Posted on June 23, 2016
Dredging of Peel harbour has been put on hold until next spring – because it is full of fish.
Work had been scheduled to start yesterday (Monday) to remove up to 3,500 cubic metres of silt by long-reach excavator from the West Quay.
All the necessary resources, specialist equipment and traffic management had been put in place to carry out the works which were to be completed no later than July 3.
But director of harbours Ann Reynolds said: ‘Whilst a number of fishing vessels currently berthed in the area of the harbour earmarked for dredging which are undergoing repair and refurbishment ahead of the start of the queenie fishing season would have had to relocate, more importantly it was apparent that the river is full of fish which are already spawning because of the recent unusually long spell of warm weather.
‘Therefore I very must regret this works will not be taking place. We will not be able to dredge now until spring 2017 in Peel.’
Dredging work is needed as the harbour had suffered from a build-up of sedimentary deposits.
As part of the works all vessels in the area of West Quay from the Swing Bridge to opposite pontoon section ‘D’ had been required to move.
The excavated material was to be moved to a de-watering plant for processing and transport to an onshore storage site.
On May 12, contractors JCK began removing 2,000-3,000 tonnes of river stone by long reach excavator from alongside the boat park. The stone was taken to JCK’s recycling site where it is washed and graded and any silt taken to Turkeylands which is licensed for temporary storage.
Last year a specially-engineered temporary storage facility was excavated at Poortown to dump the potentially-contaminated silt. But a Public Accounts Committee report concluded the project was mishandled and financial regulations ignored.
Source: IOMToday
