AVALON – Dewatered material from a 2014 bay dredging has been stored in a borough confined disposal facility for more than a decade. Now, it may end up benefitting the Wetlands Institute as that organization seeks to protect its infrastructure from increased flooding.

The Institute has been a leader in the beneficial use of dredge material to enhance the resiliency of marshes and wetlands. Its new project is one close to home, as it seeks to widen and raise the salt marsh trail, a roadway that provides access from the Institute building to its dock on Scotch Bonnet Creek. The area is an essential part of the Institute’s educational programming.

Wetlands Institute Executive Director Lenore Tedesco came before the Avalon governing body May 14 to explain the proposed project. She said the road was built in the 1950s as part of a projected residential development in the area.

The development failed, and the Wetlands Institute was built on the fill created for it. The road is at a height of 4 feet near the Institute and drops to 3 feet near the dock. The plan calls for raising the road 2 to 3 feet, thereby creating a barrier that will protect Institute infrastructure.

The project represents a further example of the beneficial use of dredge material, a goal of the Seven Mile Island Innovation Lab, of which the Institute is a partner. Tedesco said the Institute had a federal grant that will cover the mandatory testing of the material, a permit requirement, in the next two weeks.

Provided all goes well with the testing, the actual removal of roughly 25,000 cubic yards of material would occur in the fall of 2026.

In Tedesco’s words, she has a need for the “currency of the marshes,” the dredge material, in order to increase the resiliency of marshlands that are drowning upon sea level rise, while also protecting the Institute and its multifaceted mission.

Council Vice President Barbara Juzaitis responded, “We are with you.”

Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.