Posted on June 5, 2023
The US Army Corps of Engineers will hold an open house later this month to provide more information about the proposed project.
Wilmington harbor was deepened several times over the last century. The North Carolina ports authority wants to do it again — from 42 feet to 47 feet — to bring in larger cargo ships.
The Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is looking at the environmental impacts of the project. UNC Wilmington Professor Roger Shew said it could lead to an extra inch of storm surge.
“It makes it easier for the water to move in and out, and so with a storm driving water up the Cape Fear, it can more easily come up the Cape Fear,” he said.
Shew said another inch of flooding can be significant, especially when taking rising sea levels into account.
Dredging can also lead to a loss of marshland. Shew said some might suggest adding more marshland elsewhere in the Cape Fear area — but he said different areas have different ecosystems, so it’s not always a comparable replacement.
The evaluation costs around $8.5 million, a price tag that USACE and the NC Ports Authority are splitting.
The public open house to learn more about the project will be June 13, 4:00 PM at Cape Fear Community College.
The USACE will also have three public comment periods in May to June 2023, Fall 2024, and Fall 2025.
The USACE will release a draft environmental impact statement in the fall of 2025 and send a finalized version to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works in 2027.
