plumping it with 135,000 cubic yards of dredge material and expanding it to a footprint of about 5 acres, according to the Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District.

That’s good for waterbirds, explained Wildlife Resources Commission’s wildlife diversity biologist Carmen Johnson.

“Many of the birds that use these islands, they need that open, sandy habitat,” she said. “They like going to the beach too, but whenever they’re nesting they need areas that are free from disturbance.”

On islands like Sandbag, waterbirds can incubate their eggs and, once their chicks hatch, raise their young away from beaches popular to locals, tourists and their dogs.

Johnson said state wildlife officials were eager to be part of discussions with the Corps about where the dredged material — tens of thousands of cubic yards of it — might go in hopes of getting at least some of that material to build up Sandbag Island.

The dredge project, a collaborative effort between the National Park Service, Corps of Engineers, and Carteret County wrapped in mid-May, leaving boaters a channel between Harkers Island and Cape Lookout Lighthouse that is 100 feet wide with depths ranging from 7 to 9 feet.

Dr. Andrea Currylow, left, and John Policarpo with Army Corps of Engineers celebrate the restoration of Sandbag Island with Wildlife Resources Commission’s wildlife diversity biologist Carmen Johnson. Photo: Andrea Currylow, Army Corps of Engineers

In all, 167,000 cubic yards of material was dredged to improve navigation from Back Sound channel through Lookout Bight, Wilmington District Public Affairs Specialist Jed Cayton said in an email. Of that, 32,000 cubic yards of material was injected onto Barden Inlet beach directly in front of the lighthouse.

“All beach compatible material (sand) was placed on the beach, providing some protection for the historic lighthouse,” Cayton said. “The material placed on Sandbag Island was a silty sand (not quite beach compatible), and was a great based to help rebuild an eroded bird island.”

Two pairs of American oyster catchers, a state species of concern, settled in to nest on Sandbag Island mere days after the dredge crew finished the project, Johnson said.

“We’re hoping that next year, because the work is now completed, that some other species will come in and use it as well,” she said. “It’s been very interesting to see the history of birds that have nested there over time.”

Waterbird colonies have been surveyed in North Carolina roughly every three years since 1977.

These surveys have allowed biologists to witness a shift in where waterbirds chose to nest as Sandbag Island shrank, preferring to settle in on nearby, beefier islands.

“As the surveys have continued throughout the years, we’ve seen different species using the island,” Johnson said.

When the island has been injected with material that leaves open, sandy habitat, birds that favor that terrain – black skimmers, common terns and least terns – have gravitated there to nest.

One of the American Oystercatcher nests on Sandbag Island. Photo: N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission

“Whenever there was more vegetation on the island we were seeing some of the gulls nesting out there. We also had brown pelicans nesting there at different times. Now that the island has been restored to this open, sandy habitat we’re expecting to see some terns and skimmers potentially return, which is exciting,” Johnson said.

Terns have not been documented to nest on Sandbag Island since the 2000s. Skimmers were last documented to nest there in the 1980s.

Johnson will visit the island to document the types of species and numbers of birds nesting there next spring.

Sandbag Island is a protected island, one that is posted March 1 to Sept. 15 each year warning people to steer clear of its shores. Anyone caught trespassing during that timeframe may face a civil penalty.

It’s important to leave these islands undisturbed, Johnson said.

“That is something that we do see a problem with,” she said. “We know that people love to see the birds and so the best possible thing to do is, if you can admire them from your boat, bring your binoculars and watch them from the boat. That’s the best thing.”

Some coastal NC towns’ beach sand needs may go unmet

Trista Talton — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 04:00:00 +0000

A view of a 2019 Carolina Beach nourishment project. The New Hanover County town completed North Carolina’s first federal beach erosion-control project in 1964. Photo: Corps

If North Carolina beaches are going to keep up their tug-of-war with the sea to maintain robust ocean shores, they’re going to need sand and a lot of it.

But, in an era when mining sand and pumping it onto beaches has become a go-to means of fortifying shores against erosion and storms, finding that just-right type of sand and enough of it for the foreseeable future might prove to be quite the challenge for many of the state’s coastal communities.

The dilemma is that beneath the surface of the vast Atlantic Ocean stretching from our shores, the amount of prized “beach-quality” sand needed to replenish them is finite.

There are, “critical sand shortages” across regions off North Carolina’s coast, according to a 2020 study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM.

Federal agencies are being asked to look elsewhere and explore potential untapped sand sources beyond the boundaries of state waters, miles and miles out to the outer continental shelf.

In return, those agencies are relaying a message to coastal communities throughout the country – it’s time to stop thinking about individual project needs and focus on a more regional approach if you want to keep putting sand on your beaches.

“We’re seeing this challenge through the South Atlantic region, call it ‘sand wars’ or ‘competing uses of the same resource,’” said Doug Piatkowski, a physical scientist with BOEM’s Office of Strategic Resources. “There’s a real need to start thinking about what we do know about offshore resource availability and then how we maximize use in a more holistic way, systems’ say, so that we can optimize what little resource we have.”

A century of coastal engineering

Little more than a century has passed since the first U.S. beach got sand from offshore to replump its eroded shoreline.

Since 1923, when Coney Island, New York, officially became the birthplace of the engineered beach, more than 1.5 billion cubic yards of sand has been dredged and injected onto the shores of some 475 communities in the country.

More than 3,200 sand projects have been completed on beaches from California to Florida to New York over the course of the last 100 years. Many of the communities that account for that number have renourished their beaches multiple times, according to the South Atlantic Coastal Study.

North Carolina is one of six coastal states that has placed a large portion of that total sand volume — more than 80% — on its shores, according to a beach nourishment study published in January 2021.

Carolina Beach has the distinction of being the first to have a federal beach erosion-control project completed in 1964.

Since then, the Army Corps has authorized dozens of federal projects, which entail routine sand nourishment throughout a period of 50 years.

Between 2010 and 2020, a total of 37 million cubic yards of sand was placed on U.S. beaches each year, according to the South Atlantic Coastal Study.

In the South Atlantic region, more than 1.3 billion cubic yards of sand is required to support the region’s 50-year sand needs. More than 1.56 million cubic yards of sand resources have been identified to fill those needs.

An evolving theme ‘many aren’t talking about’

That sand surplus isn’t expected to last.

“While regional sand resources are greater than documented sand needs as of today, economically viable long-term sources are limited in many areas across the region,” according to the study.

The South Atlantic study, also referred to as Sand Availability and Needs Determination, or SAND, was the first in which the Corps was given funding to do a regional assessment of sand needs.

It found that sand shortages were documented in every state within the Corps’ South Atlantic Division and identified “critical sand shortages” in regions of North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.

This screenshot of the Sand Availability and Needs Determination Dashboard shows the assessment for Oak Island in Brunswick County.

“If we were to continue at the rate that we’re going … we have a lot of work to do to figure out kind of this supply-and-demand assessment, realizing with climate change and increased storm frequency and this continued demand for sand that we’ve got to do a better job at assessing where this resource availability is, what conflicts may exist in their use and then, over this next 50-year horizon, really have a more realistic understanding of availability and what we can do in terms of meeting the resilience plans to address the need,” Piatkowski said.

Now, more than ever, it is important to recognize these regions are all within one system, he said.

It’s an “evolving theme that many aren’t talking about,” Piatkowski said.

But that isn’t to say that all beach communities are behind the regional-thinking curve.

Carteret County, for example, is considered a leader in its long-term management of available sand options to meet the needs for all of Bogue Banks. The 25-mile-long barrier island is home to Atlantic Beach, Indian Beach, Pine Knoll Shores, Salter Path and Emerald Isle.

And Dare County is starting to think longer-term and look more broadly at its potential sediment availability options, Piatkowski said.

“This is something that BOEM’s trying to kind of message to the coastal stakeholder communities that, ‘Look, it’s beginning to be a scenario where you’ve got multiple interests and multiple needs all within one system and we need to be smarter about figuring out the dynamics of what is the underlying geology for the sediment that we do have. Why is it there? What are the transport processes in the location that we’re dredging it from?’ And then, where we’re placing it because, at the end of the day, if two beaches are connected, that sediment is ultimately moving in that system,” Piatkowski said.

Sand-challenged Long Bay

To understand the complexities faced by beach communities that face critical shortages in sand nourishment sources look no further than Brunswick County.

According to the South Atlantic study, Brunswick County has a sand deficit of nearly 30 million cubic yards.

That’s because Long Bay is essentially a sand-starved area, one where there are vulnerable coastlines in need of hardy sand borrow sources.

“Due to the nature and location of the beaches, it’s more likely to find rock or clay material rather than beach-quality sand,” said Jed Cayton, public affairs specialist with the Corps’ Wilmington District, in an email response to Coastal Review.

Frying Pan Shoals, an area off the seaward southeastern side of Bald Head Island with millions and millions of yards of sediment sand, is federally recognized as essential fish habitat. That designation has kept it from being tapped as a sand borrow source.

That has made Jay Bird Shoals, which is near the mouth of the Cape Fear River, a dredging hotspot for Brunswick beaches and, in recent years, the subject of growing contention between towns vying for sand security.

This graphic from the town’s website shows the timing, locations and sand amounts in cubic yards of all Oak Island beach nourishment efforts dating back to 2001.

The town of Oak Island earlier this year received pushback from neighboring beach towns for including the inner ocean bar at the mouth of the river as a secondary sand source in its application for a beach nourishment project. The Brunswick beach town hopes to kick off the project this winter.

Oak Island is requesting to place up to 3 million cubic yards of sand along its 9-mile-long beach from a primary source some 18 miles offshore.

Oak Island’s project is estimated to cost $40 million. The town is awaiting a decision on the permit application.

The secondary source identified in Oak Island’s initial application is between Caswell Beach and Bald Head Island, which each argue that sand is crucial to their nourishment efforts.

In a board of commissioners meeting earlier this year, Caswell Beach Town Manager Joseph Pierce told board members, “If they pull that much sand from that area, our concern is that erosion is going to affect our east end, as well as Bald Head Island. There is a huge hole down there now where sand will continue to fall in, and it will affect both beaches,” The State Port Pilot reported.

Oak Island amended its Coastal Area Management Act, or CAMA, major permit last month and removed its request to use the inner ocean bar as a secondary source.

The Corps and BOEM are currently studying a longer-term coastal storm risk management project for Oak Island. That study is projected to be completed in the fall of 2027.

Cape Lookout dredging, beach nourishment work complete

Staff Report — Wed, 29 May 2024 19:48:27 +0000

Volunteers plant dune grass in mid-May on the Cape Lookout Lighthouse beachfront, which has had about 30,000 cubic yards of dredge sand added over the last few months. Photo: Sabrina Godin/NPS

Boaters should have an easier time navigating the often challenging waters at Cape Lookout National Seashore, and visitors will have more beach to enjoy in front of its iconic lighthouse now that the Louisiana-based Next Generation Logistics has completed a monthslong dredging project.

The National Park Service, Army Corps of Engineers and Carteret County government with support from the state, collaborated on the $6.9 million project to improve access to Barden Inlet and the Cape Lookout Bight.

“I am very happy that we can support safe and accessible waterways at Cape Lookout National Seashore,” Superintendent Jeff West said about the dredge work. “This project has greatly improved access to the park for ferry services, local businesses, and public boaters. The use of dredge sands to expand and protect the lighthouse beach will be greatly beneficial for years to come.”

The channel between Harkers Island and Cape Lookout Lighthouse has been widened to 100 feet with depths ranging from 7 to 9 feet. The dredge spoil was then used to renourish the area of Barden Inlet beach directly in front of the lighthouse, the park service announced Wednesday.

About 30,000 cubic yards of dredge sand was placed there, creating a wide and deep beachfront, and additional dredge sand was placed on Sandbag Island, also called “Bird Island,” just southeast of Harkers Island, officials said.

“We’re proud to be the local partner in this collaborative effort with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and National Park Service to complete the Back Sound to Lookout Bight dredging project,” Chairman of the Carteret County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jimmy Farrington said in a release. “This project is a significant win for Carteret County, improving access to Barden Inlet and the Cape Lookout Bight by providing safer, more reliable waterways for navigation. This channel is critical for many private and commercial users, and its improvement has a direct economic impact on our community.”

The Coast Guard is expected to place navigational aids marking the channel once final surveys are completed, according to the park service.

While the dredging is complete, the process of demobilization continues. Officials said that over the coming weeks, Next Generation Logistics plans to continue removing dredge equipment, supporting vehicles and other supplies from the area.

The areas of Harkers Island that had been used for staging during dredge operations are to slowly be returned to their previous uses.

“Working closely with NC Wildlife Resources Commission (who manages Sandbag Island) and the other resource agencies, the Corps is proud to have helped reestablish a nearly lost nesting and foraging island for our states’ shorebirds” said Bret Walters, USACE Wilmington District Planning and Environmental Branch Chief in a statement. He added that the Corps is looking forward to continued working together “to beneficially use dredged material in the enhancement of coastal habitats for coastline protection, public recreation, and the conservation of our shared natural resources into the future.”

Public meetings set to discuss Wilmington Harbor project

Staff Report — Fri, 24 May 2024 12:30:36 +0000

N.C. Port of Wilmington. Photo: Army Corps of Engineers

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers next month is hosting a series of public meetings about the Wilmington Harbor deepening project.

Officials with the Corps’ Wilmington District will present information about the conditionally authorized project to deepen the harbor channel to a depth of 47 feet through four virtual public meetings, followed by an in-person meeting.

The meetings are being hosted to educate participants on “when and how to engage, the type of input that will be helpful, and have adequate project information,” according to a Corps release.

The Corps and North Carolina State Ports Authority have partnered to conduct an evaluation of technical and policy concerns raised in a May 2020 review of the port authority’s February 2020 Water Resources Development Act, or WRDA, feasibility study. That study resulted in conditional authorization in Section 403 of WRDA.

The evaluation, referred to as a letter report, and environmental impact statement are estimated to cost $85 million and take about four years to complete.

Virtual public meetings will be held between 1-3 p.m. and include specific topics on the following dates:

June 4: Plan formulation, National Environmental Policy Act, cultural resources, social effects, and economics.
June 5: Ecological resources.
June 6: Physical resources.
June 7: Beneficial use of dredged material.

An in-person meeting will be hosted 3-7 p.m. June 13 at Sunset Park Elementary School, 613 Alabama Ave., Wilmington.

Virtual meeting links, information about the project and how to submit comments can be found on the Wilmington District’s website.

Rouzer’s bill loosening sand-mining rule clears US House

Trista Talton — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 04:00:00 +0000

The Wrightsville Beach online sand placement tracker shows the approximate pipeline route and the stages of completion of the recent beach nourishment project.

New Hanover County beaches could again mine sand from nearby inlets to nourish their oceanfront shores under a proposed law recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bill would exempt a handful of federal coastal storm risk management projects on the East Coast from a rule that prohibits local governments from tapping sand sources they have historically used within the Coastal Barrier Resources System.

The proposed law would apply only to projects that have been pumping sand from borrow sources within the federally protected system for more than 15 years. Those include Masonboro Island at Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach Inlet at Carolina Beach, an inlet in South Carolina and one in New Jersey.

H.R. 524, introduced by Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., in January 2023, would also return the use of federal funds for projects that use sand within a Coastal Barrier Resources Act, or CBRA, unit to nourish adjacent beaches outside of the system.

“This legislation allows these beaches to continue to use their historic borrow sites for protection from storm damage, maintain their natural ecosystems, and protect our local economy,” Rouzer stated in a press release following the House’s April 11 passage of the bill.

The bill is now with the Senate environment and public works committee.

Proponents of the bill argue that allowing projects that had for years used sand within the system to nourish nearby beaches reduces costs and ecological impacts.

“It’s an opportunity to recycle sand. It’s an opportunity to reduce potential environmental impacts. And, it’s an opportunity to reduce federal and local expenditures,” said New Hanover County Shore Protection Coordinator Layton Bedsole. “I think Wilmington had been in compliance 20 years before CBRA was written and we haven’t encouraged development in sensitive coastal locations like inlet shoulders. That’s a major tenant in CBRA.”

Congress passed CBRA, pronounced “cobra,” in 1982 to discourage building on relatively undeveloped, storm-prone barrier islands by cutting off federal funding and financial assistance, including federal flood insurance. The act was also established to minimize damage to fish, wildlife and other resources associated with coastal barrier islands.

Last May, Matthew Strickler, deputy assistant secretary for the Interior Department’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Parks, expressed the current administration’s objections to H.R. 524 in his testimony before the House natural resources committee.

Using federal funds to move sand dredged within the system to an area outside of it “is considered counter to CBRA’s purposes,” he said referring to the Coastal Barrier Resource System, or CBRS.

“While some of the sand taken from CBRS units for beach renourishment activities may return to the unit over time, the overall impacts of dredging in these areas protected by CBRA are detrimental to coastal species and their habitats,” Strickler said.

But proponents of the bill argue that years of monitoring these inlets prove otherwise.

“We’re in a situation where Mother Nature brings sand down our beach into an engineered borrow site and then we recycle it back up on the beach in the next three or four years. That’s ideal. We’re recycling rather than mining. We’ve got consistency that works for us that we can work with,” Bedsole said.

December 2023: Sand nourishment to begin in Wrightsville Beach

Wrightsville Beach was using the rich, beach-quality sand routinely pumped from Banks Channel and placing that material on its ocean shore for roughly two decades before CBRA was enacted.

In the mid-1990s, the Army Corps of Engineers permanently allowed the town to use Masonboro Inlet as a sand borrow source, shielding the town from ongoing debates over the interpretation of the law as it pertains to whether sand within a CBRS unit may be dredged and placed onto a beach outside of a CBRA zone.

By 2019, then-Interior Secretary David Bernhardt determined that federal funds could be used to pay for dredging sand with CBRS units and placing that sand on beaches outside of those zones for shoreline-stabilization projects.

A year later, the National Audubon Society challenged Bernhardt’s interpretation in a lawsuit filed against the former secretary, the interior department and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The organization argued the interpretation “vastly expands potential sand mining projects” within areas protected in the system.

The Biden administration overturned the rule in 2021 and Audubon agreed to drop its lawsuit.

The new interpretation forced beach towns that had historically used sand from CBRA zones to look offshore.

Facing exponentially higher costs and an offshore borrow site scattered with old tires broken free from an artificial reef, the town was given an emergency exception by the Corps to get sand from the inlet. That project, which pumped roughly 1.04 million cubic yards of sand onto Wrightsville’s beach, wrapped in mid-March.

The cost to use sand dredged from the inlets is substantially lower than pumping sand from an offshore borrow site.

The last time Carolina Beach tapped the inlet borrow site for sand to place on its ocean shoreline the bid tab was $5 a yard.

“The current project came from the offshore borrow area, as it has, was $11 and some change a yard,” Bedsole said. “It just costs more to go offshore.”

Bids are expected to go out this spring for Carolina and Kure beaches’ nourishment projects, which as of now will use sand from an offshore borrow site.

How that sand might affect the channel Carolina Beach used for years as a sand source has raised concerns among beach town officials.

“We have pulled sand out of that inlet for pretty much my entire life,” said Carolina Beach Mayor Lynn Barbee. “We know what the environmental impacts are. They’re very minimal. We haven’t seen any sort of erosion because of taking that out of there. We haven’t seen any impacts to wildlife, ever, so it’s hard to see what the harm is. What we’ve been doing in the inlet is the borrow pit fills up and we pump that sand out every three years onto the beach and then it drifts back in and fills up and we pump it back out. That seems intuitively better than going out offshore and basically running a sand mine underwater and disturbing what was natural out there.”

Another issue, he said, is how sand pumped onto the beach from the offshore site may affect the inlet, one heavily used by boaters and offers the fastest route for first responders to get into the water.

Barbee said the town has seen “unprecedented” shoaling in Carolina Beach Inlet since it began using the offshore borrow site.

“We have really struggled to keep that open,” he said. “We’ve seen the cost to keep the inlet open go up. If in fact our theory is correct, where else would that sand have come from if it wasn’t introduced from the offshore borrow pit. You’re introducing a new sand source into the traditional system. Certainly, anecdotally, we didn’t have this problem, we do something different, now we do have the problem. It doesn’t seem like it’s a huge leap.”

Barbee said the hope is that the bill will become law before the next project begins.

“If not, we have three more years of these elevated costs, and then we’re just putting more and more sand in the system, and the worry is that when does it become too much?” he said.

Lookout dredging project underway after years of planning

Brad Rich — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 16:44:34 +0000

The areas shaded red show where dredging will occur. Graphic: NPS

Reprinted from a Feb. 25 Carteret County News-Times report

Nearly two months after crews and equipment began arriving, a contractor for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has started dredging Barden Inlet inside and outside Cape Lookout National Seashore.

“The Cape Lookout National Seashore dredging project is currently underway with Next Generation Logistics (NGL) on site,” Carteret County Shore Protection Office Manager Ryan Davenport said Thursday. “According to NGL, dredging has begun, but progress has been impacted by recent weather conditions, including high winds and low tide cycles in the area.”

Davenport said Next Generation Logistics is prioritizing the safety of workers and closely monitoring weather conditions and adjusting its approach as needed to ensure the project’s successful completion by April 1, which is when federally protected sea turtles generally begin arriving in the area.

But Cape Lookout Superintendent Jeff West said even if the work is still incomplete at the deadline, officials are fairly confident the Army Corps could get an extension.

Dredged material will be placed to slow erosion of the beach at the Cape Lookout Lighthouse site and in other strategic areas in the national seashore.

At some point after the sand is in front of the iconic lighthouse, the National Park Service plans to put in a living shoreline to help keep it in place. A living shoreline uses rocks or shells, along with vegetation, and is an increasingly popular and often more effective erosion control method than seawalls.

The whole project is a joint venture of the Carteret County Shore Protection Office, the National Park Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In November, Army Corps announced the more than $6 million contract had been awarded to Next Generation Logistics LLC for $6.9 million. The company is based in Metairie, Louisiana.

Fishermen and other boaters have been clamoring for the project for many years. The last time the inlet was dredged was in 1977-78, and significant shoaling has occurred since then, making passage to the seashore difficult for many years.

The federally maintained Barden Inlet includes not only the inlet, but also the “drain” and the “S turns.”

Shoaling in Barden Inlet became a serious problem in late 2017.

It was a complicated process to get to this point.

Due to the majority of the channel lying outside Cape Lookout, the National Park Service needed partners to get Barden Inlet dredged. The park service formed a cooperative management agreement with county commissioners and the Carteret County Shore Protection Office in 2019 with the purpose of establishing and maintaining waterways to various areas in the park, according to West.

County and NPS officials then negotiated with state officials and the Army Corps for the dredging effort. In the process, they found the last environmental assessment for the Barden Inlet channel was in 1975, which West said was “way out of date.”

It took a lot of time, including a public comment period, to get the environmental assessment approved.

This story is provided courtesy of the Carteret County News-Times, a newspaper published in Morehead City. Coastal Review partners with the News-Times to provide our readers with news of the North Carolina coast.

Dredge firm to begin $6.9M project in Cape Lookout waters

Jennifer Allen — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 05:00:00 +0000

A dredge transits Back Sound near the Cape Lookout National Seashore visitor center early Jan. 24. Photo courtesy of Jeff West

Cape Lookout National Seashore Superintendent Jeff West has been watching for weeks as a Louisiana-based company gets ready at the seashore’s visitor center on Harkers Island to begin maintenance dredging in the nearby waterways.

Next Generation Logistics, the company contracted for the work, will not only make the channels to the federally protected barrier islands safter and more accessible, but the suitable sand that’s dredged during the project will be used for beach nourishment to protect Cape Lookout Lighthouse and nearby historic structures from continual, soundside erosion.

Army Corps of Engineers Public Affairs Specialist Emily Winget said Wednesday that the company, which was awarded the contract in November for $6.9 million, plans to mobilize two cutter-suction pipeline dredges to work on this contract and had planned to begin work by the end of January.

But because of issues, like weather impacts to mobilization, the contract has not started dredging, she said. “We anticipate that dredging will start next week,” referring to the week of Feb. 5.

The Department of Defense Operation and Maintenance Funds, National Park Service, state and Carteret County are “all project stakeholders helping to cover the cost of this project. In addition to providing navigation access through Lookout Bight this maintenance dredging will help ensure access to Cape Lookout National Seashore. Dredging the channel is critical for safe and consistent access to frequently visited areas at Cape Lookout National Seashore. Once dredging is complete, the channel will be open to commercial boats and deep draft vessels,” Winget wrote in an email response.

The suitable material dredged during the course of the project will be placed on the interior beach next to National Park Service structures, including the lighthouse. The remaining material will be added to an open water placement island, being called Sandbag Island, to contain the dredge material and provide habitat for nesting shore birds.

“The preservation of our coast is of paramount importance to us in Carteret County,” County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jimmy Farrington said in November when the contract was announced. “This project not only ensures the safety and accessibility of our waterways but also reaffirms our commitment to the environment. We are proud to partner with the National Park Service and the State of North Carolina to undertake this project, ensuring that the Cape Lookout National Seashore remains a natural treasure for generations to come.”

Winget said the estimated cost to dredge 165,000 cubic yards in the federal fixed channel in Back Sound is around $3.2 million and another 30,000 cubic yards will be dredged through the inlet for $585,00.

To dredge the 8,000 cubic yards in the channel used to approach the passenger ferry dock where the lighthouse is located is expected to come in at $156,000. Sandbag Island is expected to cost about $910,000 to create.

Other costs include the $1.8 million to set up for the project and then demobilize after.

The route used by the passenger ferry between Harkers Island visitor center and the lighthouse has the most amount of sand, West explained in a recent interview, and that will be pumped over the Bird Island. They’ll use geotextile tubes, much like elongated sandbags, to hold the sand in place.

Getting the project off the ground has taken six or seven years, West said, with the COVID-19 pandemic being one of the delays.

He said that the National Park Service worked with the Army Corps of Engineers, state and county to work together to manage the funds for the property.

Map of the project site. Source: Cape Lookout National Seashore

Once the funding was in place, the first thing they had to do was get through the environmental assessment process, which took about a year. The environmental assessment was put out for public comment in April 2023 to give state and federal agencies, organizations and the public a chance to weigh in and address those comments. The finding of no significant impact was then released September 2023, and the contract announced in November.

He said the sense of urgency comes from the fact that the channels are filling in, and it’s been getting worse over the years. That’s a main public access to Cape Lookout from the Park Service visitor center on Harkers Island. It’s also an important channel for a lot of private and commercial users.

He expounded that the sand dredged will be placed at the beach by the lighthouse complex, which is where the passenger ferry docks. Between the lighthouse and the shoreline are the Keepers Quarters and the summer kitchen. The summer kitchen right now is right at the high-tide line and the Keepers Quarters is about 30 to 35 feet from the high-tide line.

Dredge equipment is shown staged near the Cape Lookout visitor center Jan. 22. Photo courtesy of Jeff West

“It will take “roughly 34,000 to 38,000 cubic yards” and will stretch from 150 to 200 yards north of the lighthouse complex to 200 yards 250 yards south, West said. “Depends on how much sand is compatible with the beach there and then it will be graded out to match the current profile.”

The next phase, if the funds are available sometime in the near future, will be to put in a living shoreline or another type of device to try to hold that sand in place this time. “As opposed to how we did in 2006,” he said, referring to a beach nourishment project, “people really weren’t thinking about using living shorelines at the time.”

Right now, the deadline to finish the work is April 1, because of marine wildlife protections, but they could apply for an extension. Once they start dredging operations are supposed to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

West added that they’re allowing the contractors to stage at the visitor center to help with logistics and the company has secured housing on Harkers Island.

The company anticipates having about 5,000 feet of pipe out at any given time, he said. They have a 10-inch pipe and 18-inch pipe and depending on the volume, they’re moving, they’ll use whatever is appropriate.

When it’s completed and opened back up the channel it will be a 7- to 9-foot-deep channel and will be 100 feet wide. “I mean, it’ll be the cat’s meow as far as getting back and forth,” between Harkers Island and the lighthouse, West said.

Currituck officials encouraged on dredging after Corps talk

Sam Walker — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 15:11:29 +0000

Currituck Sound is barely ankle deep at times off the Whalehead Club. Photo: Sam Walker

Reprinted from SamWalkerOBXNews.com.

A decades-long battle to restore navigable access on the Currituck Sound off Corolla appears to have taken a more upbeat tone at a recent meeting between representatives from Currituck County and Army Corps of Engineers staff.

County Manager Ike McRee and state Sen. Bobby Hanig, R-Currituck, met with Corps officials Jan. 12 in Wilmington to discuss allowing dredging of a channel in the sound from the Whalehead Club public docks and ramp, and inside the Historic Corolla Park boat basin.

“Going down there and spending time with them had a big impact on them,” Hanig said. “It was a very good meeting.”

A channel has existed in various forms through the shallow waters off Corolla since before the Currituck Beach Light Station was built in the 1870s.

Efforts to dredge a channel since the 1990s have been blocked by state regulators on the grounds that it would harm submerged aquatic vegetation, and the Corps has used various other regulatory and technical reasons to turn it down.

Attempted illegal dredging of the channel using the propellers of three boats led to the conviction of two NC Ferry Division employees and guilty pleas by two others to federal charges in the early 2000s.

Prior to January, the last meeting between the county and the Corps on the Whalehead channel was in 2018, when the county was essentially told it would ever happen.

McRee shared with the Currituck Board of Commissioners at its Jan. 16 meeting some of the details that came out of the gathering with the Corps.

“I thought (it was) a positive meeting, partially because they have a new team there,” McRee said. “(A) new colonel, new regulatory affairs director… their attorney was also there as well as the deputy for the Corps and the Wilmington district.”

“They did not say no, they didn’t say yes, but they said there’s a possible path forward,” McRee said. “They would like us to put together again a more defined statement of purpose.”

Hanig noted that they were very prepared heading into the meeting, with detailed information about the history of not only the channel and the Whalehead Club itself, but also the millions of dollars invested in the mansion and grounds that have been owned by the county since 1991.

“Jenny Kelvin from the (state) Senate President Pro Tem’s office did a remarkable job,” Hanig said. “Her research was spot on; we had all the information from previous attempts.”

McRee and Hanig also noted that staff from the office of state Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, were also very helpful, spending the week prior to the meeting gathering information and making contacts at both the federal and state level on behalf of the county.

“I think we have an opening that will allow us to attempt to move forward again to (with an) application to hopefully be successful this time,” McRee said.

Local officials and residents are hopeful that the dredging would not only allow boats to access Historic Corolla Park, but also improve waterflow and help address invasive submerged aquatic vegetation that choked the boat basin this past summer.

Low oxygen levels caused by high temperatures led to at least one fish kill in the boat basin, while decaying mats of Eurasian watermilfoil and alligator weed were responsible for a noxious smell across the Currituck Outer Banks on strong southwest winds.

Following Hanig’s comments to the board, County Commissioner Paul Beaumont noted that the state senator, who was previously a Currituck commissioner, having direct involvement at the meeting made an impact on Corps officials.

“It adds credibility that the state is very interested in this as well,” Beaumont said. “You’re about as busy right now as you could possibly get … taking the time and going down there. Thank you so much.”

“(The Corps was) very forthcoming with how … to make it a good application to get it across the finish line,” Hanig said. “We do have our challenges — it’s going to be a process.”

Hanig expressed that everyone needs to have patience with the process, estimating it may be up to two years before a final decision is made.

This story was provided courtesy of SamWalkerOBXNews.com, a membership-supported news service covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review has partnered with Sam Walker to help expand our coverage of news relevant to the North Carolina coast.

Comment period open on proposed rules for 3 grant programs

Staff Report — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 15:51:06 +0000

The shallow-draft dredge Murden. Photo: USACE

The 60-day comment period ends Jan. 2, 2024, on proposed rules for three state-run grant programs that fund aquatic weed management, dredge projects and coastal storm damage mitigation and recovery.

The proposed rules for the Aquatic Weed Control Fund, Coastal Storm Mitigation Fund and the Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging Fund describe the application process, fund allocation and other details.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources announced Monday the 60-day comment period on the proposed rules.

Division officials have coordinated an in-person public hearing to begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, at the DEQ Washington Regional Office, Hearing Room A103, 943 Washington Square Mall, Washington.

The Aquatic Weed Control Fund provides grants for local governments and other entities seeking to control, eradicate or regulate noxious aquatic to preserve human health, safety and beneficial uses of state waters. Other proposed rules for this fund includes a means to allow the Division of Water Resources director, or their designee, and the North Carolina Weed Control Council, to allocate funds for rapid response.

The Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging Fund is for dredging projects by local units of government that are designed to keep channels in state waters navigable and safe. In addition, the proposed rules remove exemption language, and there’s an explanation for how local governments can apply for grants for projects in nonfederally authorized channels.

The Coastal Storm Mitigation Fund provides grants to local governments for costs associated with beach nourishment, artificial dunes or other projects to mitigate or remediate coastal storm damage to ocean beaches and dune systems of the state.

The proposed rules are available online. Copies of the proposed rules can also be obtained by calling 919-707-3607 or from the Division of Water Resources, Water Planning Section, Archdale Building, 512 N. Salisbury St., in Raleigh.

Written comments can be submitted electronically to Kevin.hart@deq.nc.gov or by mail to Kevin Hart, Division of Water Resources, 1617 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1617.

To be included in the hearing record, all comments must be postmarked or received electronically by the division by 5 p.m. Jan. 2.

Hyde County seeks federal help with Hatteras Inlet dredging

Staff Report — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 17:37:06 +0000

Miss Katie dredge. Photo: Dare County

The Hyde County Board of Commissioners has asked the county’s congressional delegation for help in maintaining the federal channel in Hatteras Inlet, the Ocracoke Observer reported.

The county board wrote that the situation with shoaling in the channel used by ferries that serve as Ocracoke Island had become dire, lengthening travel times and “limiting life-saving services in one of the most treacherous areas along the entire East Coast,” according to the letter. “These changes have also impacted access to National Park Service lands as Ocracoke Island is also part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.”

Commissioners said that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had been given “an extremely limited and insufficient budget and can not maintain these federal channels with the resources that have been provided by the federal government over the last ten years. This is evident from the unacceptable condition of the federal channels that our community relies on for basic transportation. The USACE has not been able to provide adequate dredging services to maintain these channels with the resources they have been provided.”

“The Army Corps is failing us,” Commissioner Randal Mathews told the Observer Wednesday.

Commissioners wrote that the state was struggling not only with increased fuel and staffing expenses related to the longer ferry route but also “the treacherous conditions are causing costly damages to our state ferry vessels.”

They wrote that ferry repair costs as a result of running aground “are further compounding the state’s ability to provide basic transportation services to our community.”

Hyde County commissioners’ letter to the county’s congressional delegation. Courtesy Ocracoke Observer

Maintenance dredging planned for Wilmington Harbor

Staff Report — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 19:08:31 +0000

N.C. Port of Wilmington. Photo: Army Corps of Engineers

WILMINGTON – Maintenance dredging of the channel entrance to Wilmington Harbor is expected to begin this winter.

The harbor is one of three that will be dredged later this year, according to an Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District release.

The district last week awarded a $23.9 million contract to Manson Construction Co., which is headquartered in Seattle, to dredge the harbor in Wilmington and Georgia’s Savannah Harbor and Brunswick Harbor.

The contract includes an option to award Manson a contract to dredge the Morehead City Harbor by the end of November, pending results of an upcoming survey to measure the channel entrance’s current depths and compare them with the authorized depths, according to the release.

If a contract is awarded for the Morehead City Harbor, dredging would be done next year.

Challenges persist to dredge Avon, Hatteras harbors

Joy Crist — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 20:06:20 +0000

Avon Harbor in February 2023. Photo: Joy Crist

From an Island Free Press report.

The Dare County Waterways Commission discussed during its meeting Monday projects to dredge Hatteras Harbor and Avon Harbor, but the path to complete both has several challenges.

The Waterways Commission recently requested the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers address Hatteras Harbor shoaling that is beginning to impede vessels that regularly travel through the waterbody, including the U.S. Coast Guard, which uses the harbor during search and rescue cases, about 40 local charter vessels and additional transient vessels.

Dare County has $217,000 remaining for Hatteras Connector Channel dredging projects that should cover the cost for the Corps’ dredge Murden to address the shoaling. The county-managed dredge Miss Katie would need special permitting and permission to dredge the harbor, which could take up to six months.

The Dare County Board of Commissioners June 6 requested a survey of the Hatteras Harbor expected to be complete this week. The hope is that after the survey is ready, the Coast Guard can partner with the Corps on the emergency dredging request to make the project a priority.

Commission members decided to wait until the survey of the Hatteras Harbor area was complete to decide on next steps.

The Corps has allocated $1.6 million in funds to dredge Avon Harbor and the adjacent channel. The dredging is expected to deepen Avon Harbor and the first mile of the channel to 6 feet, Barton Grover, Dare County grants and waterways administrator, said at Monday’s meeting.

Because there is no clear disposal site for dredge material close to Avon Harbor, Dare County, the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the National Park Service and other agencies planned earlier this year to move the material to the soundside beaches between Avon and Buxton.

The sand was tested this spring to make sure it was safe for public use. Results indicate that the sand exceeded safety limits for certain contaminants.

Grover said they’re working with NCDOT and the park service to see if there are other locations to deposit the material, “because based on those results, we’re not going to put the harbor material on a publicly used beach.”

Grover added that the channel material test results came out well, and this material could likely be used to bolster public beaches.

As for the current channels in Hatteras Inlet, Chairman Steve “Creature” Coulter noted that vessels were not having an issue getting through the inlet since the channel was dredged this spring by Miss Katie and the Corps.

“It’s holding pretty well, and the connecting channel is still good,” said Coulter. “It could always use a little maintenance on the entrance coming out of Sloop into the connecting channel, but it’s holding up pretty well.”

The next Dare County Waterways Commission meeting is at 7 p.m. July 10 in Manteo.

This story is provided courtesy of the Island Free Press, a digital newspaper covering Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. Coastal Review is partnering with the Free Press to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest along our coast.

Advocates cite risks of planned shipping channel project

Trista Talton — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 04:00:00 +0000

A NeoPanamax ship, which describes ships of roughly 1,200 feet in length, about a 168-foot beam and drawing about 50 feet with a cargo capacity of about 120,000 tons — the general size limits for ships transiting the Panama Canal since 2016 — arrives at the North Carolina Port of Wilmington in April 2019, the third such vessel to call at the port. Photo: State Ports Authority

WILMINGTON — North Carolina’s largest river basin faces more than its fair share of threats, advocates say.

The Cape Fear River watershed is the most industrialized in the state. Swine and poultry factory farms, paper and wood pellet mills, chemical plants, yet-to-be cleaned coal ash ponds, countless small dams and several large dams, feed and textile mills, explosive commercial and residential development, and climate change endanger this river basin of about 9,000 square miles and home to about 2 million people.

Environmentalists and river advocates are taking aim at what they consider to be the latest threat to the lower Cape Fear River — the proposed deepening and widening of the Wilmington Harbor.

Attendees at Cape Fear River Watch’s second annual State of the River forum Thursday were urged to consider the potential impacts to the river’s habitat, the species that rely on that habitat and the communities and cultural resources that line the river’s banks.

The N.C. State Ports Authority’s plan to make room for larger container ships to travel 26 miles from the river’s mouth at the Atlantic Ocean to the Wilmington port would likely change the water, sand and riverside communities, said Hannah Nelson, an associate attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Chapel Hill office.

“Now is really the perfect time to start thinking through the tough questions on this project,” Nelson said to an audience of dozens gathered at the forum held in Cape Fear Community College’s Union Station building in downtown Wilmington.

The ports authority announced four years ago a proposal to deepen the harbor from 42 feet to 47 feet, widen it in areas by 100 feet up to 300 feet, and extend the ocean entrance to the river from 44 feet to 77 feet.

Those new depths and widths would allow the Wilmington port to remain competitive with other East Coast ports by making room for larger container ships coming from Asia, according to the state ports authority.

The changes would accommodate large vessels that can carry 14,000, 20-by-8-foot shipping containers that have been traveling through the Panama Canal since its expansion in 2016.

But making room for larger ships could exacerbate saltwater intrusion, a phenomenon already occurring with sea level rise, through to the Northeast Cape Fear River, Sturgeon Creek and Town Creek, Nelson said.

“We expect to see this increased salinity throughout the river system,” she said.

Increased salinity is worrisome, Nelson said, because saltwater encroachment will force species to either migrate or altogether cease to exist in the river, kill off freshwater plants and habitat and destroy wetlands, which are nature’s storm buffers.

The proposed project is also expected to change the river’s tidal range and increase the mean high water level throughout the channel because the project would reduce the speed at which the water flows, she said.

Millions of cubic yards of sand will have to be removed, destroying nearly 1,000 acres of soft-bottom habitat and converting that habitat into deepwater habitat. Many of those acres make up primary nursing area for juvenile fish, Nelson said.

“If we dig all of that up, it can no longer be suitable for those young fish,” she said.

Sea turtles, including endangered loggerheads, rest and forage on the floor of the harbor. Bigger ships could increase erosion rates on the river banks, threatening recreational use of the river, shorebird habitat, communities, including environmental justice communities, and cultural resources.

There’s also concern that the sand that would be moved during construction of the proposed project could be laden with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which are human-made chemicals that have contaminated the river, the raw drinking water source for tens of thousands of people in the region, for decades.

Other possible impacts to communities on both sides of the harbor are increased vehicle traffic transporting containers, noise and land development.

“We’ve seen this play out in our neighboring states,” Nelson said.

Land in both Georgia and South Carolina on either side of the Savannah Harbor has experience a building boom of industrial warehouses since that harbor’s expansion project wrapped last year.

Nelson said that between 2019 and 2022, 77 warehouses of various sizes were built in the area around the expansion.

“These are just a couple of the environmental impacts that could happen with this project,” she said. “We don’t have to continue down the path of deepening and deepening and deepening because that’s what we’ve already done.”

The project received authorization under the Water Resources Development Act in late 2020.

Nonfederal-sponsored projects, such as those led by states or state agencies like the ports authority, have to get federal authorization before moving forward. In order to receive federal funds, projects must undergo an environmental assessment known as the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA process, which is headed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Corps is partnering with the ports authority to develop the Wilmington Harbor Clean Water Action Section 403 letter report and environmental impact statement, or EIS, which are estimated to cost $8.5 million and be completed in four years.

The public will have an opportunity to speak with Corps representatives submit comments at an open house next week hosted by the Corps’ Wilmington District. Public comments will be accepted through June 30.

The open house is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. June 13 in the Union Station building, 502 N. Front St.

For more information about the project and to submit comments visit https://wilmington-harbor-usace-saw.hub.arcgis.com/

Corps allows channel sand for Wrightsville Beach project

Trista Talton — Tue, 23 May 2023 04:00:00 +0000

A view of the 2018 beach nourishment project in Wrightsville Beach. Photo: Corps

Sand to renourish Wrightsville Beach’s ocean shoreline later this year will be pumped from within the same inlet it has for decades.

Making what it calls an emergency exception, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District has determined the beach will get sand from Masonboro Inlet, sparing the town what was forecast to be a hefty price increase for a renourishment project that was already behind schedule.

Jed Cayton, a public affairs specialist with the Corps’ Wilmington District, said in an email responding to Coastal Review’s questions that the agency had exercised a Coastal Barrier Resources Act, or CBRA, exception for the town’s upcoming emergency nourishment project.

“Since Masonboro Inlet has been the historic borrow source for the project, the necessary environmental clearances are currently in place,” Cayton said in the email. “This exception was made on a case-by-case analysis, meaning it is for this particular situation only. However, the inlet could be used in the future if the situation fits the criteria of a federal emergency.”

The Corps no longer plans to finalize an environmental assessment of the town’s storm risk management project, the draft of which was released in January, examining alternative sand borrow areas for the town.

Masonboro Inlet has been the town’s go-to sand source since the 1960s.

The rich, beach-quality sand routinely pumped from Banks Channel onto the ocean shoreline lies within federally-designated Coastal Barrier Resources System Unit L09.

CBRA, pronounced “cobra,” was passed by Congress in 1982 to discourage building on relatively undeveloped, storm-prone barrier islands by cutting off federal funding and financial assistance, including federal flood insurance.

The act was also established to minimize damage to fish, wildlife and other resources associated with coastal barrier islands.

The interpretation of the law as it pertains to whether sand that is within a CBRA unit may be dredged and placed onto a beach outside of a CBRA zone has been kicked back-and-forth between federal regulatory agencies for years.

Wrightsville Beach had been shielded from the debate because the town was given an exception since it had been using the inlet as a borrow source years before CBRA was enacted. In the mid-1990s, the Corps made the exception a permanent rule, one that continued to be upheld through 2019 when then-Interior Secretary David Bernhardt determined that federal funds could be used to pay for dredging sand within CBRA units and for placing that sand on beaches outside of those zones for shoreline-stabilization projects.

Looking back: Tiresome issue won’t stop Wrightsville Beach sand project

Last year, the Biden administration overturned the rule, a move that forced Wrightsville Beach to look offshore for a sand borrow source.

Aside from anticipating a higher price tag to move sand from the ocean floor, the town ran into an unexpected problem with its offshore site – tires.

During surveys of the offshore borrow site, the Corps discovered some 300,000 tires had broken free from an old artificial reef and scattered along an area of seafloor within the site. A Corps official last year said the agency would have a mitigation plan to try and prevent a dredge from sucking up tires and pumping them onto the beach.

The Corps did not indicate whether the presence of tires within the offshore borrow site played a part in its decision to grant the emergency exemption.

Wrightsville Beach was initially on track to receive sand last year, New Hanover County Shoreline Protection Coordinator Layton Bedsole said Monday.

“I think it’s a positive step,” he said of the emergency exemption.

Wrightsville Beach Town Manager Tim Owens did not return a call Monday seeking comment.

Congressman David Rouzer, R-N.C., in January introduced a bill to amend CBRA to allow federal funds to be used for coastal storm risk management projects that have been pumping sand from borrow sources within a CBRA zone for more than 15 years.

Earlier this month, Rouzer and Wrightsville Beach Mayor Darryl Mills testified in favor of the bill before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries.

During his May 10 address to the subcommittee, Rouzer said that the inlet borrow site has “served as a reliable, ecologically friendly” source for more than 50 years. He expressed urgency for renourishment of the town’s beachfront.

“Seasonal storms have caused flooding to occur quickly and more easily than in the past. In fact, if Wrightsville Beach experiences one more major storm, the destruction to property could be catastrophic, costing taxpayers as well as the National Flood Insurance Program significantly more,” he said.

Cayton said the Corps will continue to work with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to identify suitable borrow sources “within and beyond 3 nautical miles” for the town.

“An environmental assessment will be completed on any source considered,” he said.

Work to move tens of thousands of cubic yards of sand from the inlet borrow source to the town’s ocean shoreline is expected to begin in mid-November and wrap by the close of the environmental window March 31, 2024.

Park service seeks 10-year dredge, beach sand permit

Trista Talton — Wed, 17 May 2023 04:00:00 +0000

The proposed beach nourishment part of the project is for the soundside beach where historic structures are vulnerable to erosion. Image: Corps

Heavy shoaling has created a challenging water course for ferries that carry tens of thousands of visitors to Cape Lookout National Seashore where iconic structures, including the lighthouse, are being threatened by erosion.

Now, for the first time in more than a decade, the National Park Service hopes to unclog two channels — Lighthouse Channel and U.S. Coast Guard Channel — that passenger ferries and private boaters use to access the park and place the material that is dredged onto the soundside beach in front of the lighthouse compound. The public has until June 8 to comment on the plan.

Jeff West

“The shoaling is not anything new,” Cape Lookout Superintendent Jeff West said. “It’s just part of life out here.”

But not since March 2006 have sand borrow areas within Barden Inlet been dredged and that sand placed on the beach at the historic lighthouse. Erosion has stripped that sand away, leaving the iconic structures vulnerable.

The federally maintained channel from Back Sound to Lookout Bight has not been dredged since 1997.

Boat strandings have become commonplace as a result of the heavy shoaling.

Many fishing and trawling boats cannot pass through Barden Inlet, which runs into Lookout Bight to the Atlantic Ocean, leaving the sole alternative of traveling nearly 9 miles west to Beaufort Inlet according to a draft environmental impact statement, or EIS, of the proposed project.

Shoaling in the channels are indicated as warmer colors, with red being the most severe. Image: Corps

There is no record of when the two park service channels, which access the dock to the lighthouse compound and a dock to the old Cape Lookout U.S. Coast Guard Station, were last dredged, according to the permit application.

The Coast Guard pulled navigation buoys from Barden Inlet back in 2017.

West said a number of local boaters have gone out and marked the channels, but constantly shifting sand moved at the will of currents, storms and extreme lunar tides makes those efforts fruitless.

“Low tide out there is terribly difficult to navigate,” he said in a recent telephone interview. “If you’re not running it all the time, it’s even more difficult. Even our ferry service, and those guys make multiple trips every day, have had some problems. They are able to make most of the runs most of the time. It’s just that they may have to be a little bit more careful when they run what we call locally the ‘S’ turns.”

Each year some 110,000 passengers use passenger ferry service from Harkers Island to Cape Lookout, where a 200-foot docking facility leads to the 1859 lighthouse, lighthouse keeper’s quarters, a series of smaller structures and picnic areas.

Cape Lookout also can be accessed by passenger ferry service from Beaufort.

The park is home to the old Coast Guard station and a former residential village. The NPS plans in the future to use the now-dilapidated station dock for maintenance operations.

Erosion now threatens the 1873 lighthouse keeper’s quarters and summer kitchen.

“There’s a critical issue there,” West said.

The channel in Back Sound, Sandbag Island, Barden Inlet and Lookout Bight are shown in this image from the environmental document for the proposed project.

The 2006 nourishment project injected 74,000 cubic yards of material over a three-quarter-mile stretch of the soundside beach in front of the lighthouse compound.

An estimated 38,000 cubic yards of sand is anticipated to be placed on about 450 feet of beach if this next round of nourishment is approved, West said.

“Ultimately what we’re trying to do is keep direct ocean impact from striking those buildings and taking those out,” he said. “Anything there man-made over there on the banks is subject to be destroyed.”

The hope is to kick off the project – $6.5 million by rough estimates – on Nov. 1.

“We’ve still got to answer concerns that were raised during the environmental assessment process,” West said. “I don’t foresee anything major coming out of that.”

More than 150,000 cubic yards of material is anticipated to be dredged from the federal channel in Back Sound and placed onto Sandbag Island.

According to the draft EIS, which assessed three project alternatives, neither essential fish habitat nor related species in the proposed project area is expected to be adversely affected under the park service’s preferred alternative.

The preferred dredging locations are not likely to adversely affect sea turtles, sturgeon or manta rays, according to the study, but placement of dredged material may affect and will likely adversely affect sea turtles, piping plover, red knot and seabeach amaranth.

The National Park Service is seeking a 10-year permit to cover maintenance dredging and material placement two or three times within that time frame.

West said that, ultimately, the service’s goal is to install a living shoreline along the soundside beach to curb erosion.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is accepting written public comments on the park service’s May 1 permit application until 5 p.m. June 8. Comments may be submitted to Emily Hughes, Wilmington Regulatory Field Office, 69 Darlington Ave. Wilmington, NC 28403, or by email at emily.b.hughes@usace.army.mil.

Waterways panel eyes Avon, emergency ferry harbors

Catherine Kozak — Fri, 12 May 2023 04:00:00 +0000

The Miss Katie departs the Hatteras ferry terminal March 14. Photo: Joy Crist

Reprinted from Island Free Press

With crisis conditions in Hatteras Inlet becalmed for the time being, members of the Dare County Waterways Commission are keeping a keen eye on the horizon to forestall planning kinks while turning its attention elsewhere to long-discussed projects in Avon Harbor and the Stumpy Point emergency ferry harbor.

During a low-key commission meeting Monday in Manteo, Commission Chair Steve “Creature” Coulter took note of the good work done in the spring by Dare County’s new hopper dredge Miss Katie in the inlet’s troublesome Connector Channel, leaving the only immediate concern being buoy placement.

“The Miss Katie has the (channel) as good as its been in five or six years,” Coulter told Jordan Hennessy, EJE Dredging Service vice president. On the Sloop Channel side, Coulter added, “it’s creeping up on us a little bit, but everywhere else, it’s beautiful.”

EJE is the owner of the dredge and is operating in Hatteras and Oregon inlets under an agreement with the county.

Coulter asked Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer John Ahlen, commanding officer of aids to navigation, if buoys 13 and 14 in the Hatteras Inlet gorge could be moved away from an encroaching shoal with its new 14-foot vessel before the start of the Hatteras Village Offshore Open this week. Also, the Big Rock tournament based in Morehead City starts on June 9, when the larger boats will be transiting the inlet.

“That is our main goal for the next two weeks,” Ahlen responded, speaking remotely via video.

Meanwhile, Dare County plans to submit permit applications soon for authorization for the Miss Katie to dredge the entire recently realigned federal channel as well as the nonfederal bar in Hatteras Inlet, Dare County Grants and Waterways Administrator Barton Grover told the panel. The review is expected to take about five months, he added.

Grover said that the county-based dredge is expected to replace work in the inlet that had been done by the Army Corps of Engineers under a memorandum of agreement, or MOA, with the state and county. The county also plans to determine new spots to dump dredge material closer to where the dredge is working.

“We’re essentially copying what the Corps does,” he said. “The main thing we’re doing is changing the disposal areas.”

In an almost comical illustration of bureaucratic rigidity, Grover detailed the required steps for about $155,000 to be returned to the county coffers. As he explained, that was Dare’s cost share of unused funds that had been transferred to the Corps for additional work in the Connector Channel. But after the Hatteras Channel realignment was approved in December, that channel effectively became part of the authorized federal channel, meaning it no longer would be maintained under the prior MOA.

In order for the total $217,000 to be returned, the process would have to be done in reverse, step-by-step; that is, the Corps transfers the money to the state, then the state transfers Dare’s share back to the county. At the same time, the county is planning to seek a different long-term MOA that would expand flexibility with the partners.

In another update, Grover reported that vibracore samples taken at heavily-shoaled Avon Harbor had been collected last week to be examined for heavy metals and petroleum, with results due by Friday. If the results are good, he said, the Corps is expected to start work clearing the harbor, basin and channel this winter, likely early 2024. Since there is no room for a bermed containment area, the project will be “bucket and barge,” with about 20,000 cubic yards of material removed, and transferred by truck to the Canadian Hole in Buxton.

Dare County is paying the $160,000 tab for trucking and core samples, Grover said, but the Corps’ cost for dredging is not yet available. The state Department of Transportation is handling the permitting and providing technical assistance, as well as taking the lead on beach placement of the sand. Since the bucket and barge work is slower than pipeline dredging, the project is expected to take at least a couple of months and will be more expensive, Grover estimated.

Over at Stumpy Point, where the emergency ferry channel from Rodanthe ends, work has begun on the initial design and engineering phase for enlarging the berm where about 200,000 cubic yards of dredged sand is expected to be deposited.

“We have to elevate the berm to handle the dredge material,” Grover explained in a later interview.

Although the Corps is slated to do the dredging project in the federal portion of the channel, for which it has been allocated $1.6 million, he said, the county is responsible for providing a disposal site — but the site near the state’s emergency ferry dock is currently at capacity. The original estimate for the berm expansion engineering and construction is $835,000, he said, with the state covering 75% of the cost, and county responsible for the remainder.

The emergency channel has been used several times after storms and road and bridge closures to ferry residents, tourists and workers off Hatteras Island.

Back to Hatteras Inlet, Cat Peele, planning and development manager with NCDOT Ferry Division, told commissioners that the division is seeking to modify its permit to allow use of a hopper dredge for the north end of Sloop Channel, which is part of the ferry channel —-along with nearby Barney Slough — that has been plagued with shoaling on and off in the last year. Also, Peele said the division is looking at modifying the permitted area for their channel to make it straighter, a potential improvement that has been identified by the Coast Guard.

Todd Horton, chief of the waterways management section at the Corps’ Wilmington district, speaking remotely, had earlier informed the panel that the Corps’ $1.5 million Rollinson Channel project funds used for the ferry channel maintenance are gone for fiscal year 2023, which ends on Sept. 30.

With Sloop Channel needing additional attention, Hyde County on May 1 submitted an application to the state for shallow draft navigational funds to dredge the north end. As a Tier 1 county, Hyde qualifies for a 0% match for funding from the state shallow draft fund for ferry channel projects. Typically, the funds would be available in 30 days.

Horton said the Corps still plans to do the Rollinson pipeline dredge project this fall or winter, between the Oct. 1 to March 31 window. Placement of dredge material will be at Cora June Island or on a National Park Service beach parallel to Pole Road in Hatteras village, or on Ocracoke Island, whichever site is closest. The project will also include dredging the entrance between the breakwaters at Hatteras Harbor Marina.

But there was concern from several members of the Waterways Commission that the breakwater area would be dangerously shoaled by winter. At the suggestion of Peele, the panel agreed to request that Dare County declare an emergency in order to have the Dredge Murden stop by earlier in Hatteras on its way down to New Jersey for a scheduled project.

By next month’s meeting in Buxton, the Waterways Commission may see two new faces.

Ahlen, with the Coast Guard, is heading to the West Coast, and he said he hopes to be able to introduce his replacement in person before he leaves. Also, member Kermit Skinner has submitted his resignation. John Berquist, a Kitty Hawk resident who runs an outboard business, threw his hat in the ring, and the commission voted unanimously to recommend his appointment.

“I used to run a restaurant in Southern Shores,” he told commissioners, referring to the Pizza Stop that he owned for eight years. “I sold it to fish.

“I know y’all are from Hatteras, but there’s nobody here from up the beach.”

Carteret County begins search for Bogue Banks sand

Staff Report — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 18:54:21 +0000

Potential offshore sand resources for Carteret County. Graphic: Moffatt & Nichol/Carteret County

Carteret County Beach Commission members were presented Monday afternoon with potential offshore borrow locations from where the county may pump sand onto Bogue Banks ocean shorelines.

The commission is looking for offshore sand resources to support the county’s 50-year beach preservation plan, the first of its kind in North Carolina.

The county received a permit in 2018 to take sand from a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers offshore dredge material disposal site, or ODMDS, to renourish beachfronts along the barrier island, which includes Atlantic Beach, Emerald Isle, Pine Knoll Shores and Indian Beach.

Shortly after the permit was issued, Hurricane Florence dumped record-breaking rainfall and produced a storm surge of up to 13 feet across eastern North Carolina, leaving behind sand-stripped beaches.

For the next three years after the storm, the county pumped 6 million cubic yards of sand onto the beaches to make up for the sand lost. The projects further depleted material available in the offshore dredge material disposal site now estimated to have about 16 million cubic yards of beach compatible sand.

Doug Huggett, an environmental permit specialist and project manager with the coastal engineering firm Moffatt & Nichol, explained to members of the commission that there is likely enough sand available in the offshore dredge material disposal site for two more nourishment events. How many years that the amount of material available would cover depends on the frequency of coastal storms.

“It’s becoming less and less effective as a borrow source,” Huggett said.

Moffatt & Nichol has identified potential offshore borrow areas the county may investigate, the top two of which include a nearshore berm off the Atlantic Beach coast and Cape Lookout shoals.

Huggett suggested that the nearshore site be a top priority to investigate because of its proximity to the beachfront and the quality of material anticipated to be in the area.

“Closer is always more preferable,” because it is more cost-effective, he said.

The area, referred to as nearshore berm west, contains about 11 million cubic yards of material.

Cape Lookout shoals has a whopping 63 million cubic yards of material, but Huggett warned that the county may be faced with permitting issues to use the site because of environmental concerns. One member of the commission suggested the area may be deemed essential fish habitat.

Moffatt & Nichol will provide a final analysis and summary report to the commission later this year.

Comment deadline May 15 on dredging by Cape Lookout

Staff Report — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 14:20:57 +0000

Proposed dredge project near Cape Lookout Lighthouse. Map: Army Corps of Engineers

The public can submit comments until mid-May on the draft environmental assessment for proposed dredge work in waters by Cape Lookout Lighthouse in Carteret County.

The project includes dredging the Army Corps of Engineers and National Park Service federal navigation channels from Back Sound to Cape Lookout Bight, and placing the dredged material on a nearby island and soundside and oceanside beaches at Cape Lookout National Seashore, officials said.

The Corps prepared the draft environmental assessment dated April 2023 and available on the website. Project details are on the National Park Service’s Planning, Environment and Public Comment webpage.

The public comment window ends May 15, the National Park Service announced Tuesday. Comments on the draft assessment should include enough detail to support statements in favor of or opposed to the proposed action.

Written comments may be submitted to John Policarpo, U.S. Army Engineer District, Wilmington, CESAW-ECP-PE, 69 Darlington Ave., Wilmington, NC 28403, or emailed to John.N.Policarpo@usace.army.mil.

The proposed dredging would use government-owned shallow-draft plant and contracted hydraulic cutterhead pipeline dredges. Pipeline dredging would be used for initial dredging, then every three to five years, depending on shoaling and funding. Pipeline-dredged material would be placed on Sandbag Island, Bird Island or on nearby National Park Service beaches, officials said. A map of proposed placement areas is on the website.

“Based on the information in the Draft EA, we expect the proposed Federal action will not significantly affect the quality of the human environment; therefore, an Environmental Impact Statement will not be required. If this opinion is upheld following circulation of this Draft EA, a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) pursuant to (National Environmental Policy Act) will be completed by the Corps and NPS,” officials said.

Dare moves toward Avon Harbor dredging project

Joy Crist — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 14:09:03 +0000

The 2023-2024 winter dredging will result in Avon Harbor depths of 6 feet. Photo by Joy Crist.

Reprinted from Island Free Press

The Dare County Board of Commissioners have unanimously approved a resolution to take the first steps toward a dredging project in Avon Harbor that will result in beach nourishment for the Canadian Hole and Kite Point soundside shorelines.

The Army Corps of Engineers has allocated $1.6 million in funds to dredge Avon Harbor and the adjacent channel, but unlike the Corps’ past dredging projects, such as in Oregon or Hatteras inlets, there is not a clear disposal site for dredge material in the immediate Avon village area.

As a result, Dare County and other government agencies, including the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the National Park Service, have formulated a plan to transport the dredged material from Avon Harbor to the nearby soundside beaches between Avon and Buxton.

The dredging is expected to deepen Avon Harbor and the first mile of the channel to 6 feet, while up to 25,000 cubic yards of sand will be deposited in between Avon and Buxton as a result of the project.

The Corps will orchestrate the dredging, which will entail a bucket-and-barge operation instead of a pipeline dredge due to the lack of an adjacent disposal site, while the North Carolina Department of Transportation will assist with obtaining permits, and performing the soundside beach nourishment.

Dare County will be responsible for the transportation of the material from Avon to Canadian Hole and Kite Point, as well as the initial vibracore, a sediment sampling method, to ensure that the material is safe and can be used to bolster the soundside area.

“Obviously, this material will be placed on a beach that is used by the public, so we need to make sure there are (no issues), like heavy metals, and petroleum. That is the first hurdle,” said Dare County Grants and Waterways Administrator Barton Grover. “If the vibracore sampling comes out bad, we’ll have to reassess this project.”

An estimated $160,000 is required from Dare County for vibracore sampling and trucking costs once the project is underway, and a Shallow Draft Navigation Fund application will be submitted to receive a 75% state match, or up to $120,000, of the required funds.

During the meeting Monday, commissioners approved a resolution to sponsor the project and to authorize the county manager to make the necessary budget amendment.

Grover expects the sampling to be performed in March, and based on those results, the Corps will start accepting contractor bids for the dredging project in the summer of 2023.

If all aspects of the multifaceted dredging and nourishment project align, dredging in Avon Harbor will begin in winter 2023-24.

Unlike other oceanfront beach nourishment projects in the county, which are funded through the county’s Beach Nourishment Fund, the soundside nourishment is more of a beneficial side effect of the dredging event, instead of the primary goal.

“We needed to have a nearby site to deposit materials, and there was not one close to the harbor, but this allows us to essentially do a soundside beach nourishment project in the process,” Grover said.

The end result will be a deeper and easier-to-navigate Avon Harbor, as well as better protection for N.C. Highway 12, the power lines, the water line that runs in between Avon and Buxton villages, and the popular soundside beaches themselves.

“This project will be beneficial to a lot of different people and entities,” Grover said. “It’s beneficial to the NCDOT, Cape Hatteras Electric, the kiteboarders and recreational users of the soundside beaches, and the commercial and recreational fishermen who use Avon Harbor.”

Miss Katie dredge on track to work in Hatteras Inlet

Catherine Kozak — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 16:58:41 +0000

Image of Miss Katie entering Wanchese Harbor on Aug. 19, 2022. Photo: Island Free Press

From an Island Free Press report

The Dare County Waterways Commission is hopeful that maintenance issues in Hatteras Inlet finally can be addressed in a timely manner.

“We don’t want to wait until the last minute,” Commission Chair Steve “Creature” Coulter said at the Jan. 9 meeting in Manteo. “We want it fixed and maintained so we can tell the people to come.”

With permission from the Oregon Inlet Task Force, the new state dredge Miss Katie is on track to be able to work in the Connector Channel by early February, waterways administrator Barton Grover said in later interview.

The Oregon Inlet Task Force, which controls the dredge’s schedule, voted at its Jan. 10 meeting to approve the commission’s motion requesting the Hatteras work, Grover said.

There will likely be another request for the Miss Katie to go back to Hatteras at the end of March, he added. The goal is to prevent another shoaling crisis by keeping the channel in good shape before the six-month sea turtle moratorium begins on April 1. But work is possible in the warmer months with permission from regulatory agencies.

“I think a week to 10 days is a good measure of how effective they can be in the Connector Channel,” Ken Willson, Dare County dredge projects consultant with Coastal Planning & Engineering of North Carolina, speaking remotely, told commissioners. “Then maybe monitor it and come back and do a cleanup at the end of March.”

The 156-foot shallow-draft hopper dredge, christened on Oct. 13 at a ceremony in Wanchese, is a public-private partnership with Greenville-based EJE Dredging Service, built with a $15 million allocation from the state Shallow Draft Navigation fund. EJE owns and operates the Miss Katie, and the Oregon Inlet Task Force has been charged by Dare County to manage the dredge, including its operation schedule and project monitoring.

In return for EJE dredging in the county at a reduced rate for 10 years, the state loan will be forgiven, according to the contract. The agreement also can be renewed.

Inlet channel maintenance made simpler: Go with the flow

Catherine Kozak — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 05:00:00 +0000

The proposed corridor with high-shoaling areas to be dredged any time of year indicated in circles. Image: Corps/FONSI

HATTERAS — As it turns out, long-sought flexibility in maintenance of essential Hatteras Inlet navigation channels didn’t take an act of Congress. It boiled down to a much simpler concept: go-with-the-flow realignment.

But with the finalized expanded authorization to dredge Rollinson Channel, it may seem like a Christmas miracle for islanders now relieved of navigating a labyrinth of regulatory hurdles to address shoaled channels.

For Steve “Creature” Coulter, a Hatteras charter boat captain and chair of the Dare County Waterways Commission, the new realignment, which he said Dec. 2 was a “done deal,” is delayed validation of his initial assessment.

In 2013, as Coulter recalled in a recent interview with Coastal Review, when the waterway’s “short route” between Hatteras and Ocracoke islands was deemed too dangerously shoaled to dredge, he called the office of the late 3^rd District Rep. Walter Jones and suggested, essentially, that the law allowed channel dredging to follow best water.

But at the time, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the agency charged with maintenance of Rollinson Channel, said that an act of Congress would be required to change the channel’s authorized metes and bounds.

“If we could do just what we wanted to do, I’d have had it done nine years ago,” Coulter said, recounting what he half-jokingly told Josh Bowlen, who had served as Jones’ legislative director, and later, chief of staff.

After Jones’ death in 2019, Bowlen has served as legislative assistant for Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., who will retire in January.

Although it’s not clear when the Corps adopted its different stance, its authority to follow the deepest natural water, or best water, in the Rollinson Channel Navigation Project was explained in the environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact, or FONSI, that was signed Nov. 30 by Robert M. Burnham, acting district commander for Corps’ Wilmington District.

The realignment of a portion of the project’s Hatteras to Hatteras Inlet Channel that follows deep water, the document said, was “due to the changes in shoaling patterns” caused by the dynamic inlet conditions.

“The project’s authorization does not specify the precise location of the Hatteras to Hatteras Inlet Channel, and therefore the location may be altered if found to be justified,” the document said, citing a regulation that allowed modifications.

The channel was originally authorized in 1962 under the River and Harbor Acts and included a 100-foot-wide, 12-foot-deep fixed channel extending through Rollinson Channel from Hatteras Harbor to Pamlico Sound, and a 100-foot-wide, 10-foot-deep channel from Rollinson Channel to the Hatteras Inlet gorge, with part of the channel being fixed and part following best water.

Somehow, what Coulter and other mariners considered common sense broke through to the surface.

“Having a channel that follows natural deep water to the extent practicable,” according to the environmental assessment, “given the natural dynamic nature of sediment movement, will allow for a safer, more reliable channel, reduced dredging effort, and an associated reduction in maintenance dredging costs, as well as having the least impact to the environment.”

Of the three actions proposed, the preferred alternative that was approved chose to abandon the “historic direct route” to the inlet gorge and to reroute the channel to follow best water along what is known as the “horseshoe route.”

“This is the only way for (the Corps) to economically maintain access to the gorge at Hatteras Inlet and will allow transportation of passengers, goods, and services to continue from the mainland, as well as allowing safe access to open ocean waters,” according to the document.

Not only will the dredging be able to be more flexible and timelier, the realignment also frees up use of federal funds for work within the project.

Work in the horseshoe will be allowed between Oct. 1 and March 31. Also, Sloop Channel North and Hatteras Connector Channel can now be maintained any time of the year.

Decades before the short route became impassable and impossible to dredge, the inlet was stable and rarely had navigational difficulties. After 1993, when the inlet was 0.35 miles wide, the southwest end of Hatteras Island began eroding, likely spurred by the effects that year of the “Storm of the Century” and Hurricane Emily.

As detailed in the environmental assessment, sand from the eroding land over the years, as well as what drifted through the widening opening to the ocean, resulted in more shoaling. By 2019, about 315 acres from the tip of Hatteras was gone, and the inlet had widened to 1.7 miles. At the same time, about 130 miles of shoreline was lost from the eastern end of Ocracoke Island. Today, the inlet is over 2 miles wide.

Erosion on Ocracoke and Hatteras islands, 1993-2013. Source: Corps/FONSI

As navigation through Hatteras Inlet became more difficult, and the ferry route between Hatteras and Ocracoke islands switched to the longer horseshoe route, the commercial and charter fishing fleet, recreational boaters and fishers and the Coast Guard, also had to adapt their routes to reach Ocracoke and the ocean, depending on shoaling.

It soon became evident that dredging would be needed beyond the authorized Rollinson project the Corps had been maintaining. Problems developed in a confusing number of channels, or portions of them, some with evolving names. The South Ferry Channel — for a time a “no-man’s land” that no one had permission to maintain — became too shoaled to dredge and was replaced by the nearby Connector Channel.

But the piecemeal of jurisdictions, funding pots and government administrators — local, state, federal — involved in addressing problematic areas often resulted in time-consuming permit applications and costly delays.

Agreements had to be made among the county, the state and the Corps for certain work to be done, also not a quick process. Often, certain dredges were needed for certain conditions, but they weren’t available. Sometimes dredges were called away for a more pressing need, or broke down mid-project. A shared funding pot would be depleted by a more urgent project, such as the ferry route, leaving little or nothing for another needy channel. More than once, dredging projects would be undone by storms not long after they were completed.

For the last five or so years, members of the Waterways Commission were often left frustrated by numerous twists of fate and bureaucratic complications. Confronted repeatedly by the Corps inability to clear bits of shoaled channel outside the rigid authorized Rollinson parameters, the commissioners’ running theme through the years was the need for flexibility.

With the new flexibility, a Corps dredge on its way elsewhere would be able to do a little clean up where needed in Hatteras Inlet.

“If there’s money in the budget for Rollinson Channel, they can just stop by and do the work,” Coulter said.

Finally, in a big way, the realignment, while not a panacea, fills in gaps and removes one of the more persistent blockades to addressing the unpredictable nature of shoaling, while offering responsive dredging that can save time and money.

That means the Connector Channel, Crossover Channel, Sloop Channel, Hatteras Ferry Connecting Channel and Barney Slough, all of which may have had different names or versions that were maintained in different ways, will now be part of the expanded Rollinson project, explained Dare County Grants and Waterways Administrator Barton Grover.

It also puts Hatteras Inlet on par with Oregon Inlet in funding projects. For instance, the Corps just did $400,000 worth of work in the last three months in Oregon Inlet, and it cost Dare County “not one cent,” he said.

“In a nutshell, it’s a positive,” Grover said about the Hatteras realignment. “We now have access to federal dollars for the entire inlet.”

Also, there will be an additional area provided to dispose of dredged material, an important requirement for every dredge project.

Last year, he said, Dare dedicated $250,000 for Hatteras Inlet dredging, with a 75% match in state dollars, paid out of the state Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging and Aquatic Weed Fund.

Dare also budgeted $800,000 for its new hopper dredge, the Miss Katie, which will often be used to supplement Corps work. In addition, the Corps received $1.43 million for Rollinson Channel from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and $580,000 remained as of mid-November.

Since so much of the dredging situation has changed, Grover said, it will take time to gauge the impact on the maintenance and emergency work and the budgets. The reality, he added, is that even though the Corps now has the authority to dredge much more of Hatteras Inlet, it doesn’t mean it will have the funding or the available equipment.

If push comes to shove, he said, the county and state may have to supplement the cost of projects.

“I believe we’ll have a better sense in September of what it costs to maintain the ferry channel,” Grover said. “It’s a brand-new thing, not only with the federal channel, but also with us having Miss Katie.”

Corps reinstates seasonal dredging window at state ports

Trista Talton — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 05:00:00 +0000

The Army Corps of Engineers Dredge Murden is a hopper dredge out of Wilmington used to clear shallow-draft ocean bar channels and transport sand. Photo: Corps

Harbors at North Carolina’s state ports cannot be dredged year-round, a U.S. District judge ruled earlier this fall.

The Army Corps of Engineers reinstated the seasonal dredging window for hopper dredging of the harbors at the ports in Morehead City and Wilmington after the judge’s Sept. 26 ruling.

Ramona McGee

“That made clear that the Corps was working to ensure that hopper dredging would not happen during the summer, this upcoming summer and until further notice, which is good news for coastal wildlife,” said Ramona McGee, the Southern Environmental Law Center senior attorney who represented the environmental groups that challenged the Corps’ move to lift the environmental window on hopper dredging.

“It’s an exciting decision confirming that the Corps failed to grapple with the facts before it and violated the law and how it went about its inadequate environmental review,” she said.

Officials in the Corps’ Wilmington District declined to comment citing potential future litigation.

The U.S. Department of Justice did not reply to requests for comment.

Federal agencies have 60 days to file an appeal to a court’s judgement, which means that the Corps’ has until later this month to decide its next move.

The Corps in 2021 entered an agreement with the state to drop the hopper dredging window, which is Dec. 1 to April 15, citing the need for more flexibility to maintain the deep-draft channels and save millions of dollars.

The Corps is able to lower costs for its harbor maintenance projects by obtaining regional contracts, which gives the agency a better shot at securing hopper dredges to work in harbors across a region rather than one state.

There are only 13 hopper dredges for the East Coast from Maine to Florida and across the Gulf Coast to Texas.

The Wilmington District is under the Corps’ Regional Harbor Dredge Contract, or RHDC, which includes the agency’s districts in Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia.

Under an agreement with the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management signed off in early 2021, the Corps was allowed to clear the outer portions of the channels at the ports using a hopper dredge and bed leveling, where plow-like equipment is used to level out ridges and trenches created during dredging, any time of the year through Dec. 31, 2023.

The Corps agreed to monitor and report dredging and bed-leveling impacts on various species and their environment within the channels.

The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Cape Fear River Watch, the North Carolina Wildlife Federation and Defenders of Wildlife, filed a lawsuit Aug. 4, 2021, with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina that argued the Corps failed to conduct a full and accurate environmental review required by the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.

“Even the Army Corps of Engineers implemented this decades-old policy of restricting dredging to the winter months based on the agency’s science and observations at that time,” McGee said.

Several fish species are present in the project areas between the months of April and June. Those include Atlantic sturgeon, American Atlantic sturgeon, American shad, river herring, shad, white shrimp, blue cap, gag grouper and summer flounder.

Protections for federally listed species, including Atlantic sturgeon, are included in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s South Atlantic Regional Biological Opinion, or SARBO, for dredging and material placement.

U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan did not direct the Corps to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement, but remanded any decision by the Corps to conduct such a study “for further consideration.”

“We haven’t heard whether or not the agency will do an EIS or an EA,” McGee said. “Fundamentally, the court’s order does mean the Army Corps of Engineers is required to go back to the drawing board with their NEPA analysis and fix the flaws that the court identified.”

Hopper dredges are preferable to maintain portions of harbors leading to the state’s ports because they are more efficient, safer and economical compared to other types of dredges, according to an assessment by the Corps. The dredges vacuum material from the channel floor and hold that material onboard the vessel.

Corps policy has caused nonfederal dredging costs to soar

Trista Talton — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 04:00:00 +0000

A private dredge operation is shown underway in 2019 at a Carteret County marina. Photo: Carteret County Shore Protection Office

WILMINGTON – Sand and other material from dredging projects funded by marinas, local governments and private property owners will remain forbidden from placement at federally managed disposal sites.

Five years have passed since the Army Corps of Engineers stopped allowing dredged material from nonfederal projects to be placed on the disposal sites it maintains, a policy that will remain effective “for the foreseeable future,” according to Jed Cayton, a public affairs specialist with the Corps’ Wilmington District.

“Federal placement sites will not be available to non-federal projects based on need,” Cayton said in an email responding to questions. “Currently, (the Corps) is unable to dredge several locations within the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway as a direct result of the federal placement sites being full and unable to hold additional dredged material.”

The move, which is nationwide, has had local and state government officials scrambling to find alternative disposal sites, which has largely equated to higher project costs because those sites are farther from the areas where dredging occurs.

Thus is the case at Wrightsville Beach Marina, where an average of about 7,500 cubic yards of sand is dredged every three years to maintain a suitable water depth for boats and yachts.

For years, the marina placed material pumped from the area around the property to privately owned spoil islands whose owners granted easements to the Corps.

“We were able to find an area just outside of the easement we’ve been able to use, which is at incredible financial hardship,” said Wrightsville Beach Marina General Manager Sam Clary.

The marina had to build dikes and a spillway to make the land suitable to hold disposed material, which cost a hefty $100,000.

“In addition to that it’s almost a mile away from us so it costs about 50% more to dredge and pump so far away,” Clary said.

The extra expense falls on the backs of the marina’s customers.

“It’s still in high demand here just because it’s limited space, but it’s coming at a premium and I don’t know how sustainable it is,” Clary said. “We hope that over time that the regulations will be eased. We’re moving beach quality sand. It’s not much. I just think it should be on a case-by-case basis instead of a national mandate.”

Wilmington District officials recently submitted to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality a final report identifying and assessing existing nonfederal dredged material disposal placement sites along the Intracoastal Waterway within the state.

The report wraps up the first of two studies co-funded by the state to determine how many nonfederal disposal sites exist, where those sites are, which of those will accept material, generate a 20-year forecast of how much space will be needed in each of the 13 counties along the waterway, and identify the counties with the greatest need and greatest shortfalls.

DEQ Coastal Infrastructure Grant Coordinator Kevin Hart explained to the state Coastal Resources Commission last month that the Corps had identified 26 nonfederal placement sites in seven of the 13 counties. Those counties include Brunswick, Carteret, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender and Tyrell.

Twelve of the sites are state-owned, 13 are privately owned and one is a federally owned facility.

Of the 26, 20 are restricted-use sites, generally meaning that either the property owners of those areas said they will not accept material from other dredge projects or only beach-compatible sand is allowed.

There are 227 different waterfront facilities along the waterway, Hart said.

Carteret and New Hanover counties account for 62% of those marinas.

The Corps identified four nonfederal disposal sites, including two owned by the State Ports Authority in Carteret County. Three of those are restricted-use sites.

Nine sites have been identified in New Hanover County. Two of those are restricted-use sites.

In all, 206 marinas have agreed to provide to the Corps details on how often they dredge and their anticipated needs over the next 20 years.

“At this time, it is unknown whether the current sites can meet the demand,” Hart said in an email a few weeks after the Coastal Resources Commission’s Sept. 15 meeting.

The state is finalizing a cost-share agreement with the Corps for the second phase of the study, which is to examine the dredging needs of marinas that have more than 10 boat slips. The agreement will have to be signed off by the DEQ Secretary Elizabeth Biser before the Corps initiates the study.

“Approximately 70 to 75 non-active placement sites adjacent to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway will be identified, which may also be available for placement of dredged material by local communities, marinas, or other waterfront facilities,” Cayton said. “Lastly, the report will outline general environmental requirements or concerns associated with constructing new, or redeveloping existing, dredged material placement sites.”

This phase of the study may take up to a year after a cost-share agreement has been signed, Hart said.

Time may only drive up costs of nonfederal projects forced to truck material to inland disposal sites.

“There’s always a way, it’s just how much money you can afford to spend on it,” Clary said. “You can always put it bucket-to-barge. It may cost a million dollars, we just don’t know. We hope that over time that the regulation will be eased.”

Miss Katie dredge to be christened Oct. 13 in Wanchese

Staff Report — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 18:30:33 +0000

Miss Katie, the new 156-foot-long shallow-draft hopper dredge. Photo: Dare County

A christening ceremony and community day to celebrate Miss Katie, the new 156-foot-long shallow-draft hopper dredge, is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 13, in Wanchese Harbor.

The dredge is to help address the significant shoaling that occurs in various channels and inlets throughout Dare County in an effort to keep these waterways open and navigable for both commercial and recreational vessels, officials said.

Under the direction of the Oregon Inlet Task Force, Miss Katie is the result of a yearslong collaboration between Dare County officials and EJE Dredging Service, who owns the dredge. The dredge, built at Conrad Shipyard in Louisiana, officially arrived in Wanchese, the dredge’s homeport, Aug. 19.

During community day 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 13, the public is welcome to drop by Miss Katie’s homeport in Wanchese Harbor, 928 Harbor Road, and take a guided tour of the dredge. The community day will also feature music and light refreshments.

The christening ceremony will begin at 4:30 p.m. at Wanchese Harbor and conclude with a bottle of champagne being broken against Miss Katie’s bow to bless the vessel with good luck and safe travels.

Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Bob Woodard, Dare County Commissioner and Oregon Inlet Task Force Chairman Jim Tobin and EJE Dredging Service Vice President Jordan Hennessy, as well as several federal and state government partners and industry representatives, are to speak during the ceremony.

Limited parking is available at the event site at Wanchese Harbor, and attendees are encouraged to wear tennis shoes or deck shoes to the event.

Contact Hennessy at 252-619-3606 or jhennessy@ejedredging.com for more information.

Dredge work to fix Ocracoke shoaling begins

Staff Report — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 16:34:16 +0000

The view of Ocracoke from a ferry as it approaches the Ocracoke-Silver Lake Terminal. Photo: Jennifer Allen

Dredging began Friday in Bigfoot Slough, just outside the state Ferry Division’s Ocracoke-Silver Lake Terminal, to alleviate shoaling that has caused recent schedule reductions on the Swan Quarter-Ocracoke and Cedar Island-Ocracoke routes.

The project should take a week to 10 days for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Dredge Merritt began to clear the shoaling, depending on weather and sea conditions, officials said Friday.

Once dredging to deepen and widen the channel is complete, the Cedar Island and Swan Quarter routes will resume full summer schedules.

“We could not be more grateful to the Corps of Engineers for all the work they’ve done to keep our boats running,” Ferry Division Director Harold Thomas said in a release. “Shoaling has been a serious issue up and down the North Carolina coast, and the Corps has responded quickly and professionally to all of our urgent requests.”

Real-time updates on weather or mechanical delays on the Cedar Island and Swan Quarter routes can be found on the Twitter feed @NCFerryPamSound.

Worsening conditions challenge Ocracoke ferry operations

Catherine Kozak — Fri, 10 Jun 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Vessels striking the bottom leads to damage requiring emergency repairs, such as this bent propellor on a state ferry. Photo: Ferry Division

Second in a series.

HATTERAS — Once the quiet and well-behaved counterpart to feral Oregon Inlet, Hatteras Inlet is now repeatedly afflicted by shoaling that defeats routine maintenance of the critically important Ocracoke ferry routes.

“It’s ever-evolving,” Catherine “Cat” Peele, planning and development manager for the state Ferry Division, said in a recent interview. She added that bathymetric surveys are done regularly to keep close tabs on sand buildup. “The channel is constantly changing. We’re at the mercy of Mother Nature.”

Nearby channels outside Hatteras Inlet, the passage from sound to sea between Hatteras and Ocracoke islands, have also become bigger problems.

On Monday, June 6, for example, the Ferry Division announced that it had been forced to reduce its scheduled ferry runs to and from Swan Quarter and Cedar Island because, in addition to labor shortages, Big Foot Slough just outside Ocracoke’s Silver Lake was clogged.

Severe shoaling in that Pamlico Sound channel, according to the announcement, had created dangerous navigation issues for the large sound-class ferries, causing the vessels to be temporarily pulled from service. Emergency dredging by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is to happen as soon as possible, and ferry runs will return to the normal summer schedule when channels are cleared to a safe depth, the statement said.

Ferries are essential transportation for residents of this tiny barrier island situated at the southern end of the Outer Banks. Accessible only by boat or small airplane, the charming historic village and beautiful undeveloped beaches are magnets for thousands of tourists every year.

In addition to repeated shoaling issues in Big Foot Slough, just in recent months the free Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry, the busiest of the state’s seven ferry routes, has struggled to transit shoaled spots in the inlet’s ferry channel, occasionally bumping bottom. And an inlet channel used mostly by the Coast Guard and commercial and recreational fishing vessels and charter boats had, after repeated attempts to dredge, become impossible for the Corps to maintain, leading to diversion of traffic to a newly marked natural route.

“Long range,” Peele said, “it’s hard to know what that inlet will look like.”

Essential routes, difficult challenges

At the same time, the North Carolina Department of Transportation worries that an erosion hot spot long threatening the only highway on Ocracoke Island may soon suffer one too many storm breaches.

Traffic coming off the Hatteras ferry at the north end of Ocracoke Island must drive 13 miles through undeveloped Cape Hatteras National Seashore on N.C. 12 to reach the village. The most vulnerable section of roadway is about 5 miles south of the ferry terminal. If the road becomes impassable, the island’s robust tourism economy would suffer a huge blow.

That leaves NCDOT, which oversees the ferries, and the Corps having to contend with difficult coastal challenges — primarily erosion and shoaling — for transportation in Hatteras Inlet and on Ocracoke Island that are worsening with the effects of climate change.

Earlier this year, Brig. Gen. Jason Kelly, who has served since June 2020 as commander of the Corps’ South Atlantic Division, met with Dare and Hyde County and National Park Service officials at the Dare County Administrative Building in Manteo to listen to their concerns, including persistent maintenance problems in the waterways.

Although no immediate action was taken, the agency has provided additional funds for emergency dredging in the inlet and found a new approach, expanding its authority in the inlet to do projects.

In October 2020, then-U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced the designation of the North Carolina Ferry System as a Marine Highway Project, the first in the state. Marine Highways are defined by the federal government as alternatives to traditional transportation methods. With the designation, the ferry division will be able to apply for federal funding to modernize and improve its vessels and infrastructure, according to the announcement.

The North Carolina Ferry System, the second-largest in the country behind Washington state, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. As part of its remembrance, the division is asking ferry passengers and staff to share ferry experiences over the decades. To contribute, visit the Ferry Tales website.

Because the ferries got their start on the Outer Banks, it’s expected that some stories will be about ferry mishaps, including being stuck on shoals — more so lately.

Authorized in 1962, the Rollinson Channel Project, which includes the Hatteras ferry channel, has always been dredged as needed, mostly by the Corps’ government dredges.

As detailed in the agency’s Hatteras Ferry Channel Realignment draft environmental assessment issued in October 2021, the ferry channel comprises a 100-foot-wide channel with an authorized depth of about 12 feet stretching from the Rollinson Channel to the inlet gorge and another channel with similar dimensions that follows the “best deep-water route” to the gorge.

All was well until the 1990s, when the spit at the end of Hatteras Island gradually started eroding, in turn widening the inlet and allowing more sand to wash into channels. After a series of hurricanes in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the situation worsened. By 2013, the ferry channel became hopelessly clogged and unnavigable, and the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferries began using a longer horseshoe-shaped natural channel.

The former 4-mile ferry trip from the Hatteras terminal to the Ocracoke “South Dock” terminal on the north side of the island doubled in length and went from about 40-minutes to about 60 minutes. While the number of round trips had to be reduced, fuel costs increased considerably. Lines and wait times at the stacking lanes at the Hatteras village terminal in Hatteras got much longer.

In recent years, Sloop Channel, just outside the South Dock Terminal started shoaling, which created additional delays.

A new passenger vessel, the Ocracoke Express, was launched three years ago to relieve some of the backup on the Ocracoke-Hatteras route and to give visitors another option. The ferry, which costs $5 each way for adults and operates in the summer only, can be reserved online ahead of time. Free trams that stop at numerous village attractions are also offered for passengers on the Ocracoke side.

But in Big Foot Slough, shoaling that dangerously narrows the channel can also be a problem for the Ocracoke Express, which comes into Ocracoke Village at the Silver Lake terminal.

Maximum volume estimates for dredge material along most likely channel corridors as proposed in the draft environmental assessment for the Hatteras Inlet channel realignment. Source: Corps

An alternate channel

In interests of ensuring that the sound ferry operations are not disrupted, Peele said, there have also been discussions about obtaining dredging permits for a nearby possible alternate channel known as Nine Foot Slough.

Once the Hatteras Inlet realignment is implemented, it would provide the regulatory flexibility that will foster more efficient and responsive maintenance of the portion of the Hatteras Ferry Channel that follows deep water, according to the draft assessment, “due to the changes in shoaling patterns caused by the dynamic nature of the Hatteras Inlet system.”

Peele said that with more flexibility, the Corps should be able to plan with more certainty.

“We’re hoping that with the realignment with the Corps, they’ll be able to dedicate their equipment,” she said.

No doubt, it will be a much-needed improvement in addressing the constantly migrating shoals, but it does nothing for Big Foot Slough, nor would it alleviate the threat to N.C. 12 or any other trouble spots that may materialize outside the designated area.

An August 2020 Ferry Division overview provided by Deputy Director Jed Dixon reported that funding to dredge Big Foot Slough, a federal channel, has decreased and is inconsistent year to year

Impacts to the dangerous shoaling in Big Foot Slough, which is also spelled Bigfoot Slough, the report said, include “vessels hitting bottom, damage requiring emergency repairs, departure cancellations, schedule modified to use only certain smaller vessels.”

In 2020, the Ferry Division workforce totaled 61, according to the report, compared to 100 in 1998. To varying degrees, difficult positions to fill include marine engineers, painters, mechanics, welders and sandblasters.

With inadequate staffing and work space, Ferry Division maintenance and refurbishment projects were delayed, the report said, and emergency repairs reduced personnel and space needed for planned projects.

The situation two years later serves as an example of that squeeze on resources. In May 2020, the division announced that three ferries running the Pamlico Sound routes and one on the Hatteras route could not operate for a brief time because of mechanical issues.

To address ongoing erosion at South Dock, the division has installed sheet pile to stabilize the point as a short-term measure, although state law on hardened structures limited its effective length. But the National Park Service, which owns the land where the Hatteras and Ocracoke ferry terminals are, and NCDOT have agreed that stabilizing the ferry terminals and the Ocracoke hot spot on N.C. 12 will not last long.

Terminal relocation

A proposal to relocate South Dock closer to the Ocracoke Pony Pens on the west side of the island is still being considered by NCDOT and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

Although the new location would bypass the eroding ferry basin and the problematic hot spot on N.C. 12, it would present numerous complications, including potential negative effects on submerged aquatic vegetation, and increased time and staffing requirements for ferries to travel to the new terminal.

An amended feasibility study first completed by NCDOT in 2016 of long-term solutions to erosion on the island’s north end proposed building the new terminal near the middle of the island. Depending on the ferry used, that location would add about 15 to 45 minutes to the current one-hour trip between Hatteras and Ocracoke, the document said. The number of trips would have to be reduced, unless additional staff and ferries were provided.

If the terminal were to be moved, NCDOT would no longer maintain the portion of N.C. 12 beyond the new location. Further, National Seashore Superintendent Dave Hallac has said that, with a road no longer bisecting the land, the Park Service would likely close off the north end of the island as a pony preserve or for other natural uses.

But that’s not an idea favored by island residents, who don’t want to lose access to nearly half their island, said Randal Mathews, an Ocracoke resident and Hyde County commissioner.

But it’s not a new idea; nor is the eroded hot spot a new problem.

During a 1999 meeting with the Outer Banks Task Force, N.C. State University civil engineer John Fisher, then-chair of the task force science panel, called a dune at the hot spot that was reconstructed after Hurricane Dennis a temporary “Band-Aid.”

“We seriously think you should think about abandoning that whole stretch of road and relocating the ferry system,” he told the task force, according to a Nov. 7, 1999, article in The Virginian-Pilot.

In a January 2004 Pilot article, then-National Seashore superintendent Larry Belli had told the task force during its October 2003 meeting that beach nourishment would be a last resort.

“I think we really need to look seriously at the alternative of moving the ferry terminal while we can do it,” Belli told the panel. “I would just go up as far as I can on the island. There would be some pluses and minuses, but there is with anything.”

And 19 years later, NCDOT is still wrestling with what to do about the same hot spot.

“I’d say on N.C. 12, this is probably the top priority, if not very close to the top priority,” Paul Williams, NCDOT North Carolina Division 1 environmental officer, said during an April 28, 2021, virtual meeting of the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission.

Between 2010 to 2021, according to department records, costs for N.C. 12 storm-recovery work on Ocracoke Island totaled $15,142,646.

For now, NCDOT will continue to patch the road together the best it can while it weighs solutions.

Peele said a grant application, if approved, would allow continued analysis of the feasibility study to determine what needs to change to operate the ferry under the federal Marine Highway designation.

The feasibility study would likely last for about a year, she said.

If an actual move was decided on, the project would have to be added to the state’s transportation improvement plan, she said, and it’s not clear whether it would meet the funding protocol.

Recent shoaling highlights shallow-draft navigation woes

Catherine Kozak — Tue, 31 May 2022 04:00:00 +0000

The Corps’ Dredge Murden based out of Wilmington clears shoaling from Barnegat Inlet, N.J. in 2014. The hopper dredge serves shallow-draft navigation needs along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Photo: Corps

WILMINGTON – No matter how incessant the public frustration or how desperate the pleas from mariners to fix clogged harbors, impassable channels or eroded shorelines, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is struggling to address worsening problems in coastal North Carolina, especially on the Outer Banks.

Recently, a wicked nor’easter wreaked havoc in Oregon Inlet, choking it with sand and making navigation too hazardous even for heavy-duty dredges. While such events in the dynamic waterway on the north end of Hatteras Island aren’t unusual, their impacts seem harder to fix. There is concern that as the climate is changing, the hazards and costs of channel maintenance will increase, potentially becoming unsustainable in places.

The Corps is not alone in coping with challenging maritime conditions from rising seas and intensified storms. Numerous private dredge companies as well as state and federal agencies, often the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the U.S. Coast Guard, partner with the Corps on projects.

A May survey shows the extent of shoaling, indicated in red, in the channel under the Marc Basnight Bridge. Image: Corps

A May 20 statement issued by the Corps’ Wilmington district blamed the storm, which pounded the coast for five days beginning May 8, for completely shoaling a portion of the federal marked channel along the Marc Basnight Bridge. With only 2 to 3 feet of water — barely enough draft for a skiff — the area was deemed impassable for most vessels.

Days before, the U.S. Coast Guard announced that it had marked a new channel in Hatteras Inlet, which is on the south end of the island, because the last marked channel had become irreversibly shoaled. Like Oregon Inlet, storms had made the previous passage so unnavigable that it was too dangerous to dredge.

The Coast Guard is also planning to remark the channel at Oregon Inlet, where local charter boat captains have found an alternate channel under the bridge to the ocean.

Such weather-created woes have become more frequent in the last decade or two, and it’s not just an issue on the 320-mile North Carolina coastline. Numerous waterways and shorelines where the Corps works, including along the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River basin and the Great Lakes region, also are experiencing more extreme conditions.

On the Outer Banks, with its jutting geography exquisitely exposed at the northern end of the Atlantic’s hurricane alley, there have been dramatic differences in sand travel in the last two decades, requiring more nourishment on its beaches and more sand removal from its waterways. The fact that conditions at times have become too poor for a dredge to tackle is an indicator of the dire shift in coastal patterns.

Prior to a series of severe storms starting with hurricanes Floyd and Dennis in 1999, Hatteras Inlet was stable and required little more than routine maintenance dredging for the ferry route. But since 1993, the passage from the Atlantic to Pamlico Sound between Hatteras and Ocracoke Island has widened from a quarter-mile to 2.3 miles, resulting in a precipitous increase in shoaling and dangerous exposure for vessels to wind and currents.

Still, with harbors, inlets, sounds, rivers and bays intersecting with the entire shoreline, North Carolina’s coast is exceptionally complex, environmentally and geologically. At the same time, it’s critical to the state’s maritime commerce, tourism and culture.

“So it’s a very dynamic system we have to keep our eye on,” Kathleen Riely, executive director of the nonprofit North Carolina Beach, Inlet and Waterway Association, or NCBIWA, said in a recent interview. “And dredging is a key part of that maintenance. It’s absolutely necessary.”

Nationwide problem

Riely said that shoaling and erosion are becoming more problematic not just along North Carolina’s coast, but also nationwide. As a result, demand for dredges everywhere has increased.

“I think with the dredges getting older that the Corps use, and having to go into repair shops is certainly an issue,” Riely said. “But there are a lot of private companies out there.”

Even in federal channels that the Corps is charged with maintaining, the agency is mandated by law to contract with private dredge companies when possible. The Corps can also work in nonfederal channels under formalized agreements. For instance, the agency is paid by Dare County and state funds under a memorandum of agreement to do work in Hatteras Inlet.

Numerous dredging projects nationwide were recently funded by the $1 trillion infrastructure legislation passed last year, which provided $17 billion to the Corps for work in harbors, ports and inland waterways, said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure during a congressional hearing in February.

“As we authorize new projects, the other side of that coin, as always, is ensuring that the Corps has the funding necessary to complete the work,” DeFazio said, according to minutes. “We all know of the $100 billion backlog of projects due to underfunding of the Corps for decades.”

Even with the flood of newly funded projects throughout the country, there will still be enough interest from the private sector in North Carolina projects, according to an email from the Corps’ Wilmington district in response to an inquiry from Coastal Review.

But beyond what the private dredges can do, the Corps’ small and aging dredge fleet that works in the district is stretched thin.

“As you are aware, our fleet works on coastal projects from Maine to Texas, and at times, demand does exceed the capacity of our shallow-draft fleet,” Wilmington District Corps spokesman Dave Connolly wrote in the email.

“The coastal environment has been and continues to be dynamic,” he said. “Subject to appropriations and funding, the Corps will continue to use industry (private company) and government dredge resources to maximize maintenance of waterways, embracing beneficial use of material when practical.”

The Wilmington District has made major investments in the shallow-draft fleet over the past decade, he added, including replacement of the Dredge Fry with the Dredge Murden in 2012, and completing a major shipyard overhaul for the Dredge Merritt in 2018. Currently the Dredge Currituck is in the shipyard undergoing major restoration that will be completed in 2023.

The 78-year-old Merritt, a side-cast dredge, mostly works in North Carolina, but it occasionally lumbers over to the Charleston, Norfolk and Philadelphia districts. The split-hull, shallow-draft, or hopper, Dredge Currituck, a comparatively youthful 48 years old, toils throughout the Atlantic and Gulf regions. And the hopper Murden, a young workhorse at age 10, also covers the Atlantic and Gulf.

“Within the District the shallow draft fleet is used on about 10 federal waterways routinely, from Lockwood Folly Inlet to Oregon Inlet,” the email said. “Nationally, the fleet is used on approximately 50 projects, although all are not dredged every year.”

With dredging restricted during the spring and summer months along the North Carolina coast when protected sea turtles breed, it can be complicated scheduling dredging windows to match needs.

As the federal government’s primary agency in charge of civil works project with roots going back to George Washington, much of the maritime-related funding over the years has been focused on large harbors and ports, leaving shallow-draft projects competing for small pools of money. For that reason, hopper dredges that are typically used to maintain harbors are an important focus for Corps’ dredging operations. Use of hoppers, large vessels that can hold a lot of dredged material in their holds to be dumped offshore, has been subject to various constraints, with mixed results, as shown in a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report from 2014.

“The restrictions, however, help ensure the Corps has the ability to use these dredges to respond to urgent or emergency dredging needs when industry dredges are unavailable,” the report said. “It is not clear to what extent restrictions have affected competition in the dredging industry.”

Although private industry hopper dredges are allowed to respond to urgent dredging needs, the report said, it added that it did not track how often that was done.

According to federal law, the Corps is directed to contract with private dredge companies whenever possible rather than using Corps dredges. For that reason, the Corps does not plan to build or purchase new shallow-draft dredges, said Corps spokesman Connolly.

A new dredge, he said, would cost roughly $25 to $30 million to build, although inflation could make any estimate a moving target.

“With the recent investment in the Dredge Merritt and Dredge Currituck, we are expecting several more years of useful service, and in consultation with our higher HQ (headquarters), will evaluate and analyze long-term options for replacement or future rehabilitation of these assets.”

An Aug. 2020 issue brief published by the nonprofit National Taxpayers Union Foundation found that the U.S. is lagging behind Europe and China in modernizing its equipment, resulting more expense and labor to remove less material.

“The longer dredging is not updated or improved with technology, the greater costs will be over time,” the paper said. “Despite the general trend of higher annual spending on dredging, by some measurements efficiency and productivity have lagged expenditures.”

The ongoing supply chain problems related to international shipping has brought more awareness to the value of waterways in commerce, but small harbors are still under appreciated for their value to local communities for tourism, fishing and recreation.

“There remains relatively little political action around the issue of dredging as it doesn’t occupy the top of Congress’s list of priorities,” the Taxpayers Union report said. “But those immediately impacted by the continued accumulation of sediment within American waterways have long been petitioning their representatives as well as the Army Corps of Engineers for relief.”

The Dare County dredge Miss Katie is shown prior to its launch in April at Conrad Shipyard in Louisiana. Photo: Dare County

Miss Katie

Meanwhile, Dare County’s new hopper dredge, the Miss Katie, is expected to be delivered to Oregon Inlet in July and operating by August, said Barton Grover, administrator for Dare County Waterways Commission. He added that the dredge is just like the Murden, except it also has side-cast capabilities.

Construction of the 156-foot dredge, a public-private partnership, was paid for by a state allocation of $15 million from the Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging and Aquatic Weed Fund. The dredge’s work schedule, which has yet to be determined, will be managed by the Oregon Inlet Task Force.

Riely, with NCBIWA, said that it is an interesting and creative idea that could make counties less dependent on the Corps. But she said there still are questions: How much will it cost to maintain? Where are the funds going to continue to come from? Where will it be housed when it’s not operating?

“So there’s some issues with it,” Riely said. “But I think if it can work out, having a dredge in North Carolina just for our coasts, let’s say there’s one southern going halfway or whatever, the other north coming down, I think that would be a good thing.”

A Dare County video outlines the navigation urgency behind the county’s purchase of a shallow-draft dredge

Next in the series: Worsening shoaling and erosion, and other effects of climate change on coastal conditions, have been creating more difficult challenges for both dredges and ferries on the Outer Banks. That is especially a concern on Ocracoke Island, accessible only by boat or airplane, where hundreds of year-round residents and millions of annual tourists depend on the ferries for their transportation to and from the island.

Oregon Inlet unnavigable by most vessels: Army Corps

Staff Report — Fri, 20 May 2022 17:48:24 +0000

The Marc Basnight Bridge crosses over the Oregon Inlet in the Outer Banks. Photo: NCDOT

Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District said Friday that vessels were unable to navigate a portion of Oregon Inlet along the Marc Basnight Bridge.

The Corps surveyed the condition of the federal channel at Oregon Inlet Wednesday in response to the weather system that hit the coast during the week of May 8.

A portion of the marked federal channel between buoys 17 and 21 was completely shoaled in, with depths of 2-3 feet at mean lower low water and unnavigable for most vessels. MLLW is the 19-year average lowest of the two daily low tides.

Depths are too shallow for the Corps to use shallow draft-dredges to clear the channel.

The Coast Guard is expected to publish a notice to mariners concerning channel conditions and advising that the current channel markers will be removed in the coming days, officials said.

The Coast Guard and Corps were working together to investigate other potential areas where a marked channel can be established to provide access to and from Oregon Inlet.

Shoaling critical as Hatteras-Ocracoke schedule picks up

Staff Report — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 16:18:19 +0000

A ferry departs Hatteras Ferry Terminal. File photo: Jennifer Allen

State transportation officials say that shoaling in the channel navigated by the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry route is critical and limiting travel just as the busier spring schedule begins.

The N.C. Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division said Monday that the number of scheduled runs increases Tuesday from 18 to 26 daily departures from each side. The schedule is as follows:

From Hatteras: 5 a.m., 6 a.m., 7 a.m., 8 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m., noon, 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 11 p.m., midnight.
From Ocracoke: 4:30 a.m., 6:30 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., noon, 12:30 p.m., 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 7 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m., 9:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m., midnight.

Officials noted that while the number of departures is increased, critical shoaling issues in Sloop Channel outside the Ocracoke ferry terminal have limited the size of ferries that can safely operate on the route. The problem has forced ferry officials to reduce the number of vehicles that can be carried on each departure, leading to longer-than-usual wait times.

“We understand and sympathize with the recent frustrations travelers are experiencing on the Hatteras route,” said Ferry Division Director Harold Thomas. “However, safety is our number one priority, and until water depths reach an adequate level in Sloop Channel, our smallest boats are the only option.”

The Ferry Division is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to have the area dredged as soon as possible, officials said. Until then, passengers on the Hatteras route may experience wait times as long as two hours or more. However, motorists can avoid lengthy wait times by considering the following options:

Avoid peak travel times. At the Hatteras terminal, peak congestion occurs on weekdays between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., and at the Ocracoke terminal between 4 p.m. and midnight.
Consider accessing Ocracoke via the Cedar Island or Swan Quarter routes. Those routes accept reservations and vessels have larger carrying capacities.

The full summer schedule for the Hatteras ferry route begins May 17.

Sand from dredging expands eroded island habitat for terns

Trista Talton — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Royal terns. Photo: Ben Graham/Audubon North Carolina

FERRY SLIP ISLAND – It’s not much to look at.

This island mound rises up from the Cape Fear River like a misshaped pancake — rounded and flat along one edge, fluffy and jagged on the other.

There are no trees or shrubs. A handful of small patches of grass break through the caramel-colored sand. More desert than oasis.

Alas, appearances can be deceiving.

This island is one of only two nesting spots along North Carolina’s southern coast for royal terns and sandwich terns and — good news for the terns — it recently received its first fresh batch of sand in 18 years.

In all, 80,000 cubic yards of sand was scooped from a shoaled-in area in the nearby shipping channel and pumped onto the island.

“It has taken many years for the channel to need dredging in that area so, finally, the stars have aligned, and we were able to receive the sand,” said Lindsay Addison, Audubon North Carolina coastal biologist. “It’s close to beach quality sand on the island. That means the birds are going to get improved habitat. There’s about six sites in this state where these species nest, so that’s not a lot of sites and so it’s really important that they’ve got these islands to nest on.”

An equipment operator levels sand as it is pumped onto Ferry Slip Island in this provided photo dated March 16. Photo: Ben Graham/Audubon North Carolina

Ferry Slip Island, the name given to it because of its proximity to the Fort Fisher Ferry Terminal landing, was created some 60 years ago as a dredge spoil disposal area for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Corps officials did not respond to Coastal Review’s questions about the project in time for publication.

After going nearly two decades without a sand injection, the island, battered by waves churned by storms and large container ships traveling to and from the North Carolina Port of Wilmington, had shrunk from more than 5 acres to less than 3.5 acres.

Unlike barrier islands, where erosion is a natural process that can create new habitat, dredge spoil islands like Ferry Slip are at the mercy of shoaling and machinery.

“In the case of the river islands, because they’re artificial, they’re not really self-sustaining. So they do need periodic dredge deposits,” Addison said.

Every five to seven years would be ideal, she said.

Lindsay Addison, a biologist with Audubon North Carolina, takes photographs of birds flocking to the shores of Ferry Slip Island in the Cape Fear River. Photo: Trista Talton

About nine islands in the lower Cape Fear River host nesting shorebirds most every year.

“Most of those islands are what we call important bird areas. So, they support a significant portion of the state population or they support a significant portion of the regional population of birds,” Addison said.

Ferry Slip and South Pelican Island, another dredged material island with view of the former, are the only two islands in the southeastern part of the state that support royal and sandwich terns. These black-crowned, gray-winged terns prefer low islands in sounds and estuaries.

“We’re usually talking (3,000) to 4,000 pairs of them, both species combined, between these two islands,” Addison said. “They like to nest on open, sandy habitat. Dredge islands, because they’re made out of dredged sand, have got that habitat.”

These islands are also inaccessible to foxes and racoons, animals that like to feast on the eggs and chicks, making them generally predator-free, with the exception of some bird species like the great horned owl and gulls.

There’s also little threat of human activity on the islands. Still, Audubon posts warning signs on the islands during nesting season.

A stack of signs is placed on the shores of Ferry Slip Island where they will be posted prior to the official nesting season for shorebirds, including American oystercatchers, royal terns and sandwich terns. Photo: Trista Talton

After a brief, light rain one recent morning, Addison and two Corps officials made the quick trip by boat from the marina at Carolina Beach State Park to Ferry Slip to assess the newly sand-beefed island.

Hundreds of birds — dark-feathered double-crested cormorants, royal terns, laughing gulls and American oyster catchers — heavily peppered the island’s expanded shores, their chorus of shrieks and calls filling the air.

A single oystercatcher nest, no more than a slight indentation in the sand, was marked by its maker with wood planks that appeared to have drift ashore.

Intricate patterns made by birds’ feet indented the island’s sandy surface, interrupted only by the fresh tracks of a bulldozer used to push sand pumped onto the island.

Other than that, there are no signs equipment was on the island. Work has to be done by March 31, when the environmental window closes.

The spoil dredge islands are dedicated disposal sites for the Corps, owned by the state and managed by Audubon.

Audubon, in cooperation with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission’s Habitat Management Division, manage vegetation growth on the islands, generally through use of an herbicide and, in some cases, burning, Addison said.

“In some years if we didn’t do any treatment (vegetation) would cover 100% of the island,” she said. “Other species will use it, like brown pelicans, but we don’t really need more pelican habitat. We have a lot of brown pelican habitat. The turns are the ones that are missing their habitat.”

Addison said she’s expecting a “good year” for nesting terns and oystercatchers.

“They are starting to arrive,” she said. “The timing of the project is really great because it’s wrapping up just as they’re arriving so they’re going to come back and see this nice, new habitat. It’s nice when there’s a project that has to happen for infrastructure reasons that can be good for wildlife. If this sand we’re going on these islands it would be taken offshore so it would be lost entirely from the system. You ideally want to keep sediment in these estuaries and inlet systems where they can form habitat and provide buffer for shoreline whether developed or undeveloped.”

Dare County dredge scheduled to be complete this spring

Staff Report — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 18:05:25 +0000

Rendering of Miss Katie. Image: Jensen Maritime/Dare County

Construction on Miss Katie, a shallow-draft hopper dredge under construction by Conrad Shipyard in Louisiana, is closer to completion, Dare County officials announced Tuesday.

The final coat of exterior paint has been applied and the dredge is scheduled to be finished in the spring, according to the county. When the dredge has been delivered, it will be used to address ongoing shoaling issues.

The Oregon Inlet Task Force will manage the vessel that can operate up to 12 hours a day.

Miss Katie will provide “the strategic dredging that is needed to keep area waterways open and navigable for commercial and recreational vessels,” officials said.

The Dare County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved in May 2019 a contract for the construction and operation of the dredge. Funded through a public-private partnership with the state, the legislature allocated $15 million from the Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging and Aquatic Weed Fund to buy the dredge.

Federal funds set for northeast NC smaller dredge projects

Catherine Kozak — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Shallowdraft dredge Murden clears the heavily-shoaled areas in Rollinson Channel near Hatteras in the Outer Banks during a past project. Photo: Hank Heusinkveld/Army Corps of Engineers

This is the second in a special reporting series on federal infrastructure spending and North Carolina’s navigation needs.

Lacking high-volume marine traffic or large ports, North Carolina’s northeast coast typically qualifies for far less federal funding to help maintain navigational channels and inlets than do the state’s southern coastal communities.

But mariners in Dare and Hyde counties will be getting their fair share of benefits from the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that Congress passed in November, with nearly $60 million of it going to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for eastern North Carolina waterways, according to Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.

That’s on top of an additional $22.81 billion provided to the Corps in the 2022 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act.

It’s also a nice break for the Corps, which has been advocating for funds to address smaller projects that may not rank high nationally, but are important to less populated regions and communities.

“We screamed and hollered up the line for funding, and that’s the reason we got funded,” Bob Keistler, chief of the Corps’ Wilmington District Civil Works Programs and Project Management Branch, said in a telephone interview, referring to the supplemental funds allotted in the infrastructure bill. “We’re getting a chance to come back and do some spring cleaning here on things that we haven’t been able to do in a while.”

Northeastern North Carolina Projects

Shallowbag Bay ranges 1-4 as surveyed March 9. Source: Army Corps of Engineers

Shallowbag Bay

Funding of $6.4 million is set to go to dredge Manteo Shallowbag Bay, the inner channels at Oregon Inlet from the Basnight Bridge to Wanchese Harbor, to Old House Channel, out to the Pamlico Sound.

“We have about, I think, five or six spots that we plan to dredge where the shoaling is an issue,” Brennan Dooley, with the Corps, said in the same telephone interview, adding that the scope of the work is not finalized.

Oregon Inlet’s inner channels are federally authorized, but the dredge work will be put out for bid to private contractors.

Although the amount of work for industry dredges has created more competition for Corps contracts, Dooley said preparation work is done before the bid is posted so that they can move quickly when a contract is signed.

“Historically, we’ve been able to get someone in there,” Dooley said.

The main navigational channel that goes under the bridge to the ocean bar is a separate project that is maintained regularly by Corps dredges.

The Corps operates a handful of government dredges year-round to maintain waterways along portions of the Gulf and East coasts and the Great Lakes.

Work in the inner channels has not been funded for a while, said Barton Grover, Dare County Grants and Waterways administrator.

“Typically, they’re done every five to 10 years,” he said in an interview. “I’m not sure when they were last dredged.”

As Keister explained, the available Corps dredge is not always appropriate for the type of work needed, which for the Manteo channels would be a pipeline dredge.

“We try to contract the majority of our work out,” he said. “If there’s a nonfederal contract dredge availability, we like to put it out for bid. That’s kind of our mantra.”

Range 14A, 14B and 14C and Wanchese Harbor as surveyed December 2021. Source: Army Corps of Engineers

The majority of the dredge material for the Manteo channels, Dooley said, will be deposited on a nearby existing disposal area known as “Island H.” Also known as “spoil islands” or “bird islands,” to describe where sand from past dredging projects has built up at certain spots in the waterway, areas such as “Island H” are running out of room for more sand.

Dooley said that with many Corps projects, the nonfederal sponsor has the responsibility for providing easements and right-of-way for disposal sites, which must be done before a project can move forward. “Island H,” he said, typically has been maintained and managed by Dare County and the state.

The Corps is coordinating with the county, which is seeking a permit to increase capacity. Dooley said that he expects no problem with obtaining the permits in time to do the dredge work.

Dooley added that the Corps tries to deposit compatible sand at other areas where it can create habitat.

“When we can, we always like to do beneficial use of dredge material,” he said. “South of Wanchese, the material is pretty good sand for the most part. So where we can, we’re going to put that sand on adjacent bird islands.”

Silver Lake Harbor/Stumpy Point Bay

Ocracoke’s Silver Lake Harbor project, $4.37 million, and Dare County’s Stumpy Point Bay, $2.58 million, were funded as separate projects, but will be one contract.

Dooley said it is more efficient to do them in a single contract because they’re close together.

Silver Lake Harbor as surveyed Jan. 5-6. Source: Army Corps of Engineers

“Either one of those projects alone, it’s not a lot work,” he said. “So combining the work together makes it more appetizing for a contractor … We can share the cost between the projects to get the dredge there and then do work at both projects.”

There is an area in the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry channel coming into Ocracoke where there is shoaling north of Bigfoot Island, an old bird island. That is the most important shoal the Corps is dealing with at the Silver Lake Harbor project.

At Stumpy Point Bay, which is one end of the emergency ferry channel between Rodanthe and the Dare County mainland at Stumpy Point, dredging needs to be done at the approach to the channel into Stumpy Point basin.

Stumpy Point entrance channel and basin as surveyed July 2021. Source: Army Corps of Engineers

The state Ferry Division has also requested that while the Corps’ contractor is in Stumpy Point, to have it dredge an approach to the state ferry dock that is outside the authorized federal channel.

The additional work would be paid for by the state Department of Transportation, which oversees the division, under an updated agreement between the state and the Corps.

Avon Harbor

Federal funding of $1.60 million will go to dredge Avon Harbor. For years, the community has been requesting help with shoaling in the harbor, which is not a federal waterway, but it has been hampered by costs.

Even with the infrastructure funds, the project can’t move forward until there is a suitable disposal site for the dredge material.

A disposal area at the entrance to the harbor is currently at capacity, Dooley said.

Avon Harbor as surveyed December 2021. Source: Army Corps of Engineers

As the nonfederal sponsor, Dare County has to provide the disposal area, he said. The Corps is working with Dare on finding options, potentially an upland site the material can be pumped to, or even exploring whether the material could be used on public land in Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

The goal is to award the contracts before the end of the fiscal year, Keister said. But if the Avon issue is not resolved by then, there is still wiggle room, but he does not expect to lose the funds.

“We don’t want to rush to failure because of a fiscal year,” Keistler said. “We have a little more leeway with (projects) like Avon Harbor that have some additional hurdles to cross that we’re not driven by the Sept. 30 date.”

Rollinson Channel

Federal funding of $1.43 million will go to dredge Rollinson Channel, which has been the only authorized federal channel in Hatteras Inlet for a long time, based mostly on it being the original channel for Hatteras-Ocracoke vehicular ferry, the state’s busiest ferry route.

Historically, charter and commercial fishing fleets had also depended on the route from Hatteras village to the end of the Hatteras spit, where they could turn toward Ocracoke or head out to the ocean.

Rollinson Channel as surveyed March 2021. Source: Army Corps of Engineers

But dramatic increases in shoaling in the channel, accompanied by rapid erosion of the spit after hurricanes Irene in 2011 and Sandy in 2012 eventually led to portions of the channel becoming impassable, and impossible to dredge. In 2014, the ferry division made a longer U-shaped channel the official ferry channel to avoid the dangerous shoaling.

Since then, additional shoaling in other inlet channels have hindered safe passage for vessels, but complicated agreements and permits were necessary to secure Corps dredging

Soon the Rollinson Channel will be realigned officially, which will expand the federally authorized area in the inlet where the Corps can dredge. Most significantly, the South Ferry Channel and the Sloop Channel, used mostly by commercial vessels and ferries, respectively, will be allowed to be maintained by the Corps, making it easier for the government dredges to do the work when they’re already working in Rollinson.

Proposed Rollinson Channel realignment project area. Map: Army Corps of Engineers

Comparing unchecked shoaling to an overgrown lawn, Keister said that more regular dredging will also make it a lot easier to dredge.

Once the realignment is finalized, he said, “that will allow us to be a little more creative and flexible where we can dredge and open it up.”

First in the series: Federal dollars now available for North Carolina waterways

Federal dollars now available for North Carolina waterways

Trista Talton — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 05:00:00 +0000

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ shallow-draft dredge Murden is based out of Wilmington and serves maritime navigation needs for the Coast Guard and a large fishing fleet consisting of full-time commercial, charter and recreational vessels. Photo: Army Corps of Engineers

This is the first in a special reporting series on federal infrastructure spending and North Carolina’s navigation needs.

Millions in supplemental funds from the federal infrastructure bill signed into law last November will be spent unclogging shoaled hot spots in a handful of North Carolina’s shallow-draft inlets, giving a reprieve to the local beach towns and counties that, along with the state, have been footing much of the bill for dredging projects.

The additional funding is from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a bipartisan bill that President Joe Biden signed into law Nov. 21, 2021. The 2022 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act pumped an extra $22.81 billion to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ coffers.

A portion of the more than $84 million in additional funding funneled to the Corps’ Wilmington District will go toward cleaning out shoaled areas of shallow-draft inlets primarily from Carteret County south.

“What is cool about this infrastructure bill is we’ve got some projects that the federal government has not funded, has not been able to fund … for many years,” said Bob Keistler, chief of the district’s Civil Works Programs & Project Management Branch. “All those shallow-draft inlets have been federal projects for decades and decades and since about 2005 have not been funded very consistent. Many of these projects are just touching areas that we haven’t been able to touch because of funding availability.”

Shallow-draft navigation channels are defined as inlets no deeper than 16 feet, a river entrance to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway or other interior coastal waterways. There are more than 10 shallow-draft inlet navigation channels along the state’s coast.

Other projects tapped in the central to southern part of the state’s coast include dredging portions of the Intracoastal Waterway and clearing out the Wilmington Harbor anchorage basin at the state port.

Corps officials are in the process of hashing out the finer details of the projects — prioritizing which channels get dredged first, when they may be dredged and which ones may get pumped out more than once.

“We haven’t finalized the scopes and we also haven’t finalized the schedule,” Keistler said in a late February telephone interview.

And even then, he said, plans can change thanks, in large part, to Mother Nature. If a channel that is crucial to say, a ferry route or the U.S. Coast Guard for purposes of search and rescue, shoals up to the point it creates a navigational hazard, that channel could get bumped up the schedule.

“Every project is not equal,” Keistler said. “We can give you a schedule today and next week something changes and it may adjust. We try hard not to jump around too much.”

There are five North Carolina waterway projects, including Rollinson Channel in Dare County, that will be dredged by one of the Corps’ shallow-draft dredges.

The Corps owns three such dredges for operations from Maine to Texas. One of the dredges is undergoing maintenance in a Memphis, Tennessee, shipyard. It is unclear when that dredge will be back in the small fleet.

Wilmington District has a regional plan with a handful of other districts in the Corps’ South Atlantic Division to help streamline shallow-draft projects and eliminate scheduling conflicts.

“We try to be efficient so while we’re in the neighborhood we try to do projects that are close to each other so we’re not wasting money jumping around,” Keistler said.

Central to southern North Carolina coast projects

Bulkhead Channel ranges 1-2A as surveyed Feb. 15. Source: Corps

Bulkhead Channel

Bulkhead Channel is the federal channel that stretches between Morehead City Harbor to Beaufort Harbor in Carteret County.

A little more than $500,000 has been allocated to dredging the channel, something that will “more than likely” be a one-time event, Keistler said.

Kyle Garner, Beaufort’s planning and inspections director, said in an email that the town tries at least twice yearly to schedule dredging the channel to maintain cost and keep the channel at a consistent depth.

“This channel has been used for over three centuries for mariners and is critical to the economy of the Town of Beaufort,” he said. “Our waterfront docks handle hundreds of vessels each year and without an open channel would be devastating. Also, this is used daily by commercial traffic either heading out for a catch or bringing one in, carrying a long-standing tradition. So, yes, keeping the channel open is important financially and culturally to our community.”

Bulkhead Channel ranges 3-6 as surveyed Feb. 23. Source: Corps

The channel was last dredged in the fall, a project that cost $236,570, according to Garner. The town footed nearly $55,000 of the bill, with the state contributing a little more than $109,000 and the Corps $72,400 from funds remaining from previous dredging, he said.

“The Channel currently is at a depth of 13 feet on average and is permitted to be at a depth of 17 feet, which is what its depth was back in the fall of 2021,” Garner said in the email. “So yes, it has filled in 4 feet (in) a period of a few months and if not dredged will continue at this rate and limit traffic for both commercial (and) pleasure boats.”

Keistler said the channel will likely be dredged sometime this spring.

Inside Bogue Inlet as surveyed in December, January and February. Source: Corps

Bogue Inlet

Funds totaling $1.04 million will go to the dredging of Bogue Inlet.

“That’ll be three or four dredging cycles,” Keistler said. “When I say dredging cycles, it’s similar to cutting grass. You cut your grass today and then three weeks later or two weeks later you may need to cut it again.”

According to information from the Carteret County Shore Protection Office, the Bogue Inlet connecting channel, which links the inlet to the Intracoastal Waterway near Cedar Point’s shore, was dredged last fall.

New River Inlet as surveyed in November 2021. Source: Corps

New River Inlet

The New River Inlet project will entail dredging portions of the federal channel between the mouth of the inlet to Jacksonville in Onslow County.

A total of $3 million has been set aside for this project.

“We were funded to address speed bumps in what we call the channels of Jacksonville,” Keistler said.

Those “speed bumps” make navigation challenging for boaters, including a commercial fleet of fishing vessels based in Sneads Ferry.

This project has been tied into a pipeline contract for work in the Intracoastal Waterway.

Dredged material from this project will more than likely be placed on North Topsail Beach’s shoreline on Topsail Island.

“The scale of material that goes on the beach from this waterway contract would be a tenth of what they need for coastal storm protection,” Keistler said. “It’s a good place to put it, but as far as providing protection to the structures, that’s not what it’s designed to do. We’re dredging because of navigation and that’s a quality to place to put the sand.”

The Corps has permitted locations on which it may place the dredged material – roughly 1,500 feet from the inlet.

“And we start pumping sand away from the inlet until we either run out of sand or money,” Keistler said.

New Topsail Inlet

A little more than $500,000 has been budgeted for dredging in New Topsail Inlet at the south end of Topsail Island.

Those funds may allow for the inlet to be dredged twice, Keistler said.

Topsail Beach Mayor Steve Smith and chairman of the Topsail Island Shoreline Protection Commission said that, right now, the inlet — about 16 feet deep and 400 feet wide — is “in pretty good shape.”

“However, there are some connecting places like Topsail Creek that possibly could use some dredging this year,” he said. “That helps not only Topsail, but it also helps all the boaters docked in Hampstead and that area of North Carolina. We look at this as a one-time event that is going to allow us to take a look at the connecting channels and make sure they stay navigable year-round.”

Jan. 25 survey of Carolina Beach Inlet. Source: Corps

Carolina Beach Inlet

The $1.04 million in federal funding allocated for the dredging of Carolina Beach Inlet should get that inlet “into really, really good shape,” before tourism season kicks off Memorial Day weekend and as long as the inlet is dredged in April, said New Hanover County Shore Protection Coordinator Layton Bedsole.

“We’re three months behind the eight ball now and so it’s going to be a significant hit on that $1,040,000 to restore that depth and width now,” he said.

The county’s target is to dredge the channel every eight to 10 weeks a year.

The inlet was dredged in December, which means that if it is dredged in April, nearly double the amount of time will have passed since it was last cleared of shoaling.

“The outer reach of Carolina Beach Inlet is the most challenging reach,” Bedsole said. “We still have to clean up the inside, but nothing to the degree of the outside shoals.”

The annual budget for maintenance dredging of the inlet is $350,000 from the county and $700,000 from the state’s Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging and Aquatic Weed Fund.

Each year, the county budgets $350,000 for maintenance dredging of the inlet. That money is paired with another $700,000 from the state’s Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging and Aquatic Weed Fund for an annual budget of $1.05 million.

Having that funding year to year allows the county to get on the Corps’ dredging schedule as soon as possible, which can be challenging.

“The Corps’ limited dredge fleet, and the Currituck (the Corps’ hopper dredge) being in the shipyard for the last year or so, prioritized callings from the Ferry Division, Department of Defense, Coast Guard up and down the East Coast, all play into us chasing the Corps’ schedule for the shallow draft inlet fleet. We’re always chasing the schedule,” Bedsole said, adding, “The Corps works really hard to provide shallow-draft inlet access in New Hanover County.”

Other projects

Funding from the infrastructure bill also includes about $4.5 million for dredging portions of the Intracoastal and conducting inspections and evaluations on upland dredge material disposal sites. The Corps is to identify “speed bumps” in the waterway that impede navigation.

“Usually they’re in the same locations year after year,” Keistler said. “We identify those, prioritize those, and then put them out for contract.”

Funding also includes the following:

$250,000 to conduct jetty inspections and monitoring at Masonboro Inlet.
$30,000 for environmental monitoring at Morehead City Harbor.
$10.25 million to dredge the Wilmington Harbor anchorage basin at the state port and update the harbor’s dredge material management plan. Material dredged from the harbor is not beach compatible and therefore must be placed in a Corps’ maintained upland disposal area.

Money from the 2022 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, which includes additional funding for areas that have suffered loss due to hurricanes and other natural disasters, has been earmarked for the Wrightsville Beach Coastal Storm Risk Management project.

More than $11.5 million is being allocated to renourish the beach there to compensate for damage caused during Hurricane Florence in 2018.

“This (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) is a three-year bill so this is FY22 money we’ve got and we’ve asked for potential projects for FY23 and FY24,” Keistler said.

Next in the series: Shoaling in Outer Banks waterways

New bridge, dredge, beach nourishment ahead for Dare

Joy Crist — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 20:07:13 +0000

Image from 2022’s State of the County Jan. 19 presentation.

Reprinted from Island Free Press

Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Bob Woodard summarized the highlights of 2021 and outlined what’s to come in the year ahead Wednesday during the annual State of the County.

Held virtually for the second year in a row, Woodard provided an overview of the county’s accomplishments over the past year, including the N.C. 12 Task Force, before digging into the upcoming projects that are planned for 2022.

In early 2021, Dare County and National Park Service Superintendent David Hallac established the N.C. 12 Task Force, made up of the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Southern Environment Law Center, the Coastal Studies Institute, the Army Corps of Engineer, the Division of Marine Fisheries, and others.

“The primary mission of this task force is to complete a long-term plan for N.C. 12 and the highway’s vulnerable locations, meaning hotspots,” said Woodard, noting that there are an estimated eight hotspots along the highway, which are flooded on a regular basis during storms.

This year’s “State of the County” focused on the months ahead, and Woodard touched on the progress of several projects expected to be completed in 2022.

NCDOT is close to completing the “jug-handle” bridge, expected to open in late February or Marc. Woodard said to expect a celebration once an opening date has been announced.

Woodard reported that the Miss Katie Dredge, a new shallow-draft hopper dredge that will be used in the various channels and inlets throughout the county is still under construction in Louisiana but is is scheduled to be delivered on April 1. Miss Katie will be managed by the Oregon Inlet Task Force and will be able to operate up to 12 hours a day, weather permitting.

Funding for the project was approved in 2019 through a public-private partnership with the state. The legislature allocated $15 million from the Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging and Aquatic Weed Fund for the purchase.

“Having easy access to Miss Katie will be extraordinarily helpful, but it’s not going to solve all of our problems when it comes to shoaling,” said Woodard. “We will continue to have to work closely with the US Army Corps of Engineers to ensure that dredging is taking place in the most crucial waterways throughout the county, which is making sure that dredging is being performed as often as possible in Oregon and Hatteras inlets.”

Woodard noted the county’s assistance in an effort to realign the Hatteras Inlet ferry channel is an initiative spearheaded by the Dare County Waterways Commission.

Due to its current alignment, the Corps is only permitted to dredge the southern tip of Hatteras Island using federal funding. State and local dollars must be used to dredge the South Ferry Channel to successfully create a route to the Hatteras gorge, and permission must be obtained before dredging can be performed outside the official dredging window of October through March.

“The fragmentation of this essential waterway, which also serves as a ferry route from Hatteras village to Ocracoke Island, has been a source of considerable frustration,” said Woodard. “The realignment would ultimately classify the entire channel as federally authorized, so that federal funding and federal dredges could be used to dredge the entire channel.”

Woodard stated that the realignment is expected to be finalized in April.

The county recently received a $150,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency flood mitigation assistance grant to update the county’s stormwater master plan.

“This master plan serves as an outline of our stormwater management policies in unincorporated Dare County, and it allows us to evaluate drainage issues, and develop a capital improvement plan to address stormwater issues,” said Woodard. “The grant also provides the funding we need to identify and map the county’s stormwater infrastructure, and to have an engineer develop projects for critical areas throughout the county.”

Dare County also received a $30,000 grant through the Division of Coastal Management’s North Carolina Resilient Coastal Communities Program to perform risk and vulnerability assessments on Hatteras Island, and to identify and rank the projects that are needed.

“The first step in this process was to develop a questionnaire which was sent out in November, and we received over 1,100 responses. The next step is for engineers to rank the risk,” said Woodard. “Once the process is complete, Dare County will have an opportunity to apply for up to $60,000 that would be used to design a project that would help address some of these issues affecting Hatteras Island.”

Several beach nourishment projects are planned for the summer, including a new project in Avon, and a maintenance project in Buxton.

“The Avon and Buxton beach nourishment projects will cost approximately $29.8 million,” said Woodard. “Dare County will contribute approximately $21.6 million from the beach nourishment fund, with additional funding provided by local, state, and federal (sources).”

The Avon and Buxton beach nourishment projects, which will cover about 2.5 miles of shoreline in northern Avon and 2.9 miles of shoreline in southern Buxton, are scheduled to begin in May.

The full presentation video is available online, and can be viewed on the Dare County Youtube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/darecounty.

Hatteras Inlet’s South Ferry Channel dredging successful

Catherine Kozak — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 18:40:14 +0000

The side caster dredge Merritt works in the Hatteras Inlet in July. Photo: Donna Barnett

Reprinted from Island Free Press

Dare County Waterways Commission members have reason to celebrate this holiday season, with reports from fishermen and charter boat captains that the recent dredging of the South Ferry Channel is holding up nicely.

“They say the flow going east-west through there — it’s a much better flow than what we had going across the shoal where we were, just southeast of there,” Chairman Steve “Creature” Coulter said Monday during a virtual meeting. “And they say once it was opened up, it actually seemed to be flowing a little bit better through there in that direction.”

Shoaling in the channel had gotten so bad this year that the Army Corps of Engineers told commissioners in June that dredging South Ferry Channel had literally become impossible. After Coulter suggested that the channel could be extended at the western end to bypass the problem area, the commission agreed in September to request a new survey.

Corps officials were hesitant because of concern that the shallow depth could damage its dredge. Then a storm blew in about two weeks before Thanksgiving, and suddenly there was hope.

“Eventually, Mother Nature made the channel a little deeper,” Barton Grover, Dare County Grants and Waterways administrator, said in an interview after the meeting.

When another survey taken after the storm showed promising change, the Corps dredged the western route for a week.

“It’s wider, it’s deeper, and they should be able to dredge it for a significant period of time,” Grover said.

Not only is the improved South Ferry Channel no longer “a ditch,” as some commissioners had described it, boats no longer have to take a hard left when coming in from the ocean. “It’s more of a straight line,” he said.

With the Army Corps of Engineers planning to come back in January to dredge the channel for another 10 days, Coulter suggested that it probably could use some widening on the northwest end to allow access for water flow coming down from Sloop Channel.

“I don’t know if that would help keep it cleaner or not,” he said. “It’s something to look at when we do the survey and see how it’s starting to build up, and if it’s just building up on that western edge.”

Responding, Joen Petersen, the Corps’ chief of floating plant, said that tendency showed up pretty quickly even when it was being dredged.

“The good news, though, is they said it was kind of shoaled up then, and it still sounds like it’s a little shoaled up now,” he said. “So it doesn’t sound like it’s building too quickly there.”

Petersen said that what he is hearing supports Coulter’s information, and the good news is, overall, the flow is running nicely within the channel. With regular maintenance, he said he’s hopeful that the new channel will be easier to keep safe and navigable.

In other business, the commission was updated on the proposed realignment plan for the Rollinson Channel “horseshoe route.” Public comment on the final environmental assessment had closed in November, the resource agencies comment period was extended until Jan. 18. That means, barring unexpected delays, the plan could be finalized in March.

According to the Corps, it has $30,000 budgeted for Rollinson for fiscal year 2022, but about $340,000 in residual funds may also be able to be tapped. In addition, some of the $2 billion allotted to the entire Corps in President Biden’s recently signed infrastructure bill may be available.

So far, the Corps has requested about $1.6 million to maintain the new alignment.

Of the three alternatives for the horseshoe route, the first one, no action, is not feasible, since it essentially would mean reverting back to the former “short route” that the Corps has deemed too heavily shoaled to maintain, especially considering the limits of funds and equipment.

According to Grover, the agencies are still considering issues involved with the other two alternatives — dredging within the current approved Oct. 1-March 31 window that addresses protection for turtles and submerged grasses, or the preferred alternative of conducting maintenance projects as needed year-round.

Public invited to weigh in on Hatteras Inlet dredging future

Joy Crist — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 15:46:26 +0000

Proposed corridor with 2020 Hydrographic survey. Image: Army Corps of Engineers

Reprinted from Island Free Press

A public comment period is open on how to address future dredging operations in Hatteras Inlet, a step in a years-long process to make the inlet more navigable for the state-run ferry, as well as everyday charter and commercial fishing vessels.

The public comment period ends Nov. 18 and corresponds with a Draft Environmental Assessment, or EA, from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the potential realignment of the Hatteras Ferry Channel in Hatteras Inlet.

The public can submit comments on the draft assessment to Emily.B.Hughes@usace.army.mil until Nov. 18. The Corps will then compile and respond to all comments, which will help shape the Final EA and probable Finding of No Significant Impact.

Maintenance of Hatteras Inlet’s navigation channels has been a constant goal of the Dare County Waterways Commission and stakeholders, for both economic and safety reasons. Much of mariners’ frustration in recent years has been directed at the fragmented regulatory status of the inlet’s passages — some federal, some state, some neither, some both. Realignment of the federal channel would help address these gaps.

“The long and the short of it is that the Army Corps of Engineers has not dredged past Barney Slough for almost 10 years now,” said Steve “Creature” Coulter, chairman of the Dare County Waterways Commission. “Since the end of the island started washing way, they quit trying to (dredge there), the Coast Guard pulled the buoys going to the gorge, and that’s when we formed the horseshoe route… and we’ve been having trouble with that route for the past 4 to 5 years.”

The Corps is proposing to add language that will expand the area included in the existing federal authorization for Rollinson Channel, a long-sought revision believed to be possible only through an act of Congress.

“Basically, it will be expanding the area we can dredge, in the aspect that it would make the entire horseshoe route federal,” said Coulter. “It’s no man’s land right now. As far as where the horseshoe turn begins, that’s where federal authorization stops.”

Another benefit of the realignment would be that federal funds would be available for future dredging projects, as the entire channel would be under federal authority and would no longer be a “no man’s land” with no entity — federal or state government — taking responsibility for dredging events.

The 132-page assessment outlines three possible alternatives for moving forward. The first alternative – No Action – is essentially dead in the water, as the Corps states in the EA that it is not a viable option, and that it’s more or less included for comparative purposes.

The other two options, which both include the channel realignment and future maintenance of the current horseshoe route, differ mainly in the date range for dredging.

Under Alternative 2, dredging could only occur from October through March, although emergency dredging could be done in the summer months with special permission. In Alternative 3, dredging could occur year-round, without obtaining special permission first.

Regular users of the inlet, including the Dare Country Waterways Commission, are urging the public to opt for Alternative 3.

“What it boils down to is we want option 3,” said Coulter. “The big benefits of Alternative 3 would be year-round dredging, the use of federal tax dollars to help maintain it, and there may also be a new offshore dump site (established) on the east side of Hatteras Inlet.”

Coulter notes that five of the dredging events over the past two years have been outside the current October-to-March window, and that the delays involved in asking for permission to dredge are inherently costly.

“Every time we have to ask permission, and have to wait for them to decide, it just keeps getting worse,” he said. “If you start shoveling when there’s only six inches of snow, it’s a lot easier to shovel later (in the winter) when 6 more inches fall. But if you have to shovel it all at once, it’s a pain in the butt, and in your wallet.”

“Based on the information in the EA, we expect the proposed federal action will not significantly affect the quality of the human environment; therefore, an Environmental Impact Statement will not be required,” Jenny Owens, Chief of Environmental Resources Section for Corps said in an email. “If this opinion is upheld following circulation of this EA, a Finding of No Significant Impact will be signed and circulated.”

Once finalized, the Finding of No Significant Impact will be signed by the Corps colonel and distributed to partner agencies, which is estimated to occur in late 2021 or early 2022.

In the meantime, Coulter and other mariners who regularly struggle with navigating the inlet hope that the endeavor, and particularly Alternative 3, will receive as much public support as possible.

“It’s a numbers game, that’s all it is. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what’s right or wrong – as far as the government goes, they look at numbers, and they look at what’s popular,” said Coulter. “And hopefully, in the future, we can work together to keep all of it open – county, state, and federal. We all do better when we work together.”

Carteret secures grant for Radio Island nourishment

Brad Rich — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 14:44:36 +0000

A recreational boater passes through the narrow shallows at the east end of Taylor’s Creek in Beaufort in this file photo from 2017. Carteret County has secured state and federal grants to dredge the waterway and deposit the spoils on Radio Island as nourishment. Photo: News-Times photo

Reprinted from Carteret County News-Times

EMERALD ISLE — Carteret County’s proposed project to dredge east Taylor’s Creek and use the sand to nourish the public beach and other areas on Radio Island is almost surely a “go.”

Greg Rudolph, manager of the County Shore Protection Office, said Tuesday the county already had a $1.3 million grant from the North Carolina Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging and Aquatic Weed Fund for the estimated $1.95 million project and now has a $650,000 U.S. Department of Defense grant to use as the local match. The DOD approved the grant last week.

The state fund, which gets revenue from boat title fees and the boat fuel tax, pays two-thirds of the cost of such waterway projects.

“We’re super pleased,” Rudolph said. “… It’s a great project for all involved.”

Several years ago, the county began planning a project to dredge and realign east Taylor’s Creek to match the rest of the waterway along the Beaufort waterfront. The idea at the time was to deposit the spoils on the Atlantic Veneer property on Lennoxville Road in Beaufort.

However, Rudolph earlier this year pitched the idea of using the dredged material instead on Radio Island, where erosion increased after Hurricane Florence in 2018. The County Beach Commission that advises his office agreed and also endorsed applying for the DOD grant, which it did in July.

In addition to the public beach on the north side of Radio Island, material will be placed along Marine Road, which the U.S. Navy uses, and where erosion threatens two power poles. That was key to getting the federal grant, as was the fact that the county’s beach access is heavily used by military families.

The yellow arrows indicate where beach nourishment would occur on Radio Island in a project planned by Carteret County. The effort also includes dredging and realignment of east Taylor’s Creek. Graphic: Carteret County Shore Protection Office

The next step, Rudolph said Tuesday, is to get the state Division of Coastal Management to amend the permit to switch the deposit site of the dredged material from Atlantic Veneer to the island. He doesn’t anticipate that being a problem, but said it could take some time. In addition, the county needs to go out for bids and approve one before work can begin.

Rudolph said he hopes to kick off the project before the end of the year, but said a January start should be soon enough to enable the dredging to be complete by the April 1 environmental deadline.

The goal is to use a 3.5-mile-long pipeline dredge, instead of a bucket dredge boat and barge, to carry the material from the creek to the island.

“The project would move much faster that way,” Rudolph said.

The spoils are to be spread roughly from Old Town Yacht Club southward, parallel to Marine Road to the land craft utility ramp and bulkhead, around 2,800 linear feet.

Rudolph said the Navy has been trying for some time to put rock along Marine Road to protect it from erosion, and the additional sand would be more room for the rocks.

“(The erosion) is very bad,” he said.

In announcing approval of the grant, the DOD said “the project will carry out shoreline and infrastructure protection measures on Radio Island. The project …will include restoration of a beach and dune system to mitigate erosion problems.”

This story is provided courtesy of the Carteret County News-Times, a news outlet based in Morehead City. Coastal Review partners with the News-Times to provide our readers with news of the North Carolina coast.

Dredging contract awarded to remedy high shoaling areas

Staff Report — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 16:25:58 +0000

A sidecast dredge. Photo: Corps of Engineers Wilmington District

Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District awarded a $3.8 million contract for maintenance dredging in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in North Carolina.

Southwind Construction Corp., based in Evansville, Indiana, was awarded the contract Sept. 15, Corps officials said Thursday. The dredging is scheduled to start Nov. 16 and expected to end March 30.

The contract covers several counties including Brunswick, Carteret, Onslow and Pender.

The work will focus on dredging the highly shoaled areas of the waterway for both commercial and recreational purposes. It also includes the dredging of the Browns Inlet crossing, which the Corps said is beneficial to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Onslow County.

The contract also features the beneficial use of dredged material, which means that where authorized throughout the contract, beach-quality sand is to be placed on adjacent beaches.

Commission weighs dredging options for Hatteras Inlet

Catherine Kozak — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 13:58:16 +0000

The sidecaster dredge Merritt works in the Hatteras Inlet in July. Photo: Donna Barnett

Reprinted from Island Free Press

Chronic shoaling in Hatteras Inlet’s South Ferry Channel persists despite numerous dredging projects over the last five years, but now the Dare County Waterways Commission is facing a tough decision on how to proceed in the face of stubbornly intractable issues.

Before the sidecaster dredge Merritt’s scheduled return Oct. 1, the panel has to decide whether the two-week project would be a waste of time and money. Member K.P. Scott, who runs the Miss Hatteras headboat, said he doesn’t believe the sidecaster would even be able to do the work.

“I’m ready to shut down my operation after this week,” Scott said. “It’s getting that bad. And I’m hauling a hundred people through there a day. So it’s going to hurt. We’ve got to find a route.”

Conditions have gotten so treacherous that even the Coast Guard’s 47-foot patrol boat can only go out at high tide, said commission Chair Steve “Creature” Coulter in a later interview.

“It’s as bad as it’s been since the spring,” he said, adding that local vessels are still able to inch their way in and out. “But we’re starting to bump.”

Coulter said that the Merritt was clearing the channel during a project in July when it was called away after one day for an emergency project. Then when it came back last month, it was only able to work a half day at high tide for three days before it had to leave.

In a detailed presentation to commissioners at the Monday, Sept. 13, virtual meeting, the county’s consultant Ken Willson, with Wilmington-based Coastal Protection Engineering, reviewed projects done in the South Ferry Channel by U.S Army Corps of Engineers’ dredges since 2017 to address different areas of shoaling within the permitted parameters, with the goal of finding best water and maintaining a sufficiently wide and deep channel. But with recent work proving futile against renewed shoaling, effective options, at least for the time being, are limited.

“Understanding what the situation was when we last tried to dredge across that northern connector channel,” he told the commission, “it didn’t last very long, that northern route. But certainly the route we’re working in here has its limitations because on either side of that channel, the depths are so shallow that the Corps may not be able to even if they want it open.”

Among the numerous complexities that have frustrated all involved in maintaining the South Ferry Channel — missing permits, bad weather, seasonal work windows, broken dredges, funding restrictions — the latest seems especially challenging.

The Corps’ only available dredge, the Merritt, is a sidecaster that basically scoops out the shoal and tosses the sand to either side. But if the disposed material builds up along the side and starts peeking up through the water, the operators by law must stop working.

That’s what had happened in the last attempt, Willson said. And because of the lack of current on that side of the channel, it is likely to happen again.

“So we are in a difficult situation,” he said.

The hopper dredge Currituck, which can remove material and haul it off for disposal away from the work area, will be in the shipyard until at least the fall of 2022. Due to maintenance and scheduling commitments, the hopper Murden will also likely be unavailable until 2022.

Todd Horton, with the Corps, said operators are hesitant to retry dredging older routes that have shoaled because of the risk of damaging the dredges.

Earlier, Coulter had suggested looking into extending the channel to the northwest. Although Willson didn’t dismiss the possibility, he cautioned that it would extend beyond the current “red box” delineated in the permit. That would require additional surveys.

“It’s certainly something that’s do-able, but it’s not something that’s going to happen fast,” he said.

In the meantime, the Merritt is scheduled to return to the location in October to do additional dredging, unless the commission decides otherwise.

Coulter said that he has serious doubts that the Corps could work in such a shallow area for more than a few days, and he is concerned that the funds provided by the state and the county for the project would be wasted.

“That’s not a channel, for one thing,” he told Willson. “It’s a ditch … They’re not going to be able to side cast for two weeks there. They’re just not going to be able to.”

Responding, Willson said he didn’t disagree, but he said that the agencies need to know by Oct. 1 “some sort of game plan of what we’re targeting.”

The commission agreed to request a new survey of the proposed channel extension at the western end, and then meet again as soon as possible in a special meeting to discuss the options.

Still, no matter what the commission decides in the coming weeks, the Hatteras boat captains and commercial fishers will be crossing their fingers that conditions don’t worsen before a better channel and/or better dredging are secured.

“So we’re stuck,” Coulter said in the interview. “The fact that the Coast Guard can’t go at low tide is enough that somebody should do something.”

Groups challenge Corps’ elimination of dredge window

Jennifer Allen — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Pumps from the Army Corps of Engineers’ hopper dredge Currituck, based in Wilmington, filter sand. Photo: Army Corps of Engineers

A lawsuit filed last week challenges the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to allow hopper dredging year-round in the harbors at the state ports in Wilmington and Morehead City.

For decades, maintenance dredging using a hopper dredge was only performed during the winter months, when endangered marine life was less abundant in state waters.

Despite opposition from environmental groups, the Corps during the past year has eliminated the hopper dredging window, a seasonal environmental moratorium most recently in place between April 1 and Dec. 15.

Last week, the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Cape Fear River Watch, the North Carolina Wildlife Federation and Defenders of Wildlife, filed the challenge against the Corps’ “unlawful decision to eliminate highly successful seasonal limitations on hopper dredging projects that have protected sea turtles, fish species and other marine life for decades.”

The law center states in its challenge that this year, the Corps intended to complete maintenance hopper dredging in Wilmington and Morehead City as well as Brunswick and Savannah Harbors in Georgia between May and July. In May a federal judge in the Georgia put a stop to the Corps’ plans and required the Corps to adhere to the traditional hopper dredging window for the Harbor. The Corps conducted maintenance dredging with a hopper dredge in Morehead City Harbor in late May and in Wilmington Harbor in late June.

“Based on information and belief, during the course of dredging Morehead City Harbor, the Corps recorded three fatal sea turtle takes. In addition, three more turtles were captured and relocated during dredging operations,” according to court documents.

‘Maximum flexibility’

The Corps states in its final Deep Draft Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact released in February that the ability to dredge any time of year is necessary to maintain the outer reaches of the Wilmington and Morehead City harbors to full project depths and widths at reasonable costs.

“Eliminating the dredging window would provide maximum flexibility to obtain contract dredges when maintenance dredging is most needed and allow minimizing of risk to listed species as outlined in the 2020 SARBO,” according to the document. SARBO is the 2020 South Atlantic Regional Biological Opinion for Dredging and Material Placement Activities in the Southeast United States.

“Removing window restrictions would also allow dredges to continue working until project completion, rather than having to stop and return at a later date to complete the work,” according to the Corps. “Additionally, elimination of the historic hopper dredging window would alleviate the need to limit the scope of dredging to the bare minimum needed to keep channels open since work could be performed any time of year. This would allow the USACE to perform maintenance dredging to full authorized project dimensions. “

The lawsuit filed Aug. 4 with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina asserts that the Corps did not properly explain its reversal in agency practice under the Administrative Procedure Act and failed to conduct a full and accurate environmental review required by the National Environmental Policy Act.

‘Dire consequences’

“The Corps’ unjustified about-face will have dire consequences for coastal wildlife,” said Ramona McGee, staff attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, in a statement. “These historic seasonal restrictions on dredging have been in place for decades and supported by numerous scientific entities precisely because they work.”

The SELC warns in the lawsuit that hopper dredging in the spring and summer months is especially harmful to sea turtles, “because more sea turtles overall are present when the water temperature is higher, and nesting females in particular are present during these months as they approach beaches to nest. Nesting female sea turtles have to swim past the hopper dredges to reach the beaches and return to open water, placing them at risk of entrainment or other sub-lethal impacts.”

Five different species of Endangered Species Act-listed sea turtles — hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, green, and Kemp’s ridley — breed and nest on the North Carolina coast.

“Biologists have recognized the dangers of hopper dredging to sea turtles since at least 1980, when more than 70 turtles were killed or injured by hopper dredges between July and November in Canaveral Channel, Florida. For the next decade, hundreds of sea turtle deaths occurred as a result of hopper dredging throughout Southeast channels,” according to the SELC.

The hopper dredge window has been in place since several loggerhead sea turtle deaths occurred at Morehead City in the late 1990s. the Wilmington District implemented a self-imposed hopper dredging window Jan. 1 to March 31, in coordination with the National Marine Fisheries Service Habitat Conservation Division with state agencies through the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act process, according to the Corps. The action is covered under Section 7(a)(1) of the Endangered Species Act.

“The Corps has historically been willing and able to dredge in the winter to avoid the biologically-active spring and summer months,” said Kemp Burdette, Riverkeeper for Cape Fear River Watch in a release. “Switching course doesn’t make sense and would pose an enormous threat to fish stocks and at-risk sea turtles at a time when their population numbers are already declining.”

During the spring and summer months, endangered Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon are often present in Wilmington and Morehead City harbors. These fish are at risk of being trapped in the hopper dredge because the fish swim through and near the project area to travel between the estuaries and open water. The lower Cape Fear River, within the Wilmington Harbor project area, is designated as critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act for Atlantic sturgeon, the SELC states.

Hopper dredging also poses significant risks to commercially and recreationally important fish species and fish habitat. Smaller species of fish are crushed by dredging operations, making the species hard to identify. Hopper dredging increases sedimentation in the water and reduces dissolved oxygen levels, which can disrupt spawning, breeding and growth activities, according to the SELC.

“The Corps is needlessly killing some of North Carolina’s most iconic coastal species with this reckless reversal,” said Heather Clarkson, Southeast outreach representative at Defenders of Wildlife in a statement. “We demand the Corps reinstate these tried-and-true wildlife-saving protocols immediately.”

Environmental review

The Corps in early April 2020 sent out by email a scoping letter, and a meeting was held virtually later that month regarding the proposal to eliminate the hopper dredge window. A draft environmental assessment was made available to local, state and federal regulatory agencies and the public July 27, 2020, for a 30-day review and comment period. The comment period was then extended 15 days, per the Corps.

The Corps included in the final environmental assessment released in February comments about the proposed action from the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, state Division of Environmental Quality, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council, Southern Environmental Law Center, N.C. Ports Authority, Audubon North Carolina, Bald Head Island, Oak Island and Kure Beach and the Corps’ response.

Many of the comments provided to the Corps last fall took issue with the draft environmental assessment and proposed action. The Department of Environmental Quality commented, “Not enough data to support the proposed change. All comments and concerns in May 7, 2020 scoping comment letter remain the same. Synthesis and analysis of data collected at Beaufort Inlet will require additional time. Premature to say that action will result in only minor and short-term impacts.” The Corps responded that after discussions with the state and federal agencies, the Corps has agreed to hopper dredging and bed leveling without window restrictions for an initial period of three years.

The South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council wrote, “Elimination of hopper windows is inconsistent with established Council policy developed to aid in effective management of economically significant fisheries closely tied to these habitats.” The Corps responded to this comment with the proposed three-year period with no dredge window.

The Corps in August 2020 submitted a copy of the draft environmental assessment and consistency determination to the state Division of Coastal Management. The Corps provided additional information in December 2020, outlining commitments to monitor for three years during dredging at both harbors. The division provided its final federal consistency decision on Dec. 31, 2020, which is valid while the Corps monitors the harbors for three years.

The Corps said that based on findings described in the environmental assessment released in February that it was in the federal interest to allow hopper dredging and bed leveling to occur without the historic restriction.

“The overall benefit of the proposed action is that it will allow for flexibility and assurance in maintaining the (Wilmington) and (Morehead City) navigation channels balanced with species protection, reduced maintenance dredging costs, and provision of a safer, more navigable channel for ships calling on the Ports,” according to the environmental assessment. Also, bed leveling could help reduce the duration of each dredging project, which would lessen impacts.

The Wilmington District worked with the National Marine Fisheries Service Habitat Conservation Division, the state divisions of Coastal Management, Marine Fisheries and Water Resources as well as Wildlife Resources Commission to develop the management process for maintaining the harbors.

For the next three years the Wilmington District, whose area includes both state ports, may perform maintenance dredging any time of year while monitoring the harbors in partnership with state and federal agencies.

“It is important to note that this is not a static three-year period,” said Col. Benjamin Bennett, Wilmington District Commander in February. “During the three-year period, adjustments will be made based on working groups with state and federal agencies. The idea of a three-year period was developed in collaboration with our partners including the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management and the National Marine Fisheries Service.”

When new data and information are acquired and experience is gained, it is to be fed back into the process. The latest information and experience is to be used to inform decisions about the timing of dredging, equipment types or impact minimization measures, which officials say will help the Corps better balance environmental concerns while adequately maintaining Wilmington and Morehead City harbors.

New law nixes 3-bid requirement for dredging contracts

Staff Report — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 19:40:11 +0000

Dredging in Hatteras Inlet in late June. Photo: Island Free Press

Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday signed a bill modifying the bid requirements for dredging contracts to allow projects to be completed more quickly.

House Bill 735, which had passed both chambers of the legislature with unanimous support, removes the requirement that a local government receive three competitive bids for dredging services in North Carolina’s coastal waters. Previously, three bids were required for any construction or repair work estimated to cost $500,000 or more.

But the limited number of dredge companies had created problems for local governments seeking to clear shoaling in nonfederal channels.

Waterways Commission works toward year-round dredging

Joy Crist — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Dredging in Hatteras Inlet in late June. Photo: Island Free Press

From an Island Free Press story

Members of the Dare County Waterways Commission are seeking permission for two more rounds of emergency dredging in the South Ferry Channel in Hatteras Inlet.

The commission met online July 12.

A request has been submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers for dredging in late July.

“The channel is not in good shape,” said Chairman Steve “Creature” Coulter after the meeting. “A boat ran aground yesterday, and a boat ran aground today… We really need to get (the Corps) back in again as soon as possible, so the Coast Guard can do their search and rescue missions, charter boats can continue working, and commercial fisherman can continue working.”

Special permission is needed for every dredging event outside of the permitted environmental window of Oct. 1 through March 31, and a request is also being made in advance to do a late August dredging of the channel as well.

“We submitted all of the info to the agencies on Friday, and we will check back this week,” said Todd Horton with the Corps of Engineers. “Hopefully, that will get us through (the summer) until the window opens up.”

As a long-term plan to keep the inlet open and navigable, the Waterways Commission has been working for more than a year to enact changes that would allow the Corps to dredge the channel whenever it was required, all year long, and without obtaining permission first.

Maintenance of Hatteras Inlet’s navigation channels has been a constant goal of the commission, for both economic and safety reasons. Much of the members’ frustration in recent years has been directed at the fragmented regulatory status of the inlet’s passages – some federal, some state, some neither, some both. Realignment of the federal channel would help address these gaps.

The Corps is proposing to add language that will expand the area included in the existing federal authorization for Rollinson Channel, a long-sought revision that, until recently, was believed to be possible only through an act of Congress. The process involves changing the authorization language that restricts how “best water” or “best route” are defined in the federal channels, and the end result would sidestep the cumbersome and lengthy process of securing Congressional legislation that is required to change authorization.

“What we want is for the long route to be made federal, and the ability to dredge it whenever we need to, and that’s what the Corps is working towards,” said Coulter.

A bulk of paperwork, including environmental reviews and assessments, has to be completed and submitted to the respective decision-making agencies to approve the federal realignment of the channel, and Corps representatives said during the meeting that everything should be set to submit by October. The Corps has also been communicating with representatives from these agencies to keep them in the loop of the upcoming realignment request.

“U.S. Fish and Wildlife, NOAA, DEQ, Division of Marine Fisheries, Coastal Management – Those are all the agencies we briefed last week on [the dredging] operations we would like to perform any time of the year,” said Horton.

When asked by Coulter if approval looked promising, Horton responded “We’ll see.”

While the documentation and official request will likely be submitted in October, it’s unclear exactly how long the subsequent approval process will take, or when permission to realign the channel would be granted.

“From the time that anything is submitted, they have 120 days to complete (the process),” said Horton. “Hopefully it won’t take that long, but they reminded us of that timeframe.”

Coulter also noted that when it comes to obtaining this permission, the Waterways Commission had a lot of support outside of local circles. “We have a lot of people trying to help us,” he said. “I’ve received emails from Senator Tillis’ office, (Rep. Greg) Murphy’s office, and Senator Burr’s office supporting what we are trying to do.”

In other commission discussions, a recent test run by the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division of the emergency ferry route between Rodanthe and Stumpy Point was successful, which means that the emergency ferry can operate in the event of a hurricane. “They ran it on high water and were able to make it OK,” said Coulter after the meeting. “They would like more water, and are looking at options if dredging is needed for low water situations.”

In addition, the commission said goodbye to member Dan Oden and noted their intention to fill his spot with Miss Hatteras headboat captain, KP Scott. “I fully support KP… I think he will do a great job for us,” said Commissioner Natalie Kavanagh.

The commission is a seven-member board whose mission is to serve as a liaison between Dare County and the various federal agencies that are involved in the continual maintenance of waterways throughout Dare County.

The next meeting of the commission will be held in person 7 p.m. Aug. 9 at the Fessenden Center Annex in Buxton.

This report is provided courtesy of the Island Free Press, a digital newspaper covering Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. Coastal Review is partnering with the Free Press to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest along our coast.

Commentary: Does the Corps adequately protect the coast?

Richard Hilderman — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 04:00:00 +0000

This map shows depths in North and South Jinks Creek in Sunset Beach. Image: Moffat and Nichol

As more and more people move to the coast, there is a constant struggle between development and protecting our coastal environment.

We all need to be working together to resolve the complex issues facing our North Carolina coast. Currently, this is not happening. Standing at the forefront between future development and the environment is the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps is an engineer formation of the United States Army that has three primary missions: Engineer Regiment, Military Construction and Civil Works. These engineers build sea walls, renourish beaches, dredge inlets and give approval for others (towns and contractors) to perform activities such as the construction of terminal groins and creating new or restoring existing navigational channels by dredging. Another important mission is aquatic ecosystem protection and restoration. Therefore, and unfortunately, the future of our coastal environment is not in the hands of natural resource agencies and coastal scientists, but rather in the hands of engineers.

A generalized difference between engineers and coastal scientists is that scientists are trained to understand natural systems while engineers are trained to manipulate the natural systems. Protecting our coastal environment should require and combine both; the engineers’ practical problem-solving expertise along with the scientists’ expertise on how nature works. Unfortunately in problem solving, coastal engineers usually ignore the scientific concerns expressed by coastal scientists. It is this scientific uncertainty about natural events that can undo engineering interventions on the coast. In some cases, the consequences of intervention can take several decades to become apparent. This makes it difficult for the general public to access applications and make the connection between Corps intervention and consequences it triggers.

Richard Hilderman

The Corps recently approved permits to place a terminal groin on the east end of Ocean Isle Beach and to perform new dredging to create a navigational channel in Jinks Creek at Sunset Beach. What does the science say about these two projects? What are the probable future consequences the taxpayers, residents and vacationers of Ocean Isle Beach and Sunset can expect?

Example 1. A terminal groin was approved for the east end of Ocean Isle Beach because the beach in that area is eroding. A groin is a long, solid structure that extends out into the water, perpendicular to the shoreline, and is typically made of cement or rock. Groins prevent erosion by trapping the longshore transport of sediment on the updrift side of the groin. Wave actions naturally remove sand from the beach and this sand enters the longshore current and moves the sand parallel to the shoreline. In Brunswick County beaches this sand moves east to west. Terminal groins act like dams, physically stopping the movement of sand. Groins do result in a buildup of sand on the upstream side of the groin, which is precisely what they are designed to do. However, the areas further downstream are cut off from the natural longshore transport thereby triggering more erosion.

Figure 1 demonstrates that once the first groin is constructed additional groins will be required to protect the beach downstream. This figure shows a series of six groins along a beach. Notice the erosion downstream from the groin at the top of the figure.

On the other hand, soft stabilization such as beach nourishment, dune building, marsh systems and living shorelines should be considered before intervention with hard structures like terminal groins. Soft structures will not subject the beaches of Ocean Isle Beach and eventually Sunset Beach to a series of terminal groins.

Figure 1

How can placing a terminal groin on Ocean Isle Beach be considered beach restoration when it will trigger more erosion? If a terminal groin is placed on the East end of Ocean Isle Beach how many future, additional groins will be needed? What will be the cost? Who will pay?

Example 2. The Corps recently approved a Sunset Beach permit to create a new navigational channel in South Jinks Creek, which is a naturally occurring shallow water tidal creek that has never been dredged before. Figure 2 shows the location of Jinks Creek on the East end of Sunset Beach. Jinks Creek via Tubbs Inlet connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Just west of South Jinks Creek are the feeder canals and Canal Bay area. North Jinks Creek is surrounded by salt marshes which have been designated primary nursery areas and thus cannot be dredged. The town originally proposed to dredge all of Jinks Creek along with the feeder/canals and Canal Bay but, due to the high density of oyster beds North Jinks Creek was removed.

Figure 2

Scientists have clearly expressed concerns that dredging a 1,700-foot-long, 80-foot-wide navigational channel that is 5 feet mean low water level in South Jinks Creek will increase the risk of flooding and erosion after storm surges on the east end of Sunset Beach. The engineering consulting firm Moffat and Nichol hired by the town said their computer modeling indicates there will not be any increase of flooding or erosion. The engineers state their modeling data estimates the maximum flood increase to occur in South Jinks Creek may be equal to an order of only 1/64 of an inch.

North Carolina State University professor emeritus Dr. Len Pietrafesa, the Burroughs and Chapin Scholar at Coastal Carolina University, Dr. Paul Gayes, a professor of marine science and geology at Coastal Carolina University and executive director of the Burroughs and Chapin Center for Marine and Wetlands at Coastal Carolina University, and Dr. Shaowu Bao, associate professor at the Coastal Science Center at Coastal Carolina University, using the very same computer program but with additional input data, disagree.

According to Dr. Pietrafesa, the study done by the consulting firm did not take into account nonlocal forcing due to wind set up at the mouths of tidal inlets, such as Tubbs Inlet that connects to South Jinks Creek, which are stochastic, or cannot be precisely predicted, and can overwhelm the amount of volumetric transport that can be driven into the system, particularly for South Jinks Creek. There already is major erosion in this area as shown by the extensive network of sandbags where Tubbs Inlet joins South Jinks Creek. If the three independent academic scientists are correct, the property owners in this area can expect more sand bagging on the rest of South Jinks Creek and possibly in Canal Bay. Sandbags are most likely only a temporary fix. What is next, other hard structures like bulkheads or sea walls? What will happen to the property values in this area?

After the initial dredging, maintenance dredging will be required every few years to keep the unnatural channel open. What will be the escalating costs of the required additional dredging? Who will pay for them?

Another consequence of dredging South Jinks Creek is that it will increase the sediment load deposited in North Jinks Creek. This will bury the high density of oyster beds. Oysters are a “keystone” species, meaning their removal could dramatically change the ecosystem. What will be the ecological impact on North Jinks Creek and the surrounding primary nursery areas? How can dredging a shallow-water tidal creek that has never been dredged before be considered aquatic ecosystem protection and restoration?

In addition, the increased sediment load deposited in North Jinks Creek will most likely require that North Jinks Creek be dredged followed by more maintenance dredging. Again, what will be the escalating costs and who will pay?

The civil works side of the Corps’ mission includes:

Navigation.
Flooding and storm protection.
Aquatic ecosystem restoration.

If you protect wisely you don’t have to restore. They are naturally a function of each other. If we are serious about attempting to protect what little natural environment, we have left we must convince the engineers of the Corps to collaborate with the independent academic scientists who have dedicated their professional lives to studying our coast. True collaboration leads to win-win solutions.

To stimulate discussion and debate, Coastal Review welcomes differing viewpoints on topical coastal issues. See our guidelines for submitting guest columns. The opinions expressed by the authors are not those of Coastal Review or the North Carolina Coastal Federation.

More boaters finding trouble in waters near Cape Lookout

Mark Hibbs — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Waterways around Harkers Island and the channel from Harkers Island to Cape Lookout are shown in Army Corps of Engineers surveys overlaid Google Earth imagery provided by Carteret County’s Shoreline Protection Office. Map: Google et al.

CARTERET COUNTY — Boaters unfamiliar with the waters around Harkers Island and Cape Lookout National Seashore can quickly get into a lot of trouble, and that’s happening more and more.

The risk of running aground near Cape Lookout is nothing new and even seasoned skippers have discovered the perils.

“Anybody who says they haven’t run aground in Core Sound is a liar,” Cape Lookout National Seashore Superintendent Jeff West told Coastal Review last week.

West describes the area as “constantly shoaling and just not very deep,” and he emphasized that it’s particularly dangerous for the unfamiliar.

“Typically, that’s the person we see getting into trouble,” he said.

Mariners say the channel here moves with nearly every tide and storm and locals advise those unfamiliar with these waters to avoid the area.

Karen Willis Amspacher, a lifelong resident of Harkers Island and executive director of the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center, said the best course is to rely on professionals to get to Cape Lookout.

“If you don’t know your way to the cape you might as well just stay home or you’ll spend the day shoving,” she said last week in an interview.

Capt. Peter Koltun of Sea Tow Crystal Coast explained to Coastal Review that more and more boaters are finding trouble here. Sea Tow provides marine towing and on-water assistance.

“We’ve had a huge increase in jobs in that area,” Koltun said. “The channel is getting skinnier and skinnier.”

Koltun and others said the Barden Inlet Channel, including a segment long known as “The Drain,” had become so “bottlenecked” there’s no room for even the slightest error. One wrong turn and “it goes from 6 feet at high tide to 2 inches at high tide,” Koltun said.

The only way to get to Cape Lookout is by boat, via the Barden Inlet Channel, which is a federally authorized channel although it’s not maintained and is no longer marked. Federal funding for dredging here hasn’t been available since the 1970s. The remaining aids to navigation in Barden Inlet were removed late last year after conditions were deemed too unstable and unsafe.

West said providing safe access to visitors is paramount, but the park service can’t do it alone.

“The National Park Service has not taken responsibility for this in the past, and for good reason: Most of the channels are outside our boundaries,” he said.

Capt. George Aswad is operator of Crystal Coast Lady Cruises and the Lookout Express, the park service-authorized ferry service to Cape Lookout and Shackleford Banks with round-trip service from Harkers Island and Beaufort.

“We transit (the area) every day, so we’re used to it. It does change and it’s changing as we speak,” he said. “The worst is The Drain, or the S-curve, near Morgan Island. It gets pretty shallow there, but a new channel is opening on the north side of it and that’s getting deeper every day.”

“The Drain” and the “S-curve” are parts of a series of channels that comprise the South Core Banks/Lookout Bight Channels. The congressionally authorized channel to Back Sound and Lookout Bight, which extends from Harkers Island to the bight itself, incorporates the severely shoaled S-curve or S-turns area.

The National Park Service administers the remaining channels, including the Great Island Ferry Channel, the Lighthouse Channel, Les and Sally’s Channel, and the Shackleford Dock Channel.

When shoaling in the federal channel reached a critical stage, that was when the Coast Guard removed aids to navigation.

Aswad said his ferries make 20 round trips per day between Shell Point at Harkers Island and Cape Lookout and Shackleford Island. He sees boaters get into trouble all the time.

“A lot of private boats come through there at full speed, not knowing where they’re going, and we watch them go aground at full speed. Plenty of times we yell at them trying to get them to slow down,” he said. “Most of the time, the private boats follow us. We gladly help everybody and let them follow us through there, that’s not an issue at all.”

Aswad said more common sense and courtesy on the water could help the situation all around, but he and others agree, Barden Inlet needs attention.

The Coast Guard recently announced changes to aids to navigation in nearby waterways, including Shackleford Slue and the Middle Marshes, Harkers Island Channel West and Core Sound Channel, which are regarded as improvements. But it’s uncertain when fix for the federal channel is coming, although the money for dredging is available.

The part of the channel known as the S-turns is circled in Google Earth imagery provided by Carteret County’s Shoreline Protection Office. Map: Google et al.

Cooperative management agreement

Greg Rudolph is manager of Carteret County’s Shore Protection Office. He oversees beach nourishment projects in the county, projects that generally use sand from channel dredging, and serves as the county’s principle liaison with the Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies on related issues.

Rudolph explained that, although the channel is federally authorized, federal funding for its maintenance has not been a priority because use of the inlet these days is mainly recreational. But that’s no excuse, Rudolph said.

“If you were going to the Grand Canyon and there was an avalanche at the only way to get into the Grand Canyon, there would be funds for that,” Rudolph said.

So, to secure funding, Carteret County officials in July 2019 struck an agreement with the National Park Service to cooperatively manage waterways serving park service properties.

The deal set the terms and conditions for the county to accept funding from the park service to put up as the required match for grants from the state’s Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging and Aquatic Weed Fund. Revenue for the fund comes from fees for boat registrations and title transfers. Approved projects must be paid for with at least one non-state dollar for every $2 from the fund.

During the first year of the agreement, the park service provided $590,554 to the county, which, along with money from the Shallow Draft Fund, resulted in a total $1.77 million provided to the Corps of Engineers. In 2020, the park service provided an additional $1.3 million to the county, which again leveraged with the Shallow Draft Fund resulted in another $3.9 million contribution to the Corps for a total of more than $5.67 million to cover costs associated with preparing an environmental assessment with a finding of no significant impact needed to secure the necessary permits and authorizations and most of the dredging expense.

Now, county and park service officials are waiting for the Corps to formulate the project

“That is the key to solving this for the long term,” West with the park service said. “It’s the only way to keep the channels open and it will allow long-term, joint management of the waterways and systems with some federal money.”

“The biggie for everybody is Barden’s Inlet,” West added. “Once the environmental assessment is done, they can get started, and we’re including all the waterways in this area in the environmental assessment to get the compliance out of the way.”

He said that Barden Inlet is the priority, but dredging that channel will bring multiple benefits, including helping to lessen erosion problems in front of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse.

“There is a reason they call it The Drain, here locally. Once it’s opened up, it will do its job,” West said.

But, he added, there are decisions that can only be made once the environmental assessment is complete.

“We don’t want to do the wrong thing, and sometimes putting a dredge in the same spot, it just fills back in. It might be smarter to take advantage of some of the naturally deeper water, but there might be legal ramifications. Half of any of these battles is getting the process started and we’re about halfway through the battle.”

Officials with the Corps of Engineers’ Wilmington District had not responded Tuesday to a request last week for comment on the status of the environmental assessment.

Changes in adjacent waters

In nearby waterways, the Coast Guard is changing 25 aids to navigation near Shackleford Banks and Harkers Island, changes officials say were needed because of dangerous conditions that are getting worse.

The changes were set to begin earlier this month for Shackleford Slue and the Middle Marshes, Harkers Island Channel West and Core Sound Channel.

The Coast Guard said the intent is to make the lateral aids — the red and green buoys — more readily comply with the “red, right, returning” direction of travel in an area where there are several converging channels from sea and around various barrier islands.

Chief Warrant Officer Chris Winters, the officer in charge of aids to navigation for waters served by Coast Guard Station Fort Macon, told Coastal Review that the significant changes were “in response to worsening conditions in Core Sound, the heavy flow of recreational vessel traffic from Beaufort Inlet to Taylor’s Creek via Shackleford Slue and to make the waterway easier to understand for mariners not familiar with the area.”

Winters said the latest changes were not associated with the removal of aids to navigation in Barden Inlet, which was completed late last year after conditions were deemed unstable and unsafe, although he said they do affect the adjacent waterways.

“The National Parks Service, Carteret County and the Army Corp of Engineers are actively working on funding dredging operations, once the dredging is complete the Coast Guard will assess channel conditions and replace (aids to navigation) as appropriate,” Winters said.

Rudolph agreed that the changes to aids to navigation have little to do directly with Barden Inlet or The Drain “or whatever you call that long channel reach from Harker’s Island to the lighthouse.” But numerous boaters who will benefit from the improvement to aids to navigation “and it is an improvement,” he said, are also using the Barden Inlet Channel, “so it’s almost marking a road to a dead end until we can get it dredged and navigable.”

Corps collecting data for 20-year dredged materials plan

Trista Talton — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 04:00:00 +0000

A private dredge operation is shown underway in 2019 at a Carteret County marina. Photo: Carteret County Shore Protection Office

More than two years have passed since the Army Corps of Engineers announced that only sand pumped from federal projects could be placed in Corps-maintained dredged material disposal sites, leaving local governments, marinas and private property owners the challenge to find land on which to put sand removed from clogged waterways.

Since then, state and Corps officials have been working on a plan to identify nonfederally maintained sites, information that may be rolled out incrementally in the months leading up to the release of the first phase of the plan, according to Todd Horton, the Corps’ deputy chief of navigation.

“Our goal right now is to have our entire project completed by February 2022,” Horton said earlier this month in a meeting hosted by the North Carolina Division of Water Resources.

He said that, to date, the Corps has identified a little more than 20 nonfederal placement sites, the majority of which were initially constructed on state-owned property by the Corps to be used as disposal areas. At some point those properties were turned over to private owners.

A geographic information system, or GIS, database has been created to map each site and include information, such as how much sand a site can hold, and will eventually be placed on a website hosted by either the Corps or the state.

That database is part of the state’s dredged material management plan.

As part of that plan, the Corps will evaluate the dredging needs of nonfederal users for the next 20 years.

The Corps’ Wilmington District is currently gathering that information, calling marinas to assess where they’re dredging, how often they’re dredging and where they’re placing dredging material.

“As of now we’ve contacted 78 marinas requesting data of which we are about 65% complete collecting data from those sites,” Horton said during the June 9 meeting.

The Corps has identified 75 other entities with marine facilities, including homeowners’ associations and hotels with large marine docks, to contact.

“We haven’t reach out to those 75 facilities yet, but we will in the next few weeks,” Horton said.

Wilmington district officials announced in late 2018 that sand dredged in nonfederal projects could no longer be placed in Corps-maintained facilities.

That decision was made based on the Corps’ February 2017 guidance to conserve space within its disposal sites after millions of cubic yards of material dredged from nonfederal projects were placed in a single dredged material placement facility in Galveston, Texas.

The Corps manages more than 200 dredged material placement facilities totaling more than 5,000 acres in North Carolina. Some of those sites have not been used while others are nearly full.

It is unclear exactly where and how material from nonfederal dredge projects are being disposed.

Such work has to be permitted by the state Division of Coastal Management. The terms of a permit include where material is to be placed.

That information was not available in time for publication of this report.

In Carteret County, the county’s shore protection office has been creating its own list of potential disposal sites.

“We’re looking for properties that have enough land to take all this material,” said Greg “Rudi” Rudolph with the county’s shore protection office.

Potential disposal sites have to meet certain criteria, including road access to the property, proximity to the channel being dredged and capacity. And, the property owner has to be willing to take the dredge spoil free of charge.

“In return, it’s theirs,” Rudolph said.

For one of the county’s more recent dredging projects in Old Ferry Channel in Bogue Sound, dredge spoil was placed on a little more than 1 acre of private property off Bay Shore Drive in Cape Carteret.

The project completed in early April dredged more than 24,000 cubic yards of sand from shoaling hot spots along a little more than 11,300 feet of the channel. The dredged material was the equivalent of about 2,100 dump truck loads.

Under the Coastal Area Management Act, or CAMA, major permit terms, silt fences had to be placed on the property to catch runoff. Material could not be piled higher than 6 feet above grade and then had to be seeded.

In all, Carteret County has completed six dredging projects – three large projects dredging more than 1,000 cubic yards and three small projects of about 1,000 cubic yards, Rudolph said.

The county has relied on grants from the state’s Shallow Draft Navigation Channel
Dredging and Aquatic Weed Fund to help cover the cost of dredged material disposal.

Rudolph said he applauds the creation of regional disposal facilities, the need of which is only going to grow as building continues in coastal areas.

Carteret County has 80 miles of oceanfront, 1,738 miles of estuarine shoreline, 506 square miles of land and 834 square miles of water.

“So, we’re more water than land,” Rudolph said. “There’s only so much land so possibly more of the vacant land around here is going to be used more in the next five to 10 years.”

‘Ditch of Death’: Navigation in Hatteras Inlet dicey … again

Catherine Kozak — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 04:00:00 +0000

A side-cast dredge operates in South Ferry Channel in Hatteras Inlet. Photo: Joy Crist/Island Free Press

Co-published with Island Free Press

HATTERAS — As a charter vessel approaches the South Ferry Channel, what appears to be the shadowy head of a cobra rising from an undulating body waits on the west side of the channel entrance, as if ready to strike.

Countless other visual imaginings are no doubt possible from the stunning bird’s-eye view of Hatteras Inlet provided by drone footage launched off the Tradition, owned by Hatteras charter Capt. Cameron Whitaker. What is most striking, in addition to the degree of visible shoaling, is how short the South Ferry Channel looks in the vast inlet, at least relative to the angst it has caused.

Once again, trouble with shoaling in the channel was of much concern to members of the Dare County Waterways Commission during its virtual meeting Monday. Their fears ended up being well-founded.

Whitaker said the videos were taken in mid-May by the company Point Click Fish, which provided the footage for the Hatteras Village Offshore Open tournament. Tournament organizer Laura Young said that as far as she was aware, the drone footage, which had been shared earlier with commission Chair Steve “Creature” Coulter, was the first aerial video of the inlet taken with a drone.

During the relatively short meeting, commissioners were updated on the Army Corps of Engineers’ dredge Merritt, but the news was not what they wanted to hear. The dredge had worked for four days last week to clear the channel that had been clogged again after being dredged in April and May. Still, the prognosis for the coming months was not good.

Young, with the tournament, said local charter fishers have started jokingly referring to the channel as the “ditch of death.”

“It’s very shallow, it’s very narrow,” Coulter reported to commissioners about recent conditions. “We had one boat run aground out there this morning.”

“We had one boat run aground out there this morning.”
Steve “Creature” Coulter
Chairman, Dare County Waterways Commission

Ken Willson, the county’s consultant with Wilmington-based Coastal Protection Engineering, suggested that after the post-dredging survey is done at the South Ferry Channel, surveyors should check out another nearby passage. “If they could take a look at the south channel again, and get some additional data on seeing whether or not that south channel is going to open again … l think that’s really the solution to this problem.”

Others suggested that the north channel may be a possible alternative. Both south and north passages were natural channels that had been used in the past, and both are currently shoaled in sections and not navigable.

Responding later to Commissioner Dan Oden’s question about what could be done if the South Ferry Channel shoals again in July, Willson encouraged members to start looking at other options. In the last four years, he said, he had never seen a channel that has been so much trouble. Considering how inefficient it has been to dredge it repeatedly, he said, “I think trying to maintain this current route is going to continue to be kind of futile.”

“I think trying to maintain this current route is going to continue to be kind of futile.”
Ken Willson
Coastal Protection Engineering

In a later interview, Willson said that in the past, the dredge could work to clear South Ferry Channel for 25 days or so and it would hold for months. That’s not the case now.

In the most recent project, Willson added, even with two dredges, the Merritt and the Murden, working in the channel, they were only able to be make a narrow cut through the shoal. Ultimately, he said, the sand from the side-caster Merritt ended up piling up on the side of the channel. Soon, the dredged material started filling up the channel.

“The problem we’re having there needs immediate attention. But unfortunately, we can’t get the traction to get attention immediately,” said member Danny Couch in a later interview.

“We don’t have the time to wait. We’ve got to figure out how to keep it together.”

Couch, who is the Hatteras Island representative on the Dare County Board of Commissioners, said that the hope is that the channel can be maintained until the Corps completes its realignment of Hatteras Inlet channels, which is expected in the fall or early winter.

If the Corps authorizes realigning the inlet, maintenance will be able to be more flexible and expansive and more responsive to conditions. The county has requested that the Corps add Hatteras Inlet bar to the realignment of Rollinson Channel project, which is the federally authorized ferry channel that is regularly maintained by the Corps.

The most severe shoaling is indicated in red in this June 2 Corps of Engineers hydrographic survey of South Ferry Channel in Hatteras Inlet.

In a resolution approved by the Dare County Board of Commissioners in May, the county says that the current authorization goes back to the 1940s and is no longer relevant to the conditions in Hatteras Inlet or how it’s used.

In the interim, Couch said, it is critical to the local economy that the inlet is accessible for boaters during fishing tournaments.

“It’s almost like the tournaments need to get a pilot like we used to have in the old days,” Couch said, referring to guides who could help navigate boats safely through the bar into the inlet.

Hatteras fishing tournaments are important to the Hatteras village economy, he said, and shoaling issues can scare away out-of-town vessels.

“That tide floats all boats,” Couch said of the revenue from tournaments. “From the coffee shop to the tackle shops, it impacts every phase of the economy.”

And fishing vessels that are well made enough to fish large gamefish in the ocean are not cheap.

“Eleven million will get you a Cadillac,” Couch says. “If you damage your running gear with these big boats, you don’t just run to Ace Hardware for parts.”

On the contrary, he said, a damaged propellor can cost upwards of $60,000, not including labor.

Coulter said in an email that the hope is that the county will budget more funds to dredge in July, if it’s necessary and the agencies grant an exemption. Meanwhile, he wrote, the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division is taking bids to dredge part of the emergency ferry route, if needed.

The chairman also encouraged members to send letters of support for the realignment to the county for it to forward to the Corps.

“These letters will go a long way in helping reestablish our safe and viable way to the ocean,” he wrote.

Footage dated May 15,2021, by Laura Young of Young’s Research and the Hatteras Village Offshore Open, including shoaled areas of South Ferry Channel at around the 4-minute mark, just above the South Dock ferry terminal at the bottom right.

Dredging Underway at Hatteras Inlet

Catherine Kozak — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 16:29:43 +0000

The Shallow Draft Dredge Murden. Photo: USACE

Reprinted from Island Free Press

After numerous complications with dredging the South Ferry Channel, the Army Corps of Engineers reported to the Dare County Waterways Commission at its Monday meeting that the hopper dredge Murden has finally started work removing the problem shoal.

“They’re working daylight operations only,” the Corps’ Chief of Floating Plant Joen Petersen told commissioners, who met virtually Monday. “They are taking the material offshore now.”

Petersen said that the dredge, which started work on Saturday, is “light loading” because the channel, then at about 70 feet wide and 7.5-feet deep, was still not wide or deep enough for full loads.

“We’re taking partial loads offshore, roughly an hour round-trip, give or take a little bit,” he said, adding that about four or five loads have been removed each day, depending on conditions but, he added, there may be limits to how much material can be removed from the channel.

“So do I think we can get it 100 feet wide?” Petersen said, responding to a question about the potential to reach the targeted width. “I think so. But I don’t think we’ll make 150.”

The odds of reaching the 12-foot depth goal, however, is more conceivable, at least partially.

“I think we’ll be close to that in the center,” he said. “On the edges there, you’re not going to have that, because it’s just going to cave in a little bit because of the steep bank.”

Although charter vessels will not be able to use the channel while the dredge is working, Petersen said that the predawn departures of charter and commercial fishing vessels have a jump on the dredge crew’s morning start, and the vessels’ afternoon return can be accommodated by calling the dredge on Channel 13 or Channel 16 ahead of their anticipated arrival.

The Murden will continue working at South Ferry Channel until April 21, when it is scheduled to depart for work in South Carolina, Petersen said. Starting on Thursday, the ship will also work at night in Big Foot Slough, the channel off of Silver Lake Harbor in Ocracoke that is used by the Cedar Island and Swan Quarter ferries.

Travel through Big Foot has been limited, and briefly halted, for the ferry routes due to dangerous shoaling. The state Ferry Division on Tuesday resumed a limited schedule for the two routes until the channel is cleared.

The sidecaster dredge Merritt is expected to arrive about the time the Murden departs, working in South Ferry for about two weeks, Petersen said, barring any other emergency popping up.

Ken Willson, senior program manager with Wilmington-based consultant Coastal Protection Engineering, agreed with suggestions from commissioners that it would be worth seeking permission for the dredge to work another week or two if possible, when available funds are expected to run out.

The Dare County Board of Commissioners provided $60,000 in additional funds for the project from the Dare County Emergency Fund, Brent Johnson, county project manager, said in an email. In addition, the state provided $180,000 from the Shallow Draft Grant fund, he said, totaling $240,000 for the additional dredging.

The initial attempt to dredge the large shoal in South Ferry Channel was hampered last month by bad weather, low tides, and difficulties with the dredges, including damage to two rudders while working in the channel.

Commission Chair Steve “Creature” Coulter credits help from local, state and federal officials in getting the challenging work resumed.

“It’s hard to emphasize it enough,” Coulter said in a later interview. “People don’t realize how much work our public officials are doing to keep our channels open.”

If all goes as expected, with the newly cleared channel coinciding with the seasonal wind shift, conditions should improve — just in time for the busy season.

“Hopefully, we’ll be in good shape coming the first of May,” Coulter said. “But we are dealing with Mother Nature. She can throw us a curve at any day.”

The next meeting of the Dare County Waterways Commission is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 10.

Red in this recent survey indicates the most severe shoaling in Bigfoot Slough.

This story is provided courtesy of the Island Free Press, a digital newspaper covering Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Free Press to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest along our coast.

Shallowbag Bay Dredging Work Complete

Staff Report — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 16:59:15 +0000

The overall dredge project area is shown in this aerial image from the Dare County.

A three-month dredging project to deepen and widen the channels within Shallowbag Bay and Roanoke Sound in Manteo has been completed.

The project by Salmons Dredging Inc. began at the end of November 2020 and was completed at the end of February. The 90-day project opened up the waterways, allowing vessels to navigate previously unnavigable waters due to shoaling, including the Elizabeth II, a replica 16th century sailing ship that has been docked at Roanoke Island Festival Park.

Dare County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved Nov. 16, 2020, a contract and grant application for maintenance dredging within Ranges 1-5 of the Manteo Federal Navigation Project, about 2.2 miles within Shallowbag Bay and Roanoke Sound. A connector channel that extends 290 feet from the northern terminus of Range 1 to the berth of the Elizabeth II was also dredged.

The dredging project deepened the channel from its previous depths of 1-5 feet and 6-7 feet to the 9-foot depth that is required in order to allow larger vessels to safely navigate the waterway. The channel was also widened to 50 feet.

Another goal of the project was to make it possible for the Elizabeth II to leave its port at Roanoke Island Festival Park for maintenance.

Due to shoaling in the channel, the Elizabeth II had not been able to sail out of its port since 2017. The replica ship was built by hand and dedicated during a 1984 ceremony as part of the 400th anniversary celebration of the Roanoke voyages from England to the New World.

After the dredging project was complete, the channel was deep enough to allow the vessel to leave its mooring on Feb. 23, and was taken to Wanchese for the maintenance haul-out. After repairs were complete, the ship headed back to its home port in Manteo, and reopened for on-deck tours March 24.

The North Carolina General Assembly allotted $1.9 million to pay for the project and the state’s Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging and Aquatic Weed Fund, and the Town of Manteo provided $170,000.

Dare County managed the project and county staff member, Brent Johnson, served as the project’s manager. Coastal Protection Engineering of North Carolina was contracted by the county to obtain the permits required to conduct the dredging and to conduct construction administrative oversight of the project.

For more information about the Shallowbag Bay and Roanoke Sound dredging project, www.DareNC.com/Projects.

Dare OKs Additional Funds for Dredge Work

Staff Report — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 18:27:57 +0000

Dare County Board of Commissioners will provide the additional funding needed to break through shoaling in the South Ferry Channel. Photo: Donna Barrett/Island Free Press

Dare County Board of Commissioners will provide the additional funding needed for to break through shoaling in the South Ferry Channel, which will complete the Hatteras Inlet Dredging Project.

The board approved the request for the funds for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ dredge Merritt to continue working in Hatteras Inlet long enough to break through shoaling in the South Ferry Channel, “a move that will be a game-changer for local commercial fishermen who rely on a fully open and navigable waterway,” according to the county.

The board approved the request for funding for $60,000. That plus a grant from North Carolina’s Shallow-Draft Channel Navigation and Aquatic Weed Fund made available $240,000 for the Corps to dredge 12 additional days.

The Corps began the 28-day dredging project in Hatteras Inlet earlier this month in an attempt to break through the shoal that formed in the South Ferry Channel, rendering the waterway impassable for most vessels.

The initial plan called for the Corps’ sidecaster dredge Merritt to cut through the sandbar. Once the channel was deep and wide enough, the Murden, a shallow-draft hopper dredge, was to complete the project by removing the remaining sand from the channel. After four days of dredging, the Merritt had only reached the sandbar that had sealed off the channel, and more time would be required to break through the shoaling so the Murden could be brought in, according to a release from the county.

Corps representative Joen Petersen explained during the Dare County Waterways Commission meeting March 8 that the delay in anticipated progress was due in part to the exceptionally low tides that had occurred during the dredging period.

With the Merritt’s allotted time in the waterway limited and options for alternatives running out, the Waterways Commission asked Dare County for help to secure the funds needed to give the dredge more time to address the shoaling issues in the South Ferry Channel.

“If the Dare County Board of Commissioners had not approved funding for the additional dredging, the Murden could have only dredged for eight more days, and that would have not been enough to make the South Ferry Channel deep enough and wide enough to safely navigate for all the users through the summer,” said Dare County Project Manager Brent Johnson.

For more information about the project, visit www.DareNC.com/Projects.

Residents Challenge South Jinks Creek Permit

Trista Talton — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 04:00:48 +0000

The proposed dredging project is to restore and maintain navigation access in South Jinks Creek, the bay area, and the feeder channel system. Image: Sunset Beach

The state in February gave Sunset Beach the green light to pump material dredged from an ocean-access waterway onto a disposal site just off the beach, but two Sunset Beach property owners are challenging that permit.

The North Carolina Division of Coastal Management on Feb. 18 issued a major modification to the Coastal Area Management Act, or CAMA, major permit the town initially received in October 2019.

The modified permit grants the town the go-ahead to move an estimated 40,500 cubic yards of beach-compatible sand from South Jinks Creek to a nearshore area along about a 2,000-foot stretch of shoreline seaward between Third and 13^th streets.

Residents Richard Hilderman and Rich Cerrato submitted to the division March 8 an application to appeal the permit. They argue that the town has not proven dredged sand placed in the nearshore site will remain within the shoal system from which it would be removed.

“The problem I have is there’s a CAMA regulation that says if you take spoils out, you must put it in the appropriate littoral system and it must remain in there permanently,” Hilderman said. “That’s the basis of my appeal, is you don’t have any evidence it’s going to remain in the Tubbs Inlet shoal system nor do you have any evidence that it will remain permanently there.”

He and Cerrato point specifically to a section of North Carolina General Statute Chapter 113 that reads “Clean, beach quality material dredged from navigational channels within the active nearshore, beach or inlet shoal systems shall not be removed permanently from the active nearshore, beach or inlet shoal system. This dredged material shall be disposed of on the beach or shallow active nearshore area where it is environmentally acceptable and compatible with other uses of the beach.”

Sunset Beach resubmitted permit applications to both the state and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last October to put the dredged sand from South Jinks Creek in a new proposed location after beachfront property owners indicated they would refuse to grant the town property easements over concerns it might cost them “beachfront ownership.”

The town needed temporary construction easements under its original proposal to put equipment on private properties to move sand dredged from the creek onto a stretch of oceanfront between Fifth and 12^th streets.

Shortly before the town asked the Corps to pull its original permit application in 2019, the federal agency sent the town a letter noting that the proposed oceanfront placement site was not eroding or in need of additional sand.

The town has indicated that while nearshore placement of material dredged from South Jinks Creek is a “last resort,” that option is an “environmentally acceptable and least cost alternative that meets the purpose and need of the project.”

The town is waiting on approval of its federal permit application from the Corps.

“Our office is still in the review process and haven’t completed our permit decision at this time,” Emily Winget, a public affairs specialist in the Corps’ Wilmington District, said in an email.

The modified state permit expires at the end of 2024.

About a decade ago, Sunset Beach officials began looking into maintenance dredging of the barrier island’s surrounding waterways, including Mary’s Creek and Turtle Creek, to improve and restore navigation access.

Dredging would help the town manage future development because it would create a pier head alignment that would allow the town to monitor future dock construction to ensure new piers would not impede navigation, according to town officials.

The town’s project includes dredging roughly 3 miles of waterway.

The original permit authorized the project with the condition that the maximum dredging depth be 2 feet below mean low water, which is consistent with a state rule prohibiting canals and boat basins from being dredged deeper than connecting waters.

About a year ago the Coastal Resources Commission, or CRC, granted a variance to the 2019 permit that allows the town to dredge about 18 acres, including South Jinks Creek, to a depth deeper than the connecting waters along its eastern border.

The variance allows dredging about 10,650 feet of South Jinks Creek, the bay area and the feeder channel, to a depth of no more than 6 feet below mean water. A series of finger canals would be dredged to 5 feet below mean low water.

A Division of Coastal Management spokesperson confirmed that the division had received two appeals to the CAMA permit on March 8.

Coastal Resources Commission Chair Renee Cahoon has 15 days from receiving the appeals to decide if the petitioners are entitled to a third-party hearing.

In order to get a hearing, a petitioner has to do the following: allege the permit contradicts a statute or rule; show that he or she is directly affected by the permit decision; and demonstrate the appeal is not frivolous.

According to information provided on the division’s website, if the commission chair grants a hearing, the petitioner may then file a petition for a contested case hearing in the Office of Administrative Hearings.

An administrative law judge will issue a final decision. The judge’s decision may be appealed to superior court.

The town’s website includes documents related to the project.

Ports a Step Closer to Year-Round Dredging

Staff Report — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 15:40:44 +0000

A cargo ship departs the North Carolina Port of Wilmington. Photo: State Ports Authority

The Army Corps of Engineers has published its final environmental review required for the elimination of the environmental window for dredging the harbors at the state’s two seaports.

The Corps’ Wilmington District published Thursday the final environmental assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact, or FONSI, which details what will take place to eliminate the historic hopper dredging window from Dec. 1 to April 15 and adds the bed-leveling technique for maintenance of the outer portions of the Wilmington and Morehead City harbors.

The draft environmental assessment was provided to federal and state agencies and the public Aug. 19, 2020. The FONSI discusses and responds to comments received during the 45-day review of that draft.

The elimination of the environmental window is initially limited to a three-year period with monitoring efforts planned by the Corps and state and federal agencies.

“It is important to note that this is not a static three-year period,” said Wilmington District Commander Col. Benjamin Bennett. “During the three-year period, adjustments will be made based on working groups with state and federal agencies. The idea of a three-year period was developed in collaboration with our partners including the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management and the National Marine Fisheries Service.”

A risk-based management approach is to be used for future maintenance, which is to improve navigability and safety for commercial vessels calling on the ports while also protecting resources of concern, according to the Corps. Because of the dynamic nature of coastal environments, the evaluation of environmental windows on a regular basis allows for adjustments to protect the most at-risk resources, the Corps said

Elizabeth II Departs for Long-Needed Repairs

Sam Walker — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 16:10:40 +0000

The Elizabeth II cruises past the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse Tuesday. The ship has a diesel motor to supplement its sails in this video courtesy of RoanokeIsland.com.

The North Carolina General Assembly approved $1.9 million to pay for the dredging of 2.2 miles of the waterways off Manteo, while another $170,000 came from the state’s Shallow Draft Navigation Fund and the town of Manteo.

A contractor from South Carolina began digging out the channels in late December and planned to complete the work this week.

The wooden-hulled Elizabeth II was built by hand at what is now the site of the Roanoke Island Maritime Museum using privately-raised funds, and was launched in 1984 as part of the 400th anniversary celebration of the Roanoke Voyages to the New World.

It was then donated to the state and became part of the attractions at Roanoke Island Festival Park across Dough’s Creek from the Manteo waterfront and operated by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Kim Sawyer, executive director of Roanoke Island Festival Park, said the ship will be hauled out at a boatyard in Wanchese for a variety of repairs to the hull.

Park staff and volunteers with the Friends of Elizabeth II, many whom make up the crew of the ship, will be documenting with video and social media posts the work that will be taking place during the haul out.

Plans are for the Elizabeth II to return to its home port in about three weeks, just ahead of the park opening for 2021, Sawyer said.

For more details about Roanoke Island Festival Park, visit RoanokeIsland.com.

OBX Today is the community website of JAM Media Solutions’ Outer Banks radio stations: Beach 104, 94.5 WCMS, 99.1 The Sound and Classic Rock 92.3. The website is managed by local newsman Sam Walker and journalist Kari Pugh. Coastal Review Online is partnering with OBX Today to provide our readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Dredging/Nourishment Project Underway

Staff Report — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 22:08:15 +0000

Beach nourishment progress map for the Morehead City Harbor maintenance dredging project as of Feb. 3. Image: Carteret County Shoreline Protection Office

Maintenance dredging at the harbor for the North Carolina Port of Morehead City and simultaneous beach nourishment project for 2.5 miles of Atlantic Beach oceanfront that began Jan. 6 is one-third complete.

Weeks Marine is the contractor for the $18 million project planned under the Dredged Material Management Plan, or DMMP, developed for the Morehead City Harbor by the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Park Service.

The plan is to nourish just shy of 2.5 miles of Atlantic Beach’s oceanfront with the more than 1.143 million cubic yards of shoal material expected to be excavated or dredged from the Morehead City Harbor, mostly from the areas known as the Range B, Cutoff, and Range A.

Weeks Marine had dredged, pumped and graded sand starting just east of the Fort Macon Bath House Access moving west to the Coastal Area Management Act access at Henderson Boulevard, the former location of the Triple S Pier, according to an update last week from Carteret County Shore Protection Office.

Greg Rudolph with the Cartert County Shore Protection office told Coastal Review Online Monday that the beach fill for the Morehead City Harbor dredging and nourishment project was in place well west of the Henderson Boulevard, “1,200 linear feet to be more exact.”

The cutterhead-suction pipeline dredge J.S. Chatry arrived at Morehead City Harbor Dec. 29, 2020, and moved Jan. 6 to the most seaward reach of the channel to start maintenance dredging the harbor.

The sand dredged by the cutterhead-suction pipeline dredge at the harbor is pumped through a submerged pipeline from the channel west of the terminal groin at Fort Macon State Park, where the land-based pipe is affixed. Nourishment is taking place east of the Fort Macon State Park Bath House Parking/Access area to the Circle in Atlantic Beach.

The contractor is required to complete the project by April 30, when the environmental window for the work closes.

Commission Talks Dredge Material Disposal

Catherine Kozak — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:07:03 +0000

A dredge shown operating. Photo: Donna Barrett

Reprinted from the Island Free Press

Details about a comprehensive proposal laying out numerous options for disposal of dredge material occupied much of Wednesday’s meeting of the Dare County Waterways Commission, indicating that finding somewhere to put excess sand may be as challenging as finding ways to keep it from washing away.

In a lengthy slide presentation on the proposed Dare County Dredge Material Management, Ken Willson with Wilmington-based consultant Coastal Protection Engineering, or CPE, told commissioners during its Jan. 20 remote meeting that the preliminary plan was the result of several months of work, with feedback from Dare County Projects Manager Brent Johnson and others.

“But this is the first time that we’ve felt like we’ve got a nice enough chunk of material that’s well organized that we could go ahead and present this to you,” he said.

Most of the rest of the evening was spent on the dredge material issue, which is approaching crisis level. The proposed plan addresses a severe lack of disposal sites for material dredged from federal and nonfederal channels in Dare County. Under environmental laws, the projects must have approved disposal areas to receive a permit.

Willson explained the project’s goals: create more areas to dispose dredged sand; conduct an assessment to determine anticipated dredging needs and type of dredged material; provide short- and long-term recommendations to the county, and obtain permits for short-term projects.

“We also wanted to focus on not just the cheapest way of disposing of this material, but identifying disposal alternatives that can enhance coastal resilience,” he said.

Proposed project areas would include Wanchese inner channels off of Oregon Inlet, Stumpy Point and Rodanthe emergency ferry channels, and Rollinson Channel in Hatteras Inlet. The study, he said, found 22 “concept alternatives,” potential locations and design for disposal areas, stretching from the northern end of Roanoke Island south to Hatteras Inlet.

Options for material disposal include reconstructing old spoil islands that may have eroded away, or have been filled to capacity; building new bird islands that also serves as habitat; building out spits that can serve as buffers for land behind them; creating a new confined disposal site where material is placed in a hole on a diked island; or replenishing eroded sound and/or ocean shorelines.

Willson said that final recommendations will be presented to the Waterways Commission next month, and then presented to the Dare County Board of Commissioners. Once the county gives its approval, Willson said that CPE will proceed with obtaining permits for short-term projects. The first priority will be to nail down a site to dispose dredge material and obtain permits for the upcoming federal Rollinson Channel maintenance project that is scheduled to start in October 2022.

Much input and data for the study was collected from stakeholders, which include the National Park Service, the Army Corps of Engineers, state Department of Transportation, The Nature Conservancy, North Carolina Coastal Federation, and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

A separate county working group has been studying priorities for a long-term waterways plan. Preliminary recommendations included securing permits for the state dredge that is under construction to dredge numerous channels in the county, request federal authorization for Hatteras Inlet and the Hatteras Inlet bar, and conduct an economic impact study of Hatteras Inlet.

Other action that was recommended was an agreement to cost share maintenance of the Rodanthe emergency ferry channel.

“These are just talking points right now,” Johnson said in an interview. “Dare County is working with NCDOT to address the waterway channels that are utilized by the ferry division.”

The commission voted to table the report until next month’s meeting.

Agreement OKs Year-Round Ports Dredging

Trista Talton — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 05:00:28 +0000

The dredge McFarland, one of four oceangoing hopper dredges owned and operated by the Army Corps of Engineers, conducts dredging in Morehead City in 2018. Photo: Corps

Harbors at North Carolina’s ports may now be maintained year-round under a new agreement between the state and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The North Carolina Division of Coastal Management recently approved the Corps’ request to eliminate the seasonal dredging window at the ports in Morehead City and Wilmington.

The Corps may clear the outer portions of the channels using a hopper dredge and bed leveling, where plow-like equipment is used to level out ridges and trenches created during dredging, any time of the year through Dec. 31, 2023.

In an addendum to its original proposal to eliminate the seasonal dredging window, the federal agency will monitor and report dredging and bed leveling impacts on various species and their environment within the channels.

DCM spokesperson Christy Simmons said in an email that the Corps’ modeling, monitoring and reporting data will be done in coordination with state and federal partners.

“The three-year period will provide additional time to expand on initial data collection efforts that were conducted during the summer 2020 Beaufort Inlet dredge event, to include modeling and monitoring of Cape Fear Inlet in addition to Beaufort Inlet,” Simmons said. “The findings will be important in further evaluating future seasonal moratoria for hopper dredging and bed leveling in these areas.”

The Corps added the monitoring and reporting data following concerns raised by various agencies, including the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, environmental groups and local governments.

In their comments to DCM on the original proposal to permanently eliminate the dredging window, fisheries officials said completely removing that window is inconsistent with North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission policies and the North Carolina Coastal Habitat Protection Plan pertaining to estuarine waters.

State wildlife resources officials as well as the National Marine Fisheries Service also expressed concerns about the Corps’ environmental assessment, or EA, released last August.

WRC indicated resource impacts were not adequately addressed in that EA and National Marine Fisheries Service officials said the Corps’ assessment did not “review the historically successful application of environmental windows.”

The Corps began requesting the state drop its environmental dredge window about three years ago, a move that agency officials say will give them more flexibility to maintain the deep-draft channels and save millions of dollars.

The confines of North Carolina’s hopper dredging window, which is Dec. 1-April 15, compound the Corps’ Wilmington District when it comes time to bid for a dredging contract.

The Corps’ shallow-draft dredge Murden, based out of Wilmington clears shoaling from Barnegat Inlet, New Jersey, in April 2014. Photo: Army Corps of Engineers

Hopper dredges are in short supply. There are 13 available for the East Coast from Maine to Florida and across the Gulf Coast to Texas.

In 2017, Wilmington District came under the Corps’ Regional Harbor Dredge Contract, or RHDC, which includes the agency’s districts in Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia.

By obtaining regional contracts, the Corps is able to lower costs for its harbor maintenance projects.

Wilmington District is the only one within the RHDC that has an environmental window for hopper dredging.

That, however, has not resulted in the districts having to pass a dredging cycle because they could not secure a hopper dredge.

Prior to the regional contract, projects in the Morehead City Harbor had to wait another dredging cycle because of hopper dredge availability.

A hopper dredge vacuums material from the channel floor and holds that material on the vessel. They are the preferred dredge to maintain portions of the harbors leading to the state’s ports because they are more efficient, safer and economical, compared to other types of dredges, according to the Corps’ EA.

Emily Winget, a Wilmington District public affairs specialist, stated in an email responding to questions that a dredging schedule is not yet available at the ports.

“A schedule will be developed following receipt of appropriations,” she said. “The Deep Draft EA was written to address the entrance channels maintenance dredging on Wilmington Harbor project as currently constructed, requesting permission to be more flexible as to when the entrance channels can be dredged. With approval, future maintenance dredging contracts, will be awarded based on funding availability; contractor availability; and current shoaling. It is anticipated that these reaches will not be dredged more often, but possibly at different times of the year.”

The material removed from the channels is placed within preapproved offshore disposal sites, not on adjoining beaches.

Corps officials have said the agency’s disposal practices of dredge material and placement of that material will not change with the elimination of the environmental window, a concern raised by both environmental groups and local governments.

“As long as the Corps adheres to the original dredge dimensions, methods and disposal areas the state has originally authorized under previous consistency reviews, no additional authorization is needed,” Simmons said in an email. “The Corps has historically notified DCM before any dredging activities.”

Several fish species are present in the project areas between the months of April and June. Those include the following: Atlantic sturgeon, American Atlantic sturgeon, American shad, river herring, shad, white shrimp, blue crab, gag grouper and summer flounder.

SARBO dates back to the late 1980s to early 1990s.

In March 2020, NOAA updated SARBO to include consideration of all listed species under the Endangered Species Act while easing some restrictions on dredging time frames.

The trade-off is that the Corps will ratchet up monitoring and coordination efforts with NOAA.

In its addendum to DCM, the Corps’ monitoring and reporting in the Beaufort and Cape Fear inlets will include the following:

Hydrodynamic modeling to better understand seasonal transport, plume dynamics, tidal dynamics and flushing rates.
Monitoring and reporting any capture of non-listed species on hopper dredges and capture relocation trawlers to state fisheries. Those include state-managed species blue crab, red drum, spotted sea trout, silver perch, weakfish, flounder, Atlantic croaker, Atlantic menhaden, spot, alewife, American shad, blueback herring, striped bass, hickory shad, sea mullet, sheepshead, black drum, Florida pompano, bluefish, coastal sharks, hard clam and eastern oyster; and federally-managed species shrimp, grouper, snapper, black sea bass, sharks, triggerfish, dolphin and porgy.
Monitoring sediment plumes and their impact on water quality and marine ecology and sampling water quality before, during and after dredging and bed leveling operations, during extreme weather and king tides.
Collecting tissue samples from injured or dead sea turtles to assess whether they are disproportionately impacted by hopper dredging outside of the environmental window.
Injured or dead turtles will be transferred from the dredge operation to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission for evaluation and analysis.

Panel Eyes Future of Hatteras Inlet Navigation

Catherine Kozak — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 15:56:49 +0000

The federal authorization status of various areas in Hatteras Inlet, as compiled by Waterways Commission Chair Steve “Creature” Coulter.

Reprinted from Island Free Press

Ever since Hurricane Sandy and other 2012 storms reconfigured channels in Hatteras Inlet into lumpy and pinched navigational challenges, members of the Dare County Waterways Commission have spent many a meeting figuratively screaming into the abyss. Securing funds and permits for dredging projects to clear the worsening shoaling had become the bureaucratic version of bumping bottom – over and over again.

But at Monday’s commission meeting, held virtually because of the spike in COVID-19 cases, the focus was more on discussing accomplishments and problem-solving plans.

Buoys are again marking channels, agreements are close to being signed, permits are being issued, designs for long-term management plans are being engineered, the public/private dredge is under construction, and government funds are in the pipeline for numerous projects.

Even more remarkable, the Corps of Engineers is proposing to add language that will expand the area included in the existing federal authorization for Rollinson Channel, a long-sought revision that, until recently, was believed to be possible only through an act of Congress.

“The Waterways Commission wants the most sustainable way possible,” Commission Chairman Steve “Creature” Coulter, said in an interview, referring to channel maintenance. “That whole loop will become federal if the realignment comes through.”

Roger Bullock, chief of navigation for the Wilmington district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, told commissioners that the effort seeking to realign the Rollinson Channel to allow dredging in the inlet gorge is “well under way” and could be finalized in about a year.

Also, the one-year renewal of the current Memorandum of Agreement, or MOA, between the Corps and Dare County to dredge the South Ferry Channel is expected to be signed soon, he said, and an agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to allow the Corps to dredge a persistent problem area in Sloop Channel is in the process of being done.

“I went to Ocracoke this past week,” commission vice-chair Ernie Foster interjected, “and that northwest corner of Sloop Channel – we didn’t stop. We just almost stopped. It’s shallow.”

Shoaling at that corner has created problems as well for the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferries that use the channel. The so-called “long route” has been used by the ferries since 2013, when it was determined that the prior route – which took half the time – was too shoaled.

Bullock said that the Corps is doing an environmental assessment for the realignment that would cover Barney Slough and Sloop Channel. The goal is to dig a 100-foot wide channel around the entire loop, he said.

Also, he suggested that it would save a lot of time — and money — for the dredge working at South Ferry Channel if provisions were made so the dredge could moor at the South Dock when it’s not working in the channel. Since the South Ferry Channel is close to the Ocracoke dock, it would make sense for the dredge to tie up there, he said, rather than it having to cross the inlet to a berth in Hatteras.

Updates were also given about other work in progress.

John Abel, NCDOT bridge program manager, said the department is working to nail down agreements and funding that would provide maintenance for numerous nonfederal and federal channels, including connecting channels, at the Basnight Bridge; the ferry terminals; Oregon, Hatteras and Ocracoke inlets; Rodanthe and Stumpy Point harbors; Swan Quarter Bay; and Deep Bay.

“I know that was a lot of information,” Abel said, “but I just wanted to kind of give y’all an idea of the two MOAs that we are trying to work towards with the Corps.”

Brent Johnson, project manager for Dare County Grants and Waterways and the commission’s administrator, also provided a rough synopsis of the what the ad-hoc working group, which has met several times recently, has proposed to include in the county’s long-term county waterways management plan.

Some items so far that are proposed in the plan include:

Obtain permits in preparation for projects expected to be done by the new dredge in various channels.
Do an economic study of Hatteras Island that looks at beach nourishment and dredging needs, as well as tourism and commercial and recreational fishing
Seek state legislation that will provide funds to dredge range 14 going north in Wanchese channel, which will allow the project to be coordinated with adjacent dredging work
Request that NCDOT share the cost of proactive dredging of the emergency ferry channel in Rodanthe harbor.

Johnson said he hopes to be able to brief the Dare County Board of Commissioners on the proposed plan by the end of January. After that, he added, he’ll bring back a final document to the Waterways Commission for its approval.

Also, there are ongoing studies in Dare County and the state related to dredge material management. Plus, the National Park Service will soon implement a sediment management plan in Cape Hatteras National Seashore that will cover beach nourishment and dredging projects.

In addition to Coulter and Foster, commissioners Dan Oden, Michael Flynn, Danny Couch and Natalie Kavanagh were at the virtual meeting.

Coulter made note of the more ordinary, albeit positive news.

“We’re getting dredge work done in South Ferry right now,” he said, adding it was expected to completed by Dec. 20. “Hopefully, we’ll be set for the winter.”

Overall, the commission’s last meeting of 2020 was an unexpectedly optimistic close to a grim year.

To top it all off, one significant announcement was a mix of good and bad. Bullock — one of the Corps’ most knowledgeable experts on the whims and woes of local waterways —said he is about to retire. Although it’s a loss for the Outer Banks, he seems to see it as his gain.

“It was great to get to know all you good folks, and I will miss the job, ”Bullock told commissioners. “But you know, there comes a time when you’ve got to pull anchor and go somewhere else. And I’m setting up a creek right now. So I do have paddles.

Manteo Dredge Project Underway … Almost

Catherine Kozak — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 05:00:39 +0000

The replica ship Elizabeth II of Manteo is shown under sail, a sight not seen in years because of shoaling at the intersection of Shallowbag Bay and the Roanoke Sound. Photo: Friends of Elizabeth II

MANTEO — After being stuck at home for nearly four years, the state-owned 16th century representative sailing ship Elizabeth II should soon be able to venture out from its dock alongside Roanoke Island Festival Park.

Long-delayed dredging was set to begin Monday at the intersection of Roanoke Sound and Shallowbag Bay, but technical and weather challenges put off the work for at least another day. The project is needed to unclog a channel that will allow the three-masted, six-sailed vessel to motor off from its Manteo homeport for overdue maintenance work.

“I am just waiting for the dredge to show up, and I’ll know that it’s true,” Dwight Gregory, chair of the nonprofit Friends of Elizabeth II, recently told Coastal Review Online, alluding to the complications involved in funding and planning the project.

The Dare County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 16 approved a contract to dredge about 2.2 miles of channel, as well as an additional 290 feet to reach the ship’s berth. Contractor Salmons Dredging Inc. of Charleston, South Carolina, is slated to complete the $1,635,843.55 contract by Feb. 28, 2021. Funds for the project were provided by the North Carolina General Assembly with an appropriation of $1.9 million in its adjusted 2018 budget, with another provision stating that matching funds were not required.

When it was later discovered that the stretch of channel to the ship also needed dredging, additional funds had to be found because that section was not covered in the state law. Dare County, which had earlier agreed to administer the project, applied to the state Shallow Draft Navigation Fund for grant of $127,000. The town of Manteo has agreed to pay the $43,000 local cost-share.

The square-rigged ship — its teal blue, white and tan markings a bold contrast with its wooden hull — has been an eye-catching, year-round resident at its Doughs Creek berth, providing a picturesque view across the creek for visitors strolling along the boardwalk at the Manteo waterfront.

Built for $650,000 with private donations to represent the Elizabeth, one of the ships that sailed from England to Roanoke Island as part of the 1584-1587 Roanoke Voyages, the vessel was dedicated in Manteo in 1984 as part of the 400^th anniversary celebration of the English arrival to the New World. The ship was donated 14 years later to Roanoke Island Festival Park, a state museum that interprets the history of the Roanoke colonists and Native Americans.

Gregory, who volunteers as first mate on the vessel and helps with its upkeep, said the ship was last hauled out for its annual maintenance in January 2017. But shoaling, especially at the entrance to the harbor, had since made the channel impassable for the 69-foot vessel, which has an 8-foot draft. Currently, water depth in different sections range from 1- to 5-feet and 6- to 7-feet.

Adam Priest, project engineer with Wilmington-based Coastal Protection Engineering of North Carolina, the firm hired by Dare County to handle permit applications and planning, said Monday that the project was temporarily halted by technical issues just as work was set to begin. A weather system also moved into the area Monday morning with strong gusts and thunderstorms.

Priest said that when work commences, the channel will be dredged 9 feet deep and 50 feet wide. The estimated 30,639 cubic yards of material to be removed will be barged to a site on the west side of Shallowbag Bay and off-loaded there, he said. It then will be trucked to a disposal area at the Dare County Landfill in Manns Harbor, where it will be used to cover the landfill.

The overall dredge project area is shown in this aerial image from the Dare County Board of Commissioners’ agenda packet for Nov. 16.

Meanwhile, the Elizabeth II will spend its fourth consecutive winter sitting in water, not moving — a risk for any boat. Although vessels with wooden hulls are more vulnerable to damage from shipworms and rot the longer they’re immobile and immersed, Gregory said that the ship, which regularly has routine maintenance on its interior and deck and other above-water areas, does not exhibit any significant leaks and so far seems to be holding up.

“For a ship celebrating its 37^th anniversary,” he said, “it’s doing really well.”

While she remains hopeful that the Elizabeth II has not suffered much damage, Kim Sawyer, executive director of Roanoke Island Festival Park, said that no time will be wasted getting the ship in dry dock for a thorough inspection at the state shipyard in Manns Harbor.

“Once we get the ship out, we want to get a condition survey done,” she said. “We don’t know what she’s looking like under the waterline — of course, you never know for sure until she’s out of the water.”

Conducted by a certified marine surveyor, the ship is usually inspected every five years. During the last survey in February 2016, surveyor Paul C. Haley with Capt. G.W. Full and Associates Marine Surveyors in Orleans, Massachusetts, noted 80 items on the ship that warranted varying degrees of attention, from simply keeping an eye on it, to replacement and/or repair.

In his report, some of which was redacted for proprietary reasons, Haley said that “considerable work” had been done since the prior inspection in February 2011, including replacement above the waterline of “a good portion” of planking.

Although he said that the items were prioritized, that information was not evident.

“The next area that will need attention is the bottom,” he wrote, adding that planking was showing some deterioration. Haley recommended that at the next dry dock, the bottom should be stripped of paint to fully assess the condition of the wood.

The overall survey involved a visual and hammer-test inspection of the hull’s underbody and topsides, including transom, deck and cabin top, also rudder, propeller, shafts and related equipment. It also examined the interior, including accessible spaces, and masts. Haley noted that rigging had been inspected earlier at the park, and there were no sea trials or mechanical inspections.

Overall, he said, the ship “would be considered a good marine risk” after prioritized work was completed.

“The Elizabeth II has had very good maintenance over the years,” the report concluded. “It is apparent that her condition is directly related to the good maintenance staff that looks after the vessel and their maintenance of her.”

Crewed by interpreters in 16^th century garb, Elizabeth II has been a popular static attraction at Roanoke Island Festival Park, which, barring pandemic-related restrictions, is open March 1- Dec. 31.

Sawyer, who has been at the park’s helm for more than a decade, said the goal is to return the ship to its duty as an ambassador, sailing to different coastal ports to promote North Carolina’s rich maritime history.

In earlier days of big dreams and fatter state budgets, the Elizabeth II had a mission to sail to a different port every year. State officials had planned for the 50-ton ship to leave its Manteo homeport every spring and fall, pulling into harbors along the coast in spectacular full sail.

In a harbinger of its future woes, the Elizabeth II got stuck in the harbor on its first attempt to set forth on adventure.

According to a May 11, 1985, article in the New York Times, the federal government had declined to pay to dredge the channel, which had as little as 3 feet of water in some sections. Facing the embarrassment of their star being unable to leave its slip, the state finally ponied up $685,000 to pay the Corps of Engineers to do the work.

Conditions in the channel have since returned to where they were in the early 1980s, leaving the Elizabeth II once again stuck at its homeport.

Addressing the question of the need to avoid repeating the problem, Dare County has included future maintenance of the Manteo channel in its proposed long-term waterways management plan, said Brent Johnson, Dare County waterways project manager.

And as soon as possible, Sawyer promised, the Elizabeth II will again resume its popular ambassador trips along the coast.

“We definitely want to get her out to another port,” she said. “Edenton is the last trip we had planned (but canceled) in October 2017. It would definitely be Edenton when we are ready to go.”

Dredging Near Ocracoke Village Underway

Connie Leinbach — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 18:27:53 +0000

The dredge Merritt is working in the Big Foot Slough area of the Pamlico Sound just outside of Ocracoke. Photo: Peter Vankevich

Reprinted from Ocracoke Observer

Dredging in Big Foot Slough in the Pamlico Sound is expected to clear the way for the larger sound-class ferries in the next several days.

Kris Noble, Hyde County manager, said in an interview that the side caster dredge Merritt began dredging at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Cost of the project is thanks to a partnership between the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division and Carteret County, which supplied the $62,916.50 local match required, she said.

The total project will cost $251,666, Noble said, with the state contributing $188,749.50.

“Carteret County is being proactive and planning ahead so that we don’t get caught like this again,” she said about the aid from the neighboring county to the south.

At the meeting last week of the Ocracoke Waterways Commission, Brent Johnson, the project manager for grants and waterways with Dare County, said the last time dredging was done in Big Foot Slough several years ago it had not been not done to project depth.

For this job, the money needed is almost double from the last time allowing dredging to go to 10 feet.

In July, the latest survey at that time by the Army Corps of Engineers showed water depths in Bigfoot Slough as low as 8 feet.

That meant the ferry system’s two largest sound-class vessels, the M/V Swan Quarter and the M/V Sea Level, could not traverse the area safely.

Ferry service since then has been reduced to one boat a day leaving each port of departure during some of the busiest summer travel times on the coast.

“The Ferry Division is monitoring it every day,” Noble said about the dredging. “If the track is sufficient depth-wise, they’ll resume the three-boat schedule.”

Noble said Hyde County will also support Carteret County’s efforts in seeking reimbursement of the local match from the state legislature.

The Ferry Division is also looking into getting a Federal Lands Access Project grant, which is a pot of money designated for communities adjacent to national parks.

Catherine Peele of the Ferry Division said during the waterways meeting that these grants can be sought to improve transport to federal lands such as Ocracoke.

This grant would seek money for surveying the inlets, permitting for all the inlets and possible relocation of the ferry waterway west of Big Foot Slough, which is a man-made channel, Noble said, to a natural channel called Nine Foot, which is a bit westward.

If Nine Foot could be the authorized channel, it could be maintained better since it is natural, she said, and would shave a few minutes off the long-route trips.

Shaving time off the Hatteras-Ocracoke route also is something the commission would like to see happen, said Justin LeBlanc, chair of the commission.

If the transit time on this most popular route in the entire ferry system could be 50 minutes or less, the Ferry Division could run the peak number of ferries during the high tourism season, LeBlanc said during the Monday Facebook live meeting.

This would involve realignment of the Rollinson Channel among other complications not easily solved.

In other waterways commission action, LeBlanc said the Coast Guard is scheduled to reposition the aids to navigation in the Ocracoke Inlet in the next couple of weeks.

This story is provided courtesy of the Ocracoke Observer, a newspaper covering Ocracoke island. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Ocracoke Observer to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest along our coast.

Officials Seek Broader Approval for Dredging

Catherine Kozak — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 04:00:19 +0000

The sidecaster dredge Merritt. Photo: Donna Barrett/Island Free Press

Copublished with Island Free Press

OCRACOKE ISLAND — If navigational channels are akin to highways to this southernmost Outer Banks island, then dredges are its version of snow plows in the mountains. Both may be subject to whims of wind and weather, but with constant bureaucratic and funding hurdles, an operator can’t just pull a dredge out the garage and start work.

Reduction in ferry service on Pamlico Sound between Ocracoke and Cedar Island and Swan Quarter had to be implemented last month because of “critical shoaling issues” in the ferry channel just outside Silver Lake Harbor, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division. After Hurricane Isaias in early August, shallow water in the Bigfoot Slough channel forced further reduction to a one-boat-at-a-time schedule.

The last survey in mid-July showed water depths in Bigfoot Slough as low as 8 feet. The conditions make it too dangerous for the system’s two largest sound-class vessels, the M/V Swan Quarter and the M/V Sea Level.

Even though the remedy would be to do relatively minor dredging, that is easier said than done. The shoaled area is within a federal channel, but it is outside the regular maintenance area. Plus, the ferries transiting the channel are state-owned and operated.

“We’re trying to get permission to dredge outside the fixed channel with the (Army Corps’ side cast dredge) the Merritt in the deep water,” Brent Johnson, county grants and waterways project manager, told the Dare County Waterways Commission during its remote meeting Monday.

But there are plans in the works that could eventually make it easier to get work done.

In an Aug. 5 press release, NCDOT said it “has urgently requested the Corps to perform emergency dredging operations in the area, calling the channel ‘an essential supply chain for commerce, tourism and goods for Ocracoke Island.’”

As members of the commission know all too well, the current shoaling problem is just the most recent example of ongoing issues with sand — too much or not enough — that have affected the Ocracoke ferry routes, which connect Dare, Hyde and Carteret counties.

Other navigational challenges have worsened in Hatteras Inlet. One particularly persistent issue centered on a lump of sand in the South Ferry Channel, between Ocracoke South Dock and the Inlet Gorge, which is used as a shortcut by recreational and charter fishing vessels to get to and from the ocean.

A quirk in jurisdictional authority had made it impossible for the Corps to use its funds to maintain that part of the channel, which had earlier been called the “connecting channel.” Although a subsequent agreement between Dare County, the state and the Corps now allows county- and state-funded projects, other issues with weather and missed deadlines have frustrated regular maintenance.

An Aug. 5 survey of South Ferry Channel off the north end of Ocracoke Island, an area of the channel that has gone by various names and is not federally maintained or used by state ferries, shows poly balls placed by mariners to mark the channel and the red range poly ball with the high flyer. The channel is mostly used by recreational and charter fishermen. Boaters are asked to be careful and courteous when the dredge is working in the area.

A long-delayed project in South Ferry Channel is now underway, with the Corps’ Merritt clearing the shoaled spot. Johnson said that a request had been made to the state to extend the permit until Aug. 24 because dredging had to be stalled until the storm passed.

The work had been expected to have been done earlier in the summer by the state dredge Manteo, but the machine had several problems that required repair.

Lance Winslow, NCDOT’s assistant director for marine assets, told commissioners Monday that the Manteo was still in the shop, and it was unclear when the vessel would be available.

“Right now, we don’t have any money,” he said, referring to the agency’s current budget shortages.

An historic Hyde County fishing village with about 900 year-round residents, Ocracoke is a popular resort community accessible only by boat, ferry or small aircraft.

The free ferry between Hatteras and Ocracoke villages — the state’s busiest ferry route — transits Hatteras Inlet, which was relatively stable and problem-free until Hurricane Isabel ripped through the area in 2003. Since then, the spit at the tip of Hatteras Island that had buffered the inlet from the ocean has been eroding at an alarming rate, although the erosion started years before.

In 1993, the inlet between Hatteras and Ocracoke islands was a quarter-mile wide. Today, it is 2.3-miles wide, Johnson said. According to the Corps, between 2002 and 2016, the Hatteras spit has eroded about 7,200 feet.

As the land eroded, more sand made its way into the inlet. In recent years, the ferry route had to be changed to a longer U-shaped route to avoid persistent shallow shoals, doubling the time each way to an hourlong trip between the islands. The short channel is still being monitored, but conditions have yet to improve enough.

Yet, on the north end of Ocracoke Island, there has been severe erosion by the South Ferry Docks where the Hatteras ferries come and go. A sheet-pile bulkhead was recently installed to buffer the shoreline by the ferry basin. In contrast, the sand has piled up in Bigfoot Slough on the other side of the island where the ferries come and go to Swan Quarter and Cedar Island.

As the commission continues to grapple with whatever Mother Nature doles out, there have been encouraging steps to long-term solutions. Contractor Coastal Protection Engineering is working to develop a two-part dredge material management plan for waterways in the north and south ends of the county that would provide reliable disposal sites for dredged sand. Dredging projects will not be permitted unless there is an approved disposal area for the material. But Dare County has been running out of acceptable areas, especially around Hatteras Island sites.

Also, the Corps of Engineers has agreed to explore realignment of the authorized federal channel in Hatteras Inlet, a long-sought goal of the Waterways Commission.

Johnson said that it would involve changing the authorization language that restricts how “best water” or “best route” are defined in the federal channels. It would a way to sidestep the cumbersome and lengthy process of securing congressional legislation that is required to change authorization.

The wording would determine the flexibility of the alignment in the future, he said.

If the change were made, which could take about 18 months to complete, it would affect the Barney Slough, South Ferry Channel and Sloop Channel.

What it won’t do is reopen the former less time-consuming Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry route.

“I’d rather have the short route,” said commission chairman Steve “Creature” Coulter after the meeting. “But I want a route that’s maintainable.”

Waterways Commission Addresses Shoaling

Catherine Kozak — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 17:10:47 +0000

The sidecaster dredge Merritt. Photo: Donna Barrett

Reprinted from the Island Free Press

It’s deja vu all over again for Hatteras Inlet’s South Ferry Channel, much to the chagrin of the Dare County Waterways Commission.

With a recent survey of the channel posted online during Monday’s remote meeting, Commission Chairman Steve “Creature” Coulter pointed to the red blotch – indicating shallow water – on the west end of the channel.

“As everybody can see, we still have a problem here,” he said. “We’re still setting in exactly the same spot we were setting in (back) in October.”

A pileup of mechanical mishaps with dredges and tugs last month once again has left in place the irksome lump of sand in the channel that was supposed to have been dredged last fall.

Since the initial glitch in October with a missing agreement, numerous difficulties with timing and weather have conspired to delay the project.

Although the inlet is currently navigable, except at low tide, Coulter said, the shoaling in South Ferry Channel has discouraged some out-of-town boaters and hindered access for the Coast Guard’s 47-foot vessel.

“In the last month, Hatteras village and Dare County, have lost a lot of money,” he said, referring to lost business from fishing tournaments.

In a later interview, Coulter said that the dredge Manteo, owned by the state Department of Transportation, had gotten right up to the bad spot when work stopped. First, the priming pump on the 4-year-old dredge had gone bad, and the new pump turned out to need a flange that has to be fabricated. Next, the sanitation system pump stopped working. Then the dredge pipe broke.

Meanwhile, the Army Corps’ dredge Merritt needed a new generator, and is currently being repaired in Virginia Beach.

“It was a comedy of errors,” Coulter said.

Speaking during the Google Meet, Joen Petersen, the Corps’ chief of floating plant, said that he thinks he’ll be able to get the Merritt to help out next week, although it won’t be easy.

“We’ve been looking at this survey pretty hard,” he told commissioners, referring to the shoaled area in South Ferry Channel. “It’s a challenge.”

The channel is authorized at 12 feet deep, 200 feet wide, although it is usually dredged closer to 10 feet. The shallow spot has only about five feet of water.

Considering the tides, Petersen said he expects he’ll be able to start on July 23 and work for 24 days.

“We’re not going to be able to get 10 hours of dredging a day,” he said. “If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to get eight hours a day.”

Whatever work Petersen can do, Coulter said later, he has trust in his expertise.

“We put a lot of hope in the DOT dredge being able to do it, but they have not,” he said. “Now we’re putting a lot of faith in the Army Corps. “

Brent Johnson, Dare County Project Manager and Waterways Commission administrator, said in later interview that up to four surveys will be done in the channel – one before the project starts, one or two during, and one after.

In an update on another issue, Johnson said that a recent in-and-out trip with a ferry along the Stumpy Point emergency ferry channel was all clear, and a similar run along the Rodanthe end is expected to be done this Saturday. The channel is a vital backup route in case access on N.C. 12 on Hatteras Island is blocked during a hurricane or another emergency.

Johnson also warned the commission that of the $35 million that was in the state’s Shallow Draft Navigational Fund, about $19 million has been taken out to pay for storm damage and mitigation projects elsewhere in the state.

The fund, established to help communities pay for waterways maintenance projects, is important in providing funds for Dare County’s dredging projects.

“It’s a big thing to keep an eye on,” he told members.

The next Waterways Commission meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 10 at the Fessenden Center in Buxton. Based on the situation with COVID-19 risks, it may again be held online at Google Meet.

Project On to Finally Allow Elizabeth II to Sail

Catherine Kozak — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 04:00:48 +0000

Visitors explore the Elizabeth II at its dock. Photo: Roanoke Island Festival Park

Copublished with Outer Banks Voice

MANTEO — The flashy Elizabethan-style sailing vessel Elizabeth II will be sitting pretty at its dock in Manteo for at least another season without maintenance. But a long-delayed dredging project that will free up the state-owned wooden ship finally looks likely to start in October.

“We’ve got the money,” Dare County Manager Bobby Outten said last week. “Permits are being applied for as we speak.”

The entrance to Manteo Harbor at the intersection of Shallowbag Bay and Roanoke Sound has been dangerously shoaled since at least 2016, but the state did not provide the $1.9 million for dredging until 2018. Since then, the work has been stalled by the search for an appropriate disposal site for the dredged material.

Bobby Outten

The three-masted, six-sailed vessel Elizabeth II, a 16th-century representative sailing ship moored at Roanoke Island Festival Park, was last hauled out of the water for its annual maintenance in January 2017, according to Michele Walker, public information officer for the state Department of Cultural Resources.

But it’s not good for a ship with a wooden hull not to move for so long.

“No it’s not — absolutely not,” said Thomas Lie-Nielsen, the son of the O. Lie-Nielsen, the late boatbuilder who built the Elizabeth II in the early 1980s, working off of original designs of English vessels that traveled to Roanoke Island during the 1584-1587 Roanoke Voyages.

Lie-Nielsen, who lives in Maine and is the owner of Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, which makes premier woodworking tools, also said that the muddy bottom and warm, salty waters in North Carolina — as well as destructive shipworms — are not friendly conditions for wooden hulls.

Thomas Lie-Nielsen

“Really,” he said, “the best thing is to haul her out and clean it.”

Now that the major hurdles in the project have been cleared, the chance that the maintenance will happen this coming winter have greatly improved.

Several areas that would benefit from additional sand had been considered as a disposal sites for the dredged material, including sections of eroding shoreline along the north end of Roanoke Island. But questions about the suitability and transporting of the material were not resolved before timing of the project had been pushed beyond the authorized October-March dredging window.

Outten said that the material will be placed at the Dare County Regional Airport on Roanoke Island, which is owned mostly by the Dare County Airport Authority, an independent entity, and in part by Dare County. The county, he explained, has agreed to run the dredging project for the town and state, including hiring of consultant APTIM Coastal Planning & Engineering of North Carolina Inc. and signing of documents.

The estimated 40,000 cubic yards of material would be placed on a barge and then onto a dump truck, which would transport it to the airport site, he said. But there are still unknowns once the contractor is selected and determines the amount that needs to be removed to make a certain width and depth in the channel.

“We think the budget is going to be tight,” Outten said, adding that the project may need to engineer adjustments in the scope. “If you value engineer the project … and it still came over budget, you’d have to look for another funding source to meet that budget.”

Meanwhile, there are things being done to keep the Elizabeth II ship-shape as possible while the vessel is immobile at port.

“Everything maintenance-wise above the waterline is being done,” said Dwight Gregory, chair of The Friends of Elizabeth II, a nonprofit group.

In addition to scraping, caulking, sanding, painting and cleaning, caretakers keep a close eye on the ship’s three bilge pumps’ meters for signs of leaking and run the engine every week, said Gregory, who also volunteers as first mate on the vessel when it is sailing and does maintenance work.

“My observation is they’re taking good care of the ship,” he said.

Walker said that the ship is protected by wormshoe, a sacrificial wood on the keel that is easily replaced. Monitoring of the bilge pumps has detected no leaks, she said.

“If a problem were to arise, we would send divers under the ship to assess and address any problems,” she said, adding they will also check pro-actively. “We plan to have some divers go underneath and look at the condition of the shop within the next few weeks.”

Both Outten and Walker said that there is no information or discussion about future maintenance of the channel.

Quentin Snediker, director of Mystic Seaport Museum’s Preservation Shipyard and senior curator for watercraft, said that years sitting in water is not ideal, but that most wooden boats’ bottoms are painted with anti-fouling paint that provides protection from shipworms.

“Just prudent seamanship and vessel husbandry would say that five years is the outside of what generally is protected,” he said. “If she was well-maintained before that, it would probably not ruin the boat.”

Shipworms, which bore into wooden hulls and consume them, Snediker said, are not as much of an issue in colder waters.

“The warmer the water, the more active the worms,” he said, citing a famous example of devastation wrought by super-charged shipworms in the Caribbean. “Columbus had a ship that literally sunk under him.”

Festival Park, Walker said, calls on some of the original shipwrights who had worked on the ship in the 1980s, when private donors funded construction of the $670,000 ship to mark the 400th anniversary of the Roanoke Voyages.

According to the website for Hadden Boat Co., owner Alex Hadden was a member of Lie-Nielsen’s original crew, in addition to Sam Jones, Fred Asplen and Joe Balderson. Over the years, the site said, there have been some significant repairs done by Lie-Nielsen, who died in 2004 at 96, and the crew including in winter 1999-2000, winter 2004-2005, summer 2009, winter 2011-2012 and winter 2012-2013, when all the juniper weather decks were replaced. Most of the larger pieces of white oak used in the original ship have been replaced by tropical hardwoods, mostly purple heart, according to the website.

At 91, O. Lie-Nielsen returned to Manteo in 1999-2000 to lead the $400,000 restoration of the ship.

In a March 2000 interview in The Virginian-Pilot, Lie-Nielsen called the 400 days he spent building Elizabeth II a “highlight” of his boatbuilding career.

“I had a ball.,” he said. “It was different, and I had a good crew.”

Lie-Nielsen said his father, who started his boatbuilding career at 55, loved all the wooden boats he worked on. But his father especially had a soft spot for the Elizabeth II, which he described as a “really great experience” for the senior Lie-Nielsen.

“My father retired and was never really happy unless he was working on boats,” Thomas Lie-Nielsen said. “When that job came along, it was great. It just lit him up. It was a whole new lease on life for him.”

Waterways Commission Looks to Dredge Inlet

Catherine Kozak — Fri, 13 Mar 2020 14:49:26 +0000

A dredging project at the South Ferry Channel could start next month. Photo: Island Free Press

Reprinted from Island Free Press

As interest in Spring fishing is picking up, members of the Dare County Waterways Commission Monday were anxious about getting Hatteras Inlet in shape before the busy season.

Plans are now being proposed for the state, rather than the Army Corps of Engineers, to dredge a shoaled area on the west end of the South Ferry Channel, but the earliest that the work could start is in four weeks.

“I hoped we were going to be talking about late March,” commission member Dan Oden said at the meeting at the Dare County Administrative Building in Manteo, adding he had just learned that the North Carolina Department of Transportation, or NCDOT, wants to use its dredge to clear the clog. “Trust me, I’m willing to take any help we can get. But we can’t get out of Hatteras Inlet. Commercial guys are calling us every day.”

Brent Johnson, project manager for Dare County Grants and Waterways, explained that a shift in plans for the dredge project evolved in part to meet NCDOT’s need for sand for road repairs on Ocracoke Island.

In discussions with the state and the Corps, it was agreed that Dare County could seek a modification in its permit to allow the state’s pipeline dredge rather than the Corps’ sidecaster to do the work. Not only would NCDOT have the benefit of the material, he said, it would save about $400,000, not to mention that using the pipeline is more environmentally suitable for the water column.

Plus, the more dredging that can be done in April, Johnson said, the less need – ideally – there would be to have to come back in June and July to do more work.

The plan, he said, is to seek to modify the multi-year permit for a one-time event to use the pipeline dredge.

“Hopefully, it will go through faster and better,” he said.

But Steve “Creature” Coulter, the commission’s chair, said that with boats already bumping bottom, the timing of the project was cutting uncomfortably close to the wire.

“I hate waiting till the very end, right when we’re getting some fishing done,” he said. And communicating about the shoaling problem to out-of-town boaters adds another level of complication.

“We’re trying to keep our economy going,” Coulter said. “It’s not the inlet; it’s the channel to the inlet. We have a hard time explaining that.”

Most importantly, he said, the navigation issue needs to be resolved long before the season’s first big fishing tournament in mid-May, the Hatteras Village Offshore Open.

Speaking remotely via phone conference, Ken Willson, engineering contractor with Wilmington-based APTIM Coastal Planning & Engineering of North Carolina Inc., said that, one way or the other, the Corps would probably come in after the NCDOT dredge and do a little more cleanup of the channel. The Corps would also be expected to be available to dredge the channel, he said, if for some reason the state cannot do the work.

Willson said in a later telephone interview that the Corps and the state Division of Coastal Management would have to sign off on the permit modification, which is still under review.

“The spirit of what we’re asking for is what everyone has approved in the past,” he said. “It’s a matter of checking the boxes. They still need the statutory time to review the project.”

Although the dredge window technically closes on March 31, Willson explained, the agencies were already in the process of considering permission to use the Corps dredge during the month of April.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard is continuing to work on replacing numerous buoys that have been missing in Ocracoke and Hatteras inlets, Chief Petty Officer Ryan Agre told commissioners. The buoy tender Smilax is still not able to access portion of channels in Hatteras Inlet, he said, but the Coast Guard is working on plan to get the markers replaced.

There was some good news from the Coast Guard. Last week, Agre and others spoke to their superiors about concerns with safety issues for the Coast Guard working in Hatteras and Ocracoke inlets. Specifically, they asked for help in improving navigation.

The risk that conditions in the inlet present to the Coast Guard has long been worrisome to the Waterways Commission, but it never seemed to matter outside the Outer Banks.

“It’s an encouraging sign that it’s going up the command chain,” Coulter said in a telephone interview. “They’re aware of the problem.”

In other updates, the DOT Ferry Division environmental supervisor Lance Winslow told the panel that the sheet pile bulkhead project being constructed at the ferry south dock on the north end of Ocracoke Island is expected to be completed in mid-April. The project is intended to protect the shoreline that has eroded severely in recent years.

In addition to Coulter and Oden, commission members in attendance included Danny Couch, Natalie Kavanaugh, Kermit Skinner and vice-chair Ernie Foster.

The next meeting of the Dare County Waterways Commission is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 13 at the Fessenden Center in Buxton.

Two Indicted in Manteo Dredging Case

Catherine Kozak — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 05:00:05 +0000

Dare County Justice Center. Photo: Dare County

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

Two former Manteo officials have each been charged with a felony bribery offense related to an informal $50,000 agreement that was part of a 2017-2018 dredging project in Doughs Creek.

Lee King Tugwell, 64, and Wayland Hannon Fry Jr., 61, both of Manteo, were indicted Jan. 27 by a grand jury in Dare County Superior Court. Both men turned themselves in to the Dare County Magistrate’s Office on Jan. 31.

Tugwell, who has served as a Manteo commissioner and mayor, was released on an unsecured bond of $50,000, said Angie Grube, public information director for the State Bureau of Investigation.

Fry, a town commissioner for 14 years before conceding to his opponent during an effort to break their deadlocked race in November’s municipal election, also was released on an unsecured bond of $50,000, Grube said.

According to the indictments, Fry was charged with one felony count of bribery of officials, and Tugwell was charged with one felony count of offering bribes.

The cases are being handled by the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys in Raleigh because of concerns by District Attorney for the First Prosecutorial District Andrew Womble’s office about potential conflicts of interest. The district attorney handling the case, Chuck Spahos, was unavailable for comment for this report.

In a brief telephone interview with the Voice, Fry said he had to restrain from making a statement about the situation. “I wish I could,” he said.

Manteo Mayor Bobby Owens, who was not serving as mayor during the dredging project, is related to Fry through marriage. His late wife Sarah was Fry’s aunt.

Fry’s attorney Andy Gay, with the Zebulon law firm Gay, Jackson & McNally, told the Voice the case is in the early stages, but from what he has seen of the government’s case, it appears “nobody did anything wrong.”

“It’s a very, very unusual application of the statute,” Gay said on Friday. “It’s a bit surprising. But there’s probably a lot of politics behind this.” He said he has not yet heard from the district attorney on scheduling a court date for his client’s first appearance in Dare County Superior Court.

Tugwell did not respond to a telephone message left on Friday seeking comment. According to Fry, Elizabeth City attorney Keith Teague is representing Tugwell. Teague could not be reached for comment.

Earth-moving equipment, trucks and a small boat are visible in this 2018 aerial image of the Klimkiewicz family property on Doughs Creek. Photo: Dare County GIS

Verbal agreement

The two men’s legal difficulties were spurred by a verbal agreement negotiated between Tugwell and a private property owner. The arrangement related to payment to the owner to store dredge material on his land that was removed during the town’s Doughs Creek Canal dredging project in 2017-2018.

At the time, Tugwell, owner of contracting company Tugwell Transport, was acting as the local agent for the Klimkiewicz family, which owned land along Doughs Creek. Eventually, an unwritten agreement was reached with the Klimkiewicz family that would allow the town to temporarily deposit dredge spoil on their land. At the conclusion of the project, the dredge material was trucked to the town public works property off Bowsertown Road and the private property was cleaned up.

According to a report issued in December by the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor, Tugwell — who at that point was not representing the town in any official capacity— submitted three separate invoices to the town: two for $12,500, and one for $25,000.

Despite the lack of a contract or any documentation, the report said, town Finance Officer Shannon Twiddy paid the invoices with town funds. Although Tugwell was not a town official when he made the dredge spoil deal, he had been appointed in Feb. 2018 to serve on the Manteo Planning and Zoning Board. He submitted his resignation on Nov. 20, 2019.

On Oct. 18, 2017, the Manteo Board of Commissioners approved a budget appropriation of $50,000 for a 120-day lease of the Klimkiewicz property. Fry, who was then a member of the board of commissioners, voted to approve the measure without revealing that he would benefit, according to the report.

“No Town employees or officials knew that the Commissioner would receive a payment related to the dredging project,” the report said.

After compensating the property owner $25,000 for the lease, the report said, Tugwell deposited $25,000 in his corporate account. He then wrote a check to Fry for $12,500 and later told investigators that it was a “gift.”

Tugwell told the auditor’s office investigators that the compensation was above board.

“Let me be clear,” he said, according to the report. “That money was all given to me, and I am allowed to spend my money in any way I see fit and for whatever reason I see fit.”

But according to the indictment, the payment that Fry accepted from Tugwell was made “with the understanding that he was to be influenced thereby and would perform an official act …” that led the town to appropriate $50,000 for the lease.

‘Corrupt intent’

The indictment called Tugwell’s transaction “a corrupt intent” to offer money to Fry as a “bribe,” with the understanding that Fry, in his capacity as commissioner, would vote to approve the $50,000 appropriation.

Meanwhile, a parallel controversy related to the dredging project is continuing to swirl. Some months after the dredged sand was deposited on the town property, more than 70 dump trucks were seen removing the sand from the town land. The Dough’s Creek dredging project, contracted for $648,901 to Carolina Marine Structures in Powells Point, began on Nov. 27, 2017.

To this day, the town has not determined — at least for the record— where the material went or whether it was sold or stolen. When it was taken, then Town Manager Kermit Skinner valued the material at about $15,000, and said that under the terms of the contract, it belonged to the town.

When contacted Friday afternoon, current Manteo Town Manager James Ayers said he was unaware of the Tugwell and Fry indictments and added that he has not been in communication with the district attorney’s office.

But Ayers said that the town is following the state auditor’s recommendation to investigate Finance Officer Twiddy’s actions in signing off on the invoices to determine whether there should be corrective and/or disciplinary action. The town is also considering conducting a five-year audit of the town finances, he said.

As to the disappearing sand, Ayers said the town has had discussions with the dredging contractor and is continuing to pursue the matter. “We’re considering all legal alternatives to resolving this issue,” he said.

NC 12, Channel Shoaling Concerns Escalate

Catherine Kozak — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 05:00:16 +0000

N.C. 12 on Ocracoke Island after September 2019’s Hurricane Dorian: Photo: NCDOT

MANTEO — Ocracoke Island’s north end may have to be restored to its wild state if current conditions continue. That is one of the options offered in a soon-to-be-released transportation plan.

Changing and intensifying coastal dynamics have propelled to the front and center two of the more persistent and complex transportation issues on the Outer Banks. Ocracoke’s highway has been critically wounded, while its northern end is eroding away. And Dare County has just about run out of places to dispose of the material removed from its increasingly shoaled waterways.

In updates provided during a recent meeting of the Dare County Waterways Commission, it was evident that the situations, both long-looming crises, have now become urgent concerns.

‘Five-finger’ groin at ferry dock

On Ocracoke Island, which suffered severe damage in September during Hurricane Dorian from a 7-foot storm surge, work is underway to protect the ferry basin on its northern end, John Abel, N.C. Department of Transportation bridge program manager, told the Waterways Commission. Installation of a sheet pile wall along the eroding shoreline is almost completed, he said. After sandbags are placed at the end of the wall, the contractor will leave until April, when he will return to install concrete caps and rebuild the dunes.

Also, an environmental assessment is being finalized for a proposed groin project near the same spot, Abel said. Constructed of rows of steel sheeting and steel piles, the “five-finger” groin is designed to slow sand travel, allowing the shoreline to build behind it. Once the EA is completed, it will be reviewed by several agencies and made available for public comment.

The intent of both interim projects, essentially short-term Band-Aids, is to stop the sand from washing away at South Dock, the ferry terminal at Ocracoke’s north end where thousands of vehicles on the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry, the state’s busiest ferry route, load and unload.

Study update pending

Meanwhile, NCDOT is in the process of updating its December 2016 study on long-term solutions for the hot spot on N.C. 12, which stretches from just south of the Hatteras ferry terminal and continues 4 miles. The area was identified in a 1991 NCDOT study as one of six hot spots on N.C. 12 between Oregon Inlet and Ocracoke village, meaning they are vulnerable to overwash, storm surge and beach erosion.

Since the road was built on Ocracoke in the mid-1950s, it has been subjected repeatedly and increasingly to storm damage. In recent years, the transportation department has had to do some degree of road repairs and dune restoration after nearly every large storm. Even after Dorian ripped up 1,000 feet of roadway in the hot spot area and flattened dunes, two subsequent storms inflicted further poundings. Torn asunder over and again, the road now appears perilously – and possibly irretrievably – weakened.

The updated feasibility study, which is expected to be released within weeks, Abel said, details numerous alternatives and combinations of alternatives that include road relocation or raising, bridges around or over the hot spot area and varied levels of beach nourishment. In addition to revisions in estimated costs, the main update in the proposal addresses the alarming increase in erosion on the island’s north end that is undermining the ferry basin and ferry entrance channel adjacent to the vehicle stacking lanes.

Abel said that a short-term solution could be building a bridge similar to the temporary “Lego” bridge that had initially spanned the new inlet at Pea Island. But the most dramatic solution would involve moving the entire ferry operation to a new ferry terminal that would be built south of the Ocracoke Pony Pens. Everything would then have to be brought back to its original condition – including removing the asphalt.

“The long-term goal is to release the ponies and let them roam on the north end,” Abel said about the terminal relocation alternative. “There also may be some off-road (access.)”

“The Park Service is in favor of a long-term, sustainable solution.”
Dave Hallac, Superintendent, Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Dave Hallac, superintendent of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, which owns most of the land on the island except in the village, said that the National Park Service is working with NCDOT and the local community to find the best solution, but he said he is open to doing what’s necessary to help Ocracoke.

“The Park Service is in favor of a long-term, sustainable solution,” Hallac said in a recent interview, although he said it’s too soon to know what that would be.

The bottom line is that erosion on the island’s north end has gotten much worse, and it is happening much faster than anyone anticipated.

“It was astronomical, really, compared with what we’ve seen in the past,” Hallac said. “Just five years ago, the north end of Ocracoke had 30 to 50 acres of sand flats. All of that is completely gone.

“And it’s not just at the ferry dock,” he added. The off-road vehicle access has also suffered. “Today, Ramp 59 is a ramp to nowhere.”

There will be a 30-day public comment period after the study is released.

Dredge spoil sites near capacity

While the same nasty storms strip numerous Outer Banks shorelines of their beaches and protective dunes, the inlets and waterway channels are filling with sand, creating shoals that can ground fishing vessels and recreational boats. Channels in and out of Oregon Inlet and Hatteras Inlet in recent years have required more frequent dredging, but spoil islands or onshore disposal sites are almost at capacity. And if there’s no place to put the material, dredging will not be allowed.

The state has recently embarked on a study to determine the number and location of dredge material disposal sites on the coast, but it’s not meant to determine the locations of new suitable sites to deposit dredged sand, said Ken Willson, program manager at APTIM, a Wilmington-based coastal engineering firm.

APTIM provided two proposals to Dare County in December that are plans for southern Dare County and central Dare County to survey coastal areas and locate suitable disposal sites for dredged material.

The Dare County Board of Commissioners subsequently approved a resolution to request a grant from the state’s shallow-draft shoreline management fund to cover 66% of the estimated total project cost of $345,191. The county would be responsible for the remaining costs.

Willson said that the grant must be in place before the county can enter a contract with his firm to start the work. He added that he expects a decision soon from the state.

In addition to conducting new surveys, APTIM will also collect existing data to determine the best way of dealing with the material, whether it’s deposited on existing or rebuilt marsh islands or onshore. The plans would also include recommendations and estimated time and costs to implement. The company would also secure the necessary permits for some of the projects, Willson said.

“Out-of-the-box” techniques, he said, will also be considered, such as spraying or pumping material onto marsh islands, or laying the material on the back side of the islands, which can provide wave-sheltering benefits.

Willson said that the goal is to have disposal sites available before the Army Corps of Engineers starts the Rollinson Channel dredging project, which is scheduled to be done in Hatteras Inlet in 2022.

Learn more

Southern Dare County Channel Maintenance and Dredge Material Management Permitting Plan

Central Dare County Channel Maintenance and Dredge Material Management Permitting Plan

Dare Waterways Commission Shifts Focus

Catherine Kozak — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 04:00:38 +0000

Reprinted from Island Free Press

BUXTON — With a dredging project at the South Ferry Channel expected to start soon, another of the Rollinson Channel recently completed, and a third planned in the coming months in the Sloop Channel, members of the Dare County Waterways Commission, for a change, heard more concerns last week about waterways other than Hatteras Inlet.

A dredging project at the South Ferry Channel is expected to start soon, while dredging of the Rollinson Channel was recently completed. Photo: Island Free Press

Challenges have yet to be resolved with proposed projects in Manteo, Colington Harbour, Avon and Oregon Inlet, commissioners learned during updates at their regular meeting held this month in Manteo.

Discussion about planned maintenance work in the South Ferry Channel between the inlet gorge and Ocracoke prompted none of the worry heard previously, with positive results anticipated from the project.

“If everything goes well, we should end up with a wider and deeper channel than we started with,” engineering contractor Ken Willson, with Wilmington-based APTIM, told commissioners in a phone conference.

A construction meeting about the South Ferry Channel project is expected to be held by week’s end. With a go-ahead nailed down, the project could start as soon as the next day. Since the goal is to dredge for 21 days, Willson said, there appears to be openness to extend the permit beyond the seasonal dredging window into early April.

Also, this year the Rollinson project, an authorized federal project done annually by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, included clearing a persistent low area at the end of the channel that had been pinching and creating hazards for vessels going in and out of Hatteras Harbor.

“As far as Hatteras Inlet and the South Ferry Channel, it appears to be in pretty good shape,” Chairman Steve “Creature” Coulter said in a later telephone interview. “And it’ll be in great shape once this dredging is completed.”

And despite an expected 7-to 8-month wait for permits to dredge the Sloop Channel, an area of concern where the channel zig-zags has gotten a little deeper lately – at least for the time being, Lance Winslow, state Ferry Division environmental supervisor told the panel. A recent survey also shows that the channel has moved south, he added.

“That’s good news if it’s opened up some,” Coulter said.

Meanwhile, some shoaled areas in Oregon Inlet are still problematic, and moving heavy equipment into the inlet to prepare for demolition of the old Bonner Bridge has been difficult.

Shoaling at the main navigational channel at the old Bonner Bridge is too severe to get a dredge in there, said Steve Shriver, team leader at the Corps’ survey section in Wanchese, pointing to a red “lump” in the most recent survey that showed as little as 2 feet of water.

“Unfortunately, there’s been no improvement . . . It’s kind of deteriorated a little bit,” he said.

Shriver said that the Corps is keeping a close eye to take advantage of any improvements and quickly get a dredge out there.

“As far as Hatteras Inlet and the South Ferry Channel, it appears to be in pretty good shape. And it’ll be in great shape once this dredging is completed.”
Steve “Creature” Coulter, Chairman , Dare County Waterways Commission

Not only has the severe shoaling forced boaters to find deeper water to the south, it has created a significant challenge to bridge contractors who need to use large cranes and barges to remove the old bridge.

Roger Bullock, the Corps’ chief navigator, told commissioners that one crane was able to be modified, but they’re still working on a way to move another crane from the east side to the west side of the bridge.

Another project, dredging of Manteo channel, Willson said, has been complicated by new information from a recent survey that shows “significantly greater” amounts of sand would have to be removed from the intersection of the Pamlico Sound and Shallowbag Bay in order to provide clear passage to the state-owned Elizabeth II.

The wooden ship, built to represent the 16^th century vessels that sailed from England to Roanoke Island, has been stuck at its homeport at Roanoke Island Festival Park for several years, prevented by the shoaling from getting its annual maintenance at the Manns Harbor shipyard.

Addressing another issue that has been tough to solve, Willson said that a suitable location to deposit the dredge material from the proposed Manteo project has yet to be determined. After reviewing a number of options, he said, the answer may be that a series of spoil sites will be required.

In other updates, Avon resident Jack Bennett gave a brief summary on the Avon Harbor dredge project for which he is seeking funds. He said a man named Basil Hooper stopped by his property and questioned his right to have any spoil deposited on his property. Bennett said he has a designated spoil site on his property, and is not trying to benefit from dredging.

“The basin of the harbor is just about closed off on the east side,” he said. “My intention is to get a more usable harbor.”

Bennett said he would provide a copy of the document to the commission that shows the designation.

Commission administrator Ann Daisey also informed the panel that a dredge project in Colington has been delayed because the contractor’s dredge had sunk. In another matter, she said that the Oregon Inlet Task Force proposal to secure year-round dredging by the Corps in Oregon Inlet had to be delayed when the applicant was informed by the National Park Service that it “owns the inlet.” Daisey said the application requires a special use permit from the park service, which is expected to be approved.

Long-serving member Fletcher Willey told his fellow commissioners that he would not seek to be reappointed when his term expires in June because of family demands. Other members in attendance, in addition to the chairman, included Vice-chairman Ernie Foster and members Dan Oden and Natalie Kavanaugh. Commissioner Danny Couch was absent. A new member, Michael Flynn, a Waves resident who works as the northeast coastal advocate for the North Carolina Coastal Federation, has been appointed to fill the seat of Dave May, who recently resigned.

Dare Board OKs Deal For Manteo Dredging

Neel Keller — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 20:35:40 +0000

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Sentinel

The Elizabeth II in Roanoke Island Festival Park. Photo: Outer Banks Sentinel

DARE COUNTY — With its approval this week of a capital project ordinance for the Shallowbag Bay Dredging Project in Manteo, the Dare County Commissioners moved a step closer to freeing the Elizabeth II, the iconic wooden vessel stranded by shoaling and unable to move from Doughs Creek across from the Manteo waterfront.

Commissioners voted to appropriate $1.9 million awarded to the county by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality for the dredging project. The project is fully funded by DEQ, which finalized a financial assistance agreement Feb. 12. The agreement is effective until June 30, 2020.

Dare County Manager Bobby Outten said in an interview that in approving the capital project ordinance the commissioners had basically authorized “moving the money from one account to the other, so we can spend it.”

The appropriation was approved without discussion during the board’s March 4 meeting as part of the consent agenda. The action also authorizes Outten to execute a $6,996 related services agreement with APTIM Coastal Planning and Engineering of North Carolina to coordinate the permitting of dredging for the navigation channel in Shallowbag Bay.

In the agreement, APTIM states that it “anticipates that the review of authorization, identification of potential disposal sites, coordination with County staff on purpose and need, and development of the project narrative, will be completed within 30 days of receiving notice to proceed from Dare County.”

Asked about a time frame for the dredging project to be completed, Outten said it will be “as quickly as possible,” adding that the time needed to receive the necessary permits will determine when the dredging work can begin. He also added that the project will be complete well before the end date of the financial assistance agreement in June 2020.

The Elizabeth II was built in 1983 to represent the 16th century ships that sailed to Roanoke Island during the voyages between 1584 and 1587, establishing the first English colony in the New World. The vessel was built for $670,000 at the Manteo waterfront to mark the 400th anniversary in 1984 of the first English voyage to Roanoke Island. It is one of the premier attractions at Roanoke Island Festival Park.

In May, in response to a request from the Dare County Waterways Commission, Dare commissioners approved a resolution requesting “urgent assistance for emergency approval” to dredge the Manteo Channel to its authorized depth of 12 feet, citing the “dire situation” created by the channel’s shoaling confronting North Carolina’s “floating ambassador” and impacting area economies. The resolution also asked for assistance in permitting and funding.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Sentinel, a weekly Dare County newspaper that is published in print every Wednesday and headquartered at 2910 South Croatan Highway, Nags Head. Aside from the print paper, the Sentinel also produces a continually updated digital version at www.obsentinel.com.

Dare County Agrees to Lead Dredge Project

Catherine Kozak — Thu, 18 Oct 2018 04:00:12 +0000

Visitors explore the Elizabeth II at its dock. Photo: Roanoke Island Festival Park

MANTEO – Unable to leave its home port at Roanoke Island Festival Park for the last two years, the state-owned Elizabeth II may go through another winter without maintenance before a shoaled channel blocking its passage will be cleared.

More than $2 million has been provided in this year’s adjusted state budget to dredge Manteo channel at the intersection of Shallowbag Bay, but until recently no entity had stepped up to take charge of the process.

Finally early last month, the Dare County Board of Commissioners agreed to allow County Manager Bobby Outten, who also serves as county attorney, to administer the dredge project.

Bobby Outten

“From our perspective,” Outten said, “it’s good for the community – it’s good for everybody.”

The state grant, which require no matching funds, is being handled by the North Carolina Department of Water Quality.

Addressing the low spot in the channel would mostly benefit commercial and recreational boat traffic to and from the Manteo harbor and the waterfront docks, as well as allow the Elizabeth II to leave the dock. But neither Manteo nor the state volunteered to take the reins of the dredge project.

About a week before the board voted to approve the county’s role, Manteo Town Manager Kermit Skinner had contacted the county to ask it to take charge, Outten said.

Since Dare County has experience navigating the complicated permitting process for dredge projects, as well as the ability to cover upfront costs until it is reimbursed, Outten said it is logical for the county to handle the administrative duties.

“We’re not walking into a complete unknown,” he said. “It was the most expeditious way to do it.”

The county contracted with consultant Ken Wilson with Wilmington-based firm Aptim Coastal Planning & Engineering of North Carolina Inc. to handle the permitting process and execution of the project. Once final details are completed, Outten said, the consultant will be able to determine how much dredging would be required, who is available to do it, when it can be started and completed, and how much it is likely to cost.

The last time the Elizabeth II had been hauled out for maintenance at the state shipyard in Manns Harbor was in January 2016, said Dwight Gregory, a volunteer crew member. In October of that year, the 69-foot vessel ran aground at the shoaled Shallowbag Bay intersection and was stranded there overnight until the high tide floated it free. Since then, the ship has not moved from its mooring in Doughs Creek at Roanoke Island Festival Park.

“It’s unlikely the ship can get out,” Gregory said recently. “It’s not any deeper than it was when it got stuck.”

An aerial photo shows the locations of Roanoke Island Festival Park, the Elizabeth II mooring and the affected channels. Photo: Quible & Associates

Some bottom planks below the waterline need replacement, said Gregory, who has volunteered on the ship since 2007. So far, he said, the vessel does not appear to be leaking more than usual nor is it in imminent danger.

Still, its wooden hull can remain immersed in the creek’s briny water only so long before it starts to deteriorate.

“There’s work that needs to be done on it,” Gregory said.

The representative 16th-century sailing ship was built for $670,000 in 1983 at the Manteo waterfront to mark the 400^th anniversary of the 1584-1587 Roanoke Voyages, the first attempt at English colonization in the New World.

The state took ownership of the vessel when Roanoke Island Festival Park opened in 1998. The colorful three-masted, square-rigged ship, moored directly across from the Manteo waterfront shops and marina, has been a popular attraction at the park, where interpreters in 16th-century sailor costumes show off the ship and tell stories to visitors.

Michele Walker, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, said that the state is monitoring the ship’s condition, and is planning to have it hauled out this winter, if possible.

“Dredging this area will benefit the Town of Manteo, including the Elizabeth II and Festival Park,” Walker said last month in an email. “The Town of Manteo is the primary beneficiary of the proposed dredging work. Therefore, Manteo and Dare County have taken the lead on this project and have kept us informed.”

Before the county agreed to administer the project, Skinner said the town would have reluctantly taken the helm if it had no choice.

“It’s a reimbursable situation,” he said. “But it’s in excess of $1 million – that would pretty much bleed us of our fund balance.”

In May, the Dare County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution supporting Manteo’s request for emergency dredging.

Skinner said he had hoped the project could be done over the winter, but the challenge “first and foremost” is finding a place to put the dredge material.

“We don’t really have a suitable spoil site,” he said. “If we can do it hydraulically rather than manually you can get the price down.”

Interest has been expressed in using the material to widen the eroding Roanoke Sound shoreline along the Elizabethan Gardens and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on the north end of Roanoke Island.

“If the permitting can be worked out,” Skinner said, “I think that could be a good solution, but I’m led to believe that would be a very complicated permit to get.”

Some critics said that Manteo should have had the channel cleared as part of long-overdue dredging project that the town did last winter in Doughs Creek that was largely paid for with state funds. In an earlier interview, Skinner said that the state never requested the work be done at the Shallowbag Bay intersection.

Although that shoaled area is technically part of federal channel, it has not been maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers since the 1981 construction of the state-owned Wanchese Seafood Industrial Park. When the seafood park was built, the state agreed to take over maintenance of the channel north of Wanchese Harbor, according to the Corps.

But dredging has not been done in the channel since 2005, and the problem spot at the intersection now has 4 feet or less of water. The Elizabeth II draws 8 feet.

Carl Jordan is Manteo’s dockmaster. Photo: Town of Manteo

Carl Jordan, Manteo dockmaster, said that boats that draw more than 6 feet rarely bother trying to come into the harbor, and those docked at the Manteo waterfront marina are all smaller vessels.

“Even those with 5- to 5 ½-foot (drafts), I spend half my time on the phone making sure they don’t run aground,” Jordan said. “I spend all my time telling them exactly where to go.”

Jim Medlock, civil works project manager at the Corps’ Wilmington office, said that the quality of the dredged material would be a big factor in where it can be placed, and whether it would be permitted.

But he agreed that getting material to the north end of the island or finding another site to deposit it would be a challenge.

“It doesn’t make any difference if it’s 5 cubic yards, or 100 cubic yards,” he said. “There has to be a place to put the material.”

Medlock said the Corps could potentially be contracted to help with the project, or a private contractor could be hired. Meanwhile, he said, he would “be more than happy” to discuss the options with the county.

“There’s a lot of work to be done,” he said about the permitting. “It’s a lengthy process and it does take time.”

Manteo Dredging Dispute at Impasse

Catherine Kozak — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 20:45:54 +0000

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Sentinel

MANTEO — As Manteo officials await a report on an investigation by the State Auditor’s office related to a recent Doughs Creek dredge project, the town has yet to resolve a separate dispute with the dredging contractor stemming from the company hauling away 71 truckloads of dredge material from the town’s disposal site.

According to a reverse change order by the Manteo Board of Commissioners, the town is seeking reimbursement from Powells Point contractor Carolina Marine Structures for $15,247.25 for the dredge material that the town contends the contractor was not authorized to remove.

“Our primary concern is to be made whole again from a financial perspective,” said Town Manager Kermit Skinner. “It has value to the town.”

Festival Park, the Elizabeth II’s mooring and the Doughs Creek Channel. Photo: Quible & Associates

The town signed a $648,901 contract last winter with Carolina Marine Structures to dredge 3,750 linear feet in Doughs Creek and 35,700 square feet of the boat basin north of the Cora Mae Basnight Bridge going to Roanoke Island Festival Park. According to the contract, the dredged sand would go to the town’s wastewater treatment plant and be placed in constructed berms.

Including $648,901 for the original contract, $35,000 for engineering, $50,000 to relocate the power line, $50,000 to lease property to temporarily store the material, and $11,099 for contingency additional yardage, the project costs ended up totaling $795,000.

The state’s shallow draft fund covered two-thirds of the project, with the remaining third picked up by the Historic Roanoke Island Fund. The town has also paid $23,025 for engineering expenses incurred before the grant was awarded.

Skinner told the Sentinel that the company has not responded to the town’s request for reimbursement. Chris Coleman, the president of Carolina Marine Structures, did not respond to a request seeking comment.

But in earlier interviews Skinner said that Coleman contended that the material, which has value as fill, was removed to make the disposal site at the town’s site “acceptable for receiving the dredge spoil.” Acting on a tip, town Police Chief Vance Haskett viewed surveillance video footage of the 71 dump trucks driving away from the site loaded with the dredge material.

Skinner said he “would hate to speculate” on what happened to the sand after it was hauled off, adding that Coleman told him that he gave it away. “But I have no way to prove or disprove that,” he said, adding, “All of this could have been avoided if (Coleman) had contacted us ahead of time.”

The contractor’s requests for modifications in the contract for the project produced mixed results. In December 2017, a change order for $10,000 was filed by the contractor and approved by the town, to cover additional cubic yardage for the project. In June, the contractor filed another change order, seeking an additional $6,000 for another increase in cubic yardage. The unit price for the material cited in the contract was $15 per cubic yard. The Board of Commissioners declined to approve that change.

Town attorney Wyatt Booth, a partner in the Raleigh law firm Williams Mullen, said that, based on information provided by local contractors, the town calculated that each of the dump trucks held about $215 worth of material. In asking the contractor to reimburse the town by about $15,000, Manteo officials multiplied that $215 amount by the 71 trucks seen hauling it away.

By the time the Manteo Commissioners first approved that reverse change order in July, Booth explained, the contractor had completed the project, which began in late November. The contractor has been paid, all except the $6,000 for the second change order that was never approved.

Booth added that Coleman has refused to sign the reverse change order seeking $15,247.25 back from the contractor. “That’s where it stands,” he said in a recent interview.

Booth said that Assistant District Attorney Jeff Cruden was consulted about the possibility of pressing charges against the contractor for removing the sand, but Cruden discouraged it. “The D.A. views this as a civil dispute, a contract dispute,” Booth said. “I don’t necessarily disagree with that.”

Cruden did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.

Booth added that, if the parties cannot find a resolution through discussion and negotiation, the remedy is that either party can file a lawsuit. “I don’t know where they’ll end up on that front,” he said.

Meanwhile, a different snafu related to the project — apparently brought to the attention of the State Auditor by a whistleblower — is also still up in the air.

In July, investigators from the auditor’s office interviewed at least nine current and former town officials, reportedly focusing mostly on the $50,000 oral leasing contract between the town and private property owner, Virginia Beach developer Bill Klimkiewicz, who allowed the barge to offload the dredged material on his land to be stored during the 120-day project.

No details about the investigation, including confirmation that it even took place, can be provided by the auditor’s office before a report is published, said Brad Young, the director of external affairs at the state Office of the State Auditor. The report, when completed, will be available on the agency’s website, he said.

Speaking in general terms, Young said that, when people are interviewed, they are asked to keep the questions confidential in order to not jeopardize the investigation. But they are not mandated by law to be quiet about it.

Dare Moving Ahead on Inlet Dredge Plan

Catherine Kozak — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 04:00:25 +0000

DARE COUNTY — As the need for dredging in North Carolina waterways has long ago surpassed the availability of funds and equipment to dredge, Dare County, with the help of $15 million provided in the recent state budget, is about to try something different: Build a dedicated dredge to maintain its waterways.

The plan would be a private-public partnership where a forgivable loan would be offered to the owner/operator in exchange for discounts on the dredging work. The ocean-certified dredge would mostly be used to maintain Oregon Inlet – a notoriously high-need waterway – and Hatteras Inlet in Dare County.

The Corps Dredge Currituck performs dredging operations in Virginia Beach’s Rudee Inlet in 2005. The Currituck is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hopper dredge that performs maintenance dredging up and down the East Coast. Photo: Patrick Bloodgood/Army Corps of Engineers

Two responses to the county’s requests for proposals, or RFPs, were submitted before the July 30 deadline to the designated local partner, Dare County, and a private contractor is expected to be chosen this month.

“We want to do it quickly,” said Dare County Manager Bobby Outten, who referred to the proposed project as “a great opportunity for Dare County.”

A provision in North Carolina Senate Bill 99, added by state Sen. Bill Cook, R-Beaufort, appropriated the $15 million from the state Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging and Aquatic Weed Fund for Dare to contract with a private developer to design build, operate, maintain and own an ocean-certified hopper dredge. The contractor would have 10 years, with a possible five-year extension, to pay off the loan with credits earned by providing discounted rates for dredging Dare County waterways.

Language in the legislation cited the decline in federal funds for decreased maintenance by the Army Corps of Engineers.

“The resulting deterioration in these channels,” the bill said, “damages the significant portion of the economy of the state’s coastal regions that is dependent on the use of navigation channels by watercraft.”

The proposed hopper dredge, estimated to cost $25 million to $30 million and take about two years to build, would service Oregon Inlet, Hatteras Inlet and their surrounding waterways, and when possible, other waterways and shallow-draft inlets in North Carolina. Hopper dredges hold the dredged material, or spoils, and then deposit it at specific locations. They are capable of withstanding ocean conditions.

The state defines shallow-draft navigation channels as inlets with a maximum depth of 16 feet, a river entrance to the Atlantic or other interior coastal waterways, including: the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and its side channels, Beaufort Harbor, Bogue Inlet, Carolina Beach Inlet, Back Sound to Lookout Back channel, Lockwood Folly River, Oregon Inlet/Shallowbag Bay, Masonboro Inlet, New River, New Topsail Inlet, Rodanthe Harbor, Hatteras Inlet, Shallotte River, Silver Lake Harbor and the connecting waterway between Pamlico Sound and Beaufort Harbor.

At its June 4 board of commissioners meeting, Dare County delegated “any and all delegable duties” to the Oregon Inlet Task Force, an advisory panel established by the commissioners in 2013 to oversee Oregon Inlet maintenance and navigational issues.

Cook said that it made sense for the state to first target Oregon Inlet for dredging because of its disproportionate need for annual maintenance. Of the 3 million cubic yards dredged annually in all the state’s shallow-draft inlets, he said about 1.5 million is from Oregon Inlet, which connects Pamlico Sound to the Atlantic between Nags Head and Hatteras Island.

Sen. Bill Cook

“We need dependable and safe waterway passages to have a vibrant route for commerce while protecting our environment,” Cook said in an email response to questions about the legislation. “Also, once this dredge starts in Oregon Inlet, that will open up and release the Corps of Engineers’ dredge assets to operate in other coastal waterways.”

According to dredge data from the 2016 North Carolina Beach and Inlet Management report, Oregon Inlet/Shallowbag Bay has been dredged 223 times since 1975, with a total of more than 45 million cubic yards removed. In comparison, Carolina Beach has been dredged 153 times since 1982, with 7 million cubic yards removed, and Morehead City Harbor – a deep-draft waterway – has been dredged 46 times since 1975, with about 47 million cubic yards removed.

Cook explained that his relationship with the task force goes back to 2013, when the state set up a committee to study acquisition of Oregon Inlet. The task force, he said, represents a broad range of marine industries, many of which provided information to him.

“Considering that half of the shallow draft dredging need is one inlet and the local committee for that inlet (Oregon Inlet Task Force) is well organized and has been a trusted resource, we wanted to make sure the local experts had the final say,” Cook wrote. “The economic impact of Oregon Inlet is very significant and far outweighs the costs necessary to keep the inlet passable.

A 2014 economic study by engineering firm Moffatt & Nichol calculated that the inlet is associated with 4,348 jobs and generates $548.4 million in economic impact to the state.

Frank Rush, town manager for Emerald Isle in Carteret County, said he understands the need in Dare County, but he hoped that the dredge will be available at some future date for his town to utilize.

Frank Rush

In general, Rush said that communities on the coast are in the same boat, looking for navigation solutions.

“I think all of us collectively need to be exploring new strategies to get this done,” he said.

With the proposed contract with the private partner, North Carolina would bear no liability for damages or losses associated with the dredge. The task force would work with the county to develop criteria for the dredge and negotiate a memorandum of agreement with the “private partner,” who would contract with the dredge builder.

According to the RFP, the dredge would maintain a 17-foot-deep channel in Oregon Inlet, while “maintaining the capacity” to also dredge Hatteras Inlet and other waterways in the state. The private contractor would pay all costs for the dredge, and work with the task force in the scheduling and location of the dredge, with the decisions of the task force prevailing.

In designating the task force to coordinate use of the dredge to ensure that projects “are completed in an expeditious and timely manner,” the Dare County Board of Commissioners required monthly reports be submitted to the board.

The law also says that annual reports must be provided to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.

The base of operations and the home port for the dredge will be in Dare County. Any supplemental dredge projects in the state would be subject to county approval, based on whether county officials believe the dredge has the capacity. Those projects would not qualify for discounted rates, and the fees would not be credited toward repayment of the forgivable loan.

Jim Tobin, manager of Pirate’s Cove Marina and owner of its ship’s store, is chairman of the task force and serves as a Dare County commissioner.

Tobin also nominated himself for a three-member subcommittee dealing with the dredge issues, along with members Steve House, also a Dare commissioner, and Harry Schiffmann, according to the June 12 task force meeting minutes.

Jim Tobin

Tobin said that the task force expects to make a recommendation for the private contractor to the board at its next meeting. He said he could not discuss the proposals because they included proprietary information.

Despite his connection to the Pirate’s Cove Marina in Manteo, which sponsors popular fishing tournaments and has about 200 slips for charter boats that use Oregon Inlet to go offshore and inshore, Tobin, a Republican, said he has not heard any concerns about conflicts of interest.

As a task force member for six years, Tobin said he had traveled to Raleigh numerous times to lobby for help for Oregon Inlet and to talk with legislators. Although Tobin said he didn’t ask – or even know ahead of time – about Cook adding the provision for the dredge, he said it’s a great idea because it will allow Oregon Inlet to be properly maintained with much more frequent dredging.

Considering that the inlet has a massive volume of sand – 1.2 million to 1.8 million cubic yards – moving in and out of it every year, there has nearly always been an issue with shoaling, especially around the Bonner Bridge navigation channel, and will continue, even with the new bridge.

“Right now, there’s a hump right in front of the center span,” he said, “and there’s no dredge in sight.”

Although another advisory committee, the Dare County Waterways Commission, is charged with oversight of all the county’s waterway issues, Cook, who supports federal authorization of Hatteras Inlet, said no member of that commission has come to Raleigh in recent years seeking assistance.

But Steve “Creature” Coulter, a Hatteras charter boat captain and a Waterways Commission member, said that input from the commission had not been sought, nor had the commission been provided with any information.

Coulter said he intends to request that a member of the task force attend their meeting “to come and tell us what’s going on.”

“I think the overall project can be a good thing for Dare County and it can be a good thing for the state,” Coulter said. “I just don’t know enough about it.”

Bob Woodard, chairman of the Dare County Board of Commissioners, said that the board will be good stewards of the project and its waterways.

“I can assure you, my board has its hands on this and we’re going to watch it very carefully,” he said in an interview, “and we’re going to do what’s right for Dare County.”

Damaged Pipe Complicates Dredging Job

Catherine Kozak — Fri, 13 Jul 2018 04:00:17 +0000

Hatteras Inlet from above showing shoaling in the past. The Dare County Waterways Commission continues to discuss dredging the inlet. Photo: Ocracoke Observer/C. Leinbach

Updated 10:30 a.m. July 17: Sam Walker with the Outer Banks Voice reported during his podcast Tuesday that dredging of the channel into Rodanthe Harbor would take place Tuesday. Work to repair the damaged drain pipe in the nearby dredge spoils pit was completed over the weekend, in time for an Army Corps of Engineers dredge heading to Florida from Manns Harbor shipyard to clear the shoal in less than 24 hours.

Reprinted From Island Free Press

As Tropical Storm Chris was spinning out in the Atlantic off the Outer Banks this week, Dare County Waterways Commission members on Monday discussed progress on dredging an irksome small shoal clogging the emergency ferry channel in Rodanthe Harbor.

It’s a minor job that the Army Corps of Engineers would be able to take care of soon, but the work has been complicated by the recent discovery of a broken culvert.

The emergency channel between Rodanthe and Stumpy Point is a critical transportation backup for Hatteras Island when roads or bridges are inaccessible after major storms or accidents.

With the dredge departing earlier than expected, Joen Petersen, U.S. Corps of Engineers Chief of Floating Plants, stressed that time is of the essence. The dredge that could quickly do the project, he explained, is nearly ready to leave the shipyard in Manns Harbor, where it was being repaired, and head to Florida.

“We’re talking literally a day for those 400 (cubic) yards,” he told commissioners, referring to the small volume of material that needed to be removed. “My concern is we get to Miami and I start moving on those projects, and I don’t get back for a year.”

Ann Daisey

The challenge, however, is getting the damaged outfall repaired no later than a few days after the dredge leaves the shipyard by around July 15, responded Ann Daisey, the Waterways Commission administrator.

Daisey said in an interview that she had recently discovered that the corrugated outfall pipe at the site where dredge material is deposited had been cut in two for some time. Records show that the last repair was in 2013, she said, but there is no record of subsequent damage.

The spoil site has limited capacity for additional material, Daisey added, although it has not yet been determined how much that would be. The pipe directs water that drains from the sediment into the harbor.

“The main thing that needs to be done before they can dredge is to get that outfall pipe repaired,” Daisey said. “It would be inefficient on cost for them to leave and then come back.”

After earlier consultation with engineers at Albemarle and Associates, a formal bid had been put out for a complete repair project, she said. With the new urgency to get the channel cleared before the dredge leaves, Daisey said that the engineers have reached out to a former contractor who had previously done work on the culvert.

The hope is that at least a partial repair could be done to allow the dredge to remove enough material to make it navigable for the ferry. The 24-inch diameter pipe, divided in 30- to 40-foot sections, would need two or three sections replaced, depending on the condition of the mean high tide portion.

“The work on the pipe, in my opinion, would take less than a day because we’re not extending the pipe to the original distance out into the sound,” Daisey said, adding, “It needs to happen this week.”

According to Corps estimates, about 300 cubic yards of material would have to dredged to achieve a depth of 6 feet at the entrance to the channel – the minimum required for the ferry, which draws 5.5 feet. Currently, there is only 5.5 feet of water at the shoaled spot.

“Since we have a tropical storm sitting right there, it would be good to have it done,” said commissioner Natalie Kavanaugh.

Other members in attendance at the meeting in Manteo were chairman David May and commissioners Ernie Foster, Dan Oden and Steve “Creature” Coulter.

‘A Hole in the Middle of Nowhere’

Much of the discussion Monday centered on dredged and un-dredged areas of the federal Rollinson Channel leading to Hatteras Harbor, with some heated exchanges about the reasoning behind recent work.

Rollinson Channel shoaling in previous years. The channel leads to Hatteras Harbor. Photo: File

Hatteras charter captains, including Coulter, Foster and Oden, have been complaining for some time about shoaling at the breakwater at the mouth of the harbor. All three expressed frustration that a part of the same channel had recently been dredged for the new passenger ferry, although that operation has been delayed.

Despite the long-stated concern about the pinch at the breakwater, Foster said, he was flabbergasted to learn about the nearby work.

“I’ve spent four years talking about it,” Foster said about the breakwater shoaling. “They literally dredged a hole in the middle of nowhere.”

Ernie Foster

Coulter said that vessels are now forced to hug the fender to get through, causing some to run aground.

“You didn’t discuss it with us – the people that use it,” Coulter said, addressing Corps representatives in the audience. “They were within 200 yards of where we needed them to dredge. … Everything was done so the passenger ferry would have enough water, but the passenger ferry is not going to run for six months. “

In response, Jim Medlock, Corps’ civil works project manager, said that the dredge is scheduled to return to the area in mid-September.

“It’s not just that they have this breakwater,” he said. “There’s other work that needs to be done.”

The Corps’ Wilmington district commander Col. Robert Clark, who was attending the Waterways Commission meeting for the first time, had sharper words.

Col. Robert Clark

“If we direct the contractor how to do his work, he’s going to jack up his price – that’s what happens,” Clark said. “So our business is we generally tell them, ‘Here’s the scope of the work.’ We certainly will ask them. If there’s no cost …”

Interrupting, Coulter said that since the dredge, after leaving Ocracoke, drove right past the area where the dredging was needed, it should have been in its scope.

Picking up where Clark left off, Medlock agreed that it would be reasonable to talk to the dredge contractor about schedule or work adjustments when possible.

‘It would be nice if we can continue to use the harbor,” Foster said sarcastically.

Impatience with the inefficiency of the bureaucracy soon shifted to the overarching complexity of getting necessary maintenance. A patchwork of federal and state authorized channels through the inlet often requires a laundry list of permits from different agencies, resulting in a time-consuming process. But increased shoaling in the waterway has made it more challenging to keep the inlet navigable for commercial and recreational vessels as well as vehicular and passenger ferries.

The increased shoaling has also created a need for more disposal sites for dredge material. One new site, “DOT island,” is close to final approval, but more are necessary.

The idea of having Hatteras Inlet declared a federal project was raised again by members as the best solution, but Medlock reaffirmed that it would take an act of Congress. And Clark dimmed any hopes of more federal funds being appropriated in future to the Corps for shallow-draft projects.

Still, it would be possible to try to get authorization that would provide more flexibility for dredging projects, Medlock said.

“I suggest we work on both at the same time,” he said. “Look for new disposal sites while seeking the authorization.”

The next meeting of the Dare County Waterways Commission is scheduled 7 p.m. Aug. 13 in Buxton.

Jones Asks For More Dredging Funds

Staff Report — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 15:56:19 +0000

WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., wants more funding from the Corps of Engineers for dredging projects in Carteret and Dare counties.

Rep. Walter Jones

Jones has asked the Corps for additional funding for maintenance dredging of Morehead City Harbor; the Beaufort Harbor complex that includes Bulkhead Channel, Taylor’s Creek and Morgan Creek; the channel from Back Sound to Lookout Bight, and Bogue Inlet, according to an announcement Tuesday.

Jones explained in a letter to Corps leadership that the $5.57 million provided for the Morehead City Harbor project in the Corps’ fiscal year 2018 budget is helpful but not sufficient to maintain the channel at its authorized depth. He also noted that no funding was included in the administration’s budget for the other three projects.

“Maintaining Morehead City Harbor and surrounding waterways is vital to the economic success of Carteret County and Eastern North Carolina,” said Jones in a statement. “The port supports over 3,700 jobs, and the businesses that rely on it must have reliable access through the harbor. Similarly, boaters, fishermen and related businesses also depend on open access through the county’s other inlets and channels.”

Jones has also asked for more funding than the $4.79 million for Oregon Inlet and $1 million for Hatteras Inlet allocated in the Corps’ 2018 budget request.

“Maintaining Oregon and Hatteras Inlets is essential to the economic and transportation needs of not only Dare and Hyde counties, but much of Eastern North Carolina,” said Jones in a statement. “These waterways serve our fishermen, Coast Guard, recreational boaters, and much more.”

While Congress no longer has the ability to legislatively increase funding for specific projects because of an earmark ban imposed in 2011, lawmakers did attempt to address some of the waterway maintenance issues across the nation in recently passed legislation. They did so by creating several unallocated pots of money for different project categories, including Deep Draft Harbors and Channels, Navigation Maintenance and Small, Remote, or Subsistence Navigation. Congress also gave the Corps a list of criteria to use in determining which projects to fund from these pots.

In his letters, Jones made the case that these projects in Carteret and Dare counties are exactly the types of projects Congress had in mind when it provided the Corps with these additional pots of money.

Jones’ office touted his history of support for maintaining navigation in North Carolina’s inlets, channels and harbors.

Sandy Relief Bill May Rescue Oregon Inlet

Editor — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 05:00:00 +0000

A version of this story first ran in the Outer Banks Voice, an online newspaper in Nags Head.

NAGS HEAD — Emergency legislation before Congress that is intended to provide relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy would also send $11 million to the Outer Banks to dredge clogged Oregon Inlet and the Hatteras ferry channels, Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., said yesterday.

The $60.4 billion relief bill would also provide money to dredge the Morehead City harbor, the Intracoastal Waterway, Beaufort harbor, Wainwright Slough, Carolina Beach Inlet and Lockwoods Folly Inlet.

The Senate is scheduled to consider the bill this week, but conservative advocacy groups have urged Republicans to vote against it or pare it down because it pays for billions of dollars in projects, such as dredging inlets in North Carolina, that aren’t related to the hurricane.

Sen. Kay Hagan

A prominent geologist at Duke University also has complained to the Senate’s majority leader that the bill gives too much leeway to the Army Corps of Engineers to choose projects that aren’t hurricane related and allows the Corps to sidestep regulations and rebuild disaster-prone beaches.

Of the $1.8 billion in disaster recovery funds that the Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill sets aside for the Corps, $9 million would go toward dredging at Oregon Inlet and $2 million to clear the ferry channel between Hatteras and Ocracoke, Hagan said.

“What the Hurricane Sandy relief bill does, it ensures that North Carolina will have adequate funding to keep our inlets open to commercial fishing and the shipping vessels and to ensure that our ferries can navigate our channels and carry residents and visitors on and off the barrier islands,” Hagan said in an interview with the Outer Banks Voice, an online newspaper.

In her conversations with the Corps, Hagan said, $6 million was identified for work on the outer channel at Oregon Inlet if the bill passes. Shoaling under the Bonner Bridge navigation span has left the channel virtually impassable. Another $3 million would pay for dredging the inner channels.

Those numbers far exceed the $1.3 million in President Obama’s 2013 budget proposal and are about equal to funding the Corps had received annually before the federal government put shallow-draft inlets on a back burner.

Hagan also said she was told today that the side-cast dredge Merritt was able to make its way through the navigation span of the bridge at high tide. The corps said last week that dredging would not be possible because depths were as little as 2 feet in that area.

“I think it’s too early to tell whether the inlet’s going to stay deep enough for the Merritt dredge to start dredging, but I think this is obviously welcome news,” she said.

The Sandy relief bill contains money to continue the dredging of Oregon Inlet. Photo: Army Corps of Engineers.

A Corps survey Monday showed some improvement but depths still at 4 to 6 feet, not enough for oceangoing trawlers requiring at last 8 feet.

Overall, the Corps has identified about $30 million in recovery work for the North Carolina coast, Hagan said. The projects include $600,000 for the ferry channel from Ocracoke to Cedar Island and $150,000 for the emergency ferry channel between Rodanthe and Stumpy Point.

The bill includes money to reimburse states for repairs on damage attributed to Hurricane Sandy, which passed the Outer Banks offshore Oct. 31 and created high surf, wind and rain for almost a week.

State highway crews are still working to get N.C. 12 north of Rodanthe open for traffic. Hagan said the state or local governments might qualify for reimbursement for adding sand to the beach.

The bill has met with stiff criticism from Republicans for including money for projects and programs not related to Hurricane Sandy.

“You’re at the end of the Congress, and there’s always an interest in attaching anything you can to bills that are going through the Capitol Hill station,” Steve Ellis told the Web site Business Insider. He’s the vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog group. “This is one of the last trains going through the station.”

According to an analysis by Ellis, the Sandy emergency spending package includes $150 million for fishery disaster areas in Mississippi and Alaska; $20,000 for a new car for the Inspector General of the Justice Department; $10.8 billion for the Federal Transportation Administration; and cancellation of loans related to Hurricane Katrina. It also contains $4 million for repairs at the Kennedy Space Center and $3.3 million for the Plum Island Animal Disease Center.

Club for Growth, a conservative advocacy group, is urging Republicans to vote against the relief package, according to a statement on its web site.

Hagan said, however, that based on passage of similar bills after hurricanes Katrina and Irene, she was optimistic of approval by the end of the year. She noted that about 300,000 people had been displaced in New York and New Jersey.

Orrin Pilkey

“I think people need to realize that this has had a devastating impact on people who have lost their homes,” she said. “And, you know, these are working-class people. These are not second beachfront homes that we’re talking about.”

Orrin Pilkey, a marine geologist and professor emeritus at Duke University, has for decades advocated for sane development of the country’s beaches. He worries that the bill will unleash the Corps to rebuild beaches that will just get destroyed again in the next storm.

“I believe the bill is a recipe for a major loss of the quality of our East Coast shorelines and beaches and will only encourage further development in dangerous areas,” Pilkey wrote in a letter Monday to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the Senate’s majority leader.

The bill, Pilkey wrote, gives the Corps almost $3.5 billion to spend on almost any non-relief project and exempts those projects from public participation and laws that regulate development in flood zones and hazardous areas.

“To make a long story short, the bill gives the Corps the freedom to choose its own projects and requires recovery of shorelines back to where they were pre-storm,” Pilkey wrote. “If the shoreline is moved back to where it was pre-storm, the next storm, either large or small, may do the same amount of or more damage in the same places.”

Pilkey urges Reid to rewrite the bill.