Posted on September 18, 2017
By Saphara Harrell, The World
Community members had the chance to talk with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Port of Coos Bay staff about the port’s proposed modifications to the channel and the pending environmental review administered by the government agency during an open house at the Coos Bay public library Wednesday.
The port’s $300 million channel modification project would involve dredging the current channel and deepening it by eight feet along more than eight miles of river starting near Roseburg Forest Products.
The port has been working with the Corps of Engineers on this project for more than a decade.
Kathryn Warner, technical lead for the Corps of Engineers, said the scoping period, in which the public participates by providing comments, is designed to help identify potentially significant effects that should be considered in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
She said there are several factors considered in the EIS, including but not limited to water quality, socioeconomics, hazardous materials and protected species.
The Corps of Engineers is also collaborating with other state and federal agencies like the National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Warner said the goal is to work with those groups along the way to make the EIS process easier.
Before EIS drafting can begin, the port has to submit a 60 percent design to the Corps of Engineers.
Mike Dunning, the port’s director of maritime operations, said it plans to submit that draft by the end of next month.
Currently, the channel is 37 feet deep and 300 feet wide. Those numbers would increase to 45 feet deep and 450 feet wide, according to the port’s plans.
Modifications would also include a 1,400-feet long by 1,100 feet wide “vessel-turning basin” and a “rock apron” that would protect the North Jetty from erosion.
The modification would generate 18 million cubic yards of material that would be taken to an ocean disposal site.
According to Dunning, part of the funding for the project is coming from a $60 million state grant that the port is set to receive in installments.
He said the rest will come from “private entities,” including Jordan Cove, but he didn’t specify amounts.
Dunning said the port is looking to begin work by early 2020. From there, the project will take three years to complete. That timeline all depends on the Corps of Engineers’ approval, however.
If all goes as planned, the project would be the largest one-time deepening that has ever happened to Coos Bay.
Port officials argue that the proposed changes would make Coos Bay more competitive with larger ports.
“We already know that Roseburg (Forest Products) wants to bring bigger ships in now, but the channel isn’t deep enough,” Dunning said.
Dunning said the biggest concern he’s hearing is over the interruption of recreational fishing traffic in the channel and how it’s going to be affected by the transit of LNG vessels.
“It’s going to be absolutely minimal,” Dunning said.
Carol Sanders lives in the Empire area and said she came to the meeting because the project is connected to Jordan Cove. That, and she said dredging can’t be good for the habitat.
“I don’t think that upsetting the bay by digging into it is good for the creatures that live out there,” Sander said, adding that she doesn’t think it’s good for the humans living near the channel either.
Sanders was one of several people who came to the meeting that oppose the Jordan Cove energy project.
“We came here because it’s a peaceful place and this is going to disrupt, in all sorts of ways, peacefulness,” Sanders said.
Glenn Harkleroad, Umpqua field office manager for the Bureau of Land Management, said he came to the open house because he was curious about the potential impacts the project could have on the North Spit boat ramp.
“We’ve been thinking about how it might affect BLM resources on the spit, good or bad,” Harkleroad said.
While Corps of Engineers officials said Wednesday’s scoping meeting will be the only one held by the agency, Dunning said he foresees future town hall meetings on the topic.
Scoping comments are welcome through Oct. 3 and can be submitted by email at coosbaychannelmodeis@usace.army.mil or by mail U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Attn: PM-E, PO Box 2946 Portland, OR 97208.
Source: The World
