Posted on January 15, 2024
The U.S Army Corps of Engineers plans to place 205,000 cubic yards of dredge material along the eroded marsh shoreline just west of the Jekyll Island fishing pier and is giving the public until midnight Jan. 23 to comment on the plan.
The dredge material would come from the nearby Cedar Hammock Range Bend widening project and from the future Brunswick Harbor modification project, the Corps said in a printed release. Corps planners have determined the placement would be a beneficial use of the dredged materials.
The Cedar Hammock bend is about halfway from the northern end of Jekyll Island and the Sidney Lanier Bridge. The Corps plans to widen the northern, or inside section of the bend, by dredging it to 36 feet to make the turn easier.
The dredge spoils would be placed in a rough triangle near the Jekyll Island fishing pier that the Corps describes as “degraded shoreline” southwest of the fishing pier.
Corps planners have assessed the environmental, cultural and other impacts of the plan and a draft finding concluded the project would have no significant impact.
The study concluded that the project could have an impact, although not a significant one, on threatened and endangered species such as the wood stork, manatees, sea turtles and two species of sturgeon.
The supplemental environmental assessment and draft finding of no significant impact may be downloaded from the Corps website https://www.sas.usace.army.mil/About/Divisions-and-Offices/Planning-Division/Plans-and-Reports/. The project is detailed in the final bullet under Brunswick Harbor Federal Project Actions, the Corps said.
Copies may also be obtained by making an email request to CESAS-planning@usace.army.mil.
Written comments may be made to the same email address or by mail to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District, Attn: Planning Branch/Ms. Summer Wright, 100 West Oglethorpe Ave, Savannah, GA 31401.
All mailed comments should refer to Jekyll Island Shoreline Nourishment Draft SEA. To be considered, mailed comments must be postmarked by midnight Jan. 23.
