Posted on August 31, 2020
The Jekyll Creek Beneficial Use Pilot Project has won the 2020 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Sustainability Green Dream Team Award! We are grateful for the national recognition this project has received. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the numerous partners and agencies who collaborated on this project, the first of its kind along the southeastern coast, and the first dredging of Jekyll Creek in over 20 years. Additionally, we recently learned this project will be highlighted in the upcoming Engineering With Nature Atlas, Volume 2. Below is information from the award announcement by Lara E. Beasley, Chief, Environmental Programs Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“I am very pleased to announce the USACE 2020 Sustainability Award Winners! Each year, the USACE Sustainability Awards Program provides the opportunity to mark our significant contributions in the fields of energy efficiency, sustainable solutions, reduced impacts to the natural environment, and preserving and enhancing our natural resources. This year’s stellar nominations are exemplary of the great work being done in the field.
The Jekyll Creek Beneficial Use Pilot Project is a collaboration between USACE, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA DNR), and federal and state agencies, stakeholders, academia, and industry to develop both environmentally and economically sustainable beneficial use of dredged material solutions for maintaining navigation projects in the State of Georgia, and to support coastal resilience throughout the South Atlantic Division (SAD). The team developed and successfully executed two innovative beneficial use strategies consistent with Regional Sediment Management (RSM) principles, which are Open Water Dispersal (OWD) and Thin Layer Placement (TLP). The strategies were the first to be executed by USACE in SAD and a first for Georgia. These environmentally acceptable and economically efficient strategies provide opportunities for future RSM applications across SAD and other USACE divisions. Incorporation of these two placement strategies could help the USACE Navigation Program take a big step towards the goal of 100% beneficial use of dredged material. The projects included extensive monitoring plans developed by the collaborative team to document results and promote lessons learned to build better projects in the future.”
