Posted on January 31, 2018
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is seeking public comments on a plan to deposit dredge spoils from the Columbia River near East Sand Island and North Head Lighthouse in Pacific County.
Spoils would be played on the southern shore of East Sand Island, a thin east-west band of dredge deposits near the entrance to Baker Bay on the Oregon-Washington border. The Army Corps would selectively remove pilings and rock structures on the island and place about 80,000 cubic yards of material later this year to address an area of erosion to prevent the river from breaching through the island.
The proposed in-water dredge deposit site near the North Head Lighthouse is necessary to prevent the continued depletion of near-shore sands and help protect the river and beaches from increased storm and wave events, according to the Corps wrote. A maximum of 500,000 cubic yards would be deposited in any given placement and spread in thin layers to reduce impacts to species and increase the rate of habitat recovery.
The Corps found the placements might affect aquatic life during and directly after the work. “However, no significant direct or indirect impacts on the biological environment are expected,” the Corps wrote.
Comments are due by Feb. 24. Send comments to Kristine Lightner, an environmental resource specialist, at Kristine.A.Lightner@usace.army.mil or by mail to: District Engineer; U.S. Army Corps of Engineer District, Portland; Attn: CENWP-PM-E/Kristine Lightner; P.O. Box 2946, Portland, Oregon 97208-2946.
