AVALON — Benjamin Kaiser, Acting Manager of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Bureau of Coastal Engineering, presented plans for maintenance dredging of Whale Harbor and Long Reach to officials and residents at Borough Council’s meeting here July 23.
The entire project cost of $732,416 will be paid entirely by the state Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Office of Marine Resources through a Transportation Trust Fund.
The project must be completed within a 90-day contract time that begins Sept. 15 and ends Dec. 31, when permits expire.
Borough residents are able to “piggy back” on the project and use the permits to have their personal slips dredged, an opportunity Borough Engineer Thomas Thornton said may not present itself for another 25 years.
Stringent environmental precautions from the DEP require a litany of conditions and restrictions on the project including minimal disturbance to local wildlife, wetlands and coastal waters. If anything is disturbed, contractors are required to restore it.
An inspector will be provided under the state contract and weekly meetings with the contractors will be opened to the public. Dredging will begin at the western edge of Long Reach and continue eastward towards Whale Harbor.
“Macchia’s Island” will be used as the confined disposal site.
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