Army Corps plans hearings on draft plans for dredge materials

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will host a series of hearings Aug. 24-27, including one on Aug. 27 in New London, to receive public comments about its draft plan for managing dredged material in Long Island Sound and its draft Environmental Impact Statement.

The draft documents were created at the request of the governors of New York and Connecticut in 2005.

The Environmental Protection Agency also ruled that the Army Corps is required to prepare the draft plans to examine alternative placement practices, with the goal of reducing or eliminating open water dumping of dredged material in the Sound whenever practical, the Army Corps said in a news release.

The New London hearing will be at 6 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 35 Gov. Winthrop Boulevard.

Registration for the meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. Hearings also will take place at the same times on Aug. 24 in the Village Center at Port Jefferson in New York, and on Aug. 25 at the University of Connecticut-Stamford, 1 University Place.

The draft plans will be posted on Aug. 17 at:www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/ProjectsTopics/LongIslandSoundDMMP.aspx. The public will have until Sept. 18 to comment on the reports.

Comments can be mailed to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, (ATTN: LIS DMMP/PEIS Program Manager Meghan Quinn), 696 Virginia Road, Concord, Mass. 01742-2751 or sent by email to: meghan.c.quinn@usace.army.mil.