Posted on October 18, 2022
Bourne Select Board has voted to authorize Town Administrator Marlene V. McCollem to explore disposal of materials used during dredging of the Pocasset River. Ms. McCollem said the materials left over are no longer needed by the town.
The topic was raised during the select board’s meeting on Tuesday, October 11. Ms. McCollem noted there are geo-textile bags that hold the dredge materials and chemical polymers used in the dredging process. The polymers, she said, will degrade over time. The dredge materials were removed from the bags and hauled to the town landfill at the Integrated Solid Waste Management facility.
Ms. McCollem said that she has been informed by Department of Natural Resources Director Christopher M. Southwood that the town does not plan on using this type of bagging system for dredge materials again in the foreseeable future.
She suggested giving the bags to another Cape municipality that would be doing a dredging project utilizing the same technology as the one done at the Pocasset River. The board voted unanimously in favor of a motion granting Ms. McCollem the authorization to reach out to other Cape communities.
Mr. Southwood said the dredging was done to restore navigation and to improve water quality for areas of critical environmental concern.
The dredging was actually a pilot project that involved the use of a small, rented dredge machine and geo-textile bags into which the dredged material was pumped. The bags measured 160 feet in length and 60 feet in circumference.
A nontoxic, environmentally friendly polymer was added to the sediment that went into the bags, Mr. Southwood said. The polymer would bind up the material and make it heavier so that it would settle to the bottom of the bag. The bags were permeable, he said, so that water would rise and come out of the top.
Pocasset River is a recreational destination in the Bourne community, Mr. Southwood said. He noted that it supports both a public and private marina, with more than 100 moorings and docking slips. In all, it holds a 168-acre area of environmental concern, he said.
