Posted on August 22, 2017
By Stephen Singer, Hartford Courant
The battle between Connecticut and New York over the dumping of dredged material in Long Island Sound has intensified with a federal lawsuit by New York challenging a dumping site near New London.
Connecticut officials hit back Friday, saying the lawsuit challenging a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will hamper shipping in the Sound.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and Attorney General George Jepsen criticized New York for trying to block the EPA decision.
Connecticut has “significant dredging needs, far more so than other states that share Long Island Sound,” they said in a statement. Connecticut has a higher percentage of fine-grained sediment that requires additional disposal, they said.
Connecticut also is more reliant on open-water disposal than its neighbors, the state officials said.
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said in an interview that the decision to select a site not far from New London has been “eight years in the making.”
“It’s been analyzed from every angle possible,” he said.
In its lawsuit, New York said it will be harmed by the eastern Long Island site.
“New York has long pursued, with the concurrence of Connecticut and regulatory agreement by EPA, the goal of reducing or eliminating the disposal of dredged materials in the sound,” the lawsuit says.
Designating a third site, in addition to others in central and western Long Island Sound, “will impede achievement of that goal,” New York said.
The westernmost disposal site is off Darien and the central site is opposite New Haven. The eastern site, known as the Cornfield Shoals, is between the mouth of the Connecticut River and Long Island’s North Fork. The most recent eastern site is off New London.
Contaminants excavated primarily from tidal river areas and bays along Connecticut’s shoreline will be relocated to the eastern site, which is in a previously unused area of the sound closer to New York, the state said.
“The Long Island Sound’s ecosystem is now largely shielded from the potential adverse impact of these contaminants, which are currently buried beneath riverine and harbor sediments,” the lawsuit said.
Dredging could introduce contaminants into the food chain, particularly lobsters, New York said. The site risks interference with the safety, logistics and flow of ferry traffic between New York and New England, according to the lawsuit.
Scott Bates, chairman of the Connecticut Port Authority, called the lawsuit an “ill conceived and unfounded action” that will affect thousands of Connecticut workers.
Regular and predictable dredging of ports and harbors is essential in eastern Connecticut to commercial and recreational fishing and boating and military transportation by the Coast Guard and Navy, Connecticut officials say.
It’s also important to the submarine base and Electric Boat, which rely on dredging of the Thames River and harbors. The Navy plans to dredge about 60,000 cubic yards at the Naval Submarine Base New London over the next few years to support construction of a new pier for the newest Virginia-class submarine, according to Courtney’s office.
Courtney defended the environmental integrity of the vetting of the eastern Long Island Sound site, which was conducted in the Obama administration by then-EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, who formerly headed the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
“It’s almost insulting to call it dumping,” he said.
Source: Hartford Courant
