Posted on November 19, 2025
SANDUSKY HARBOR
ERIE COUNTY, OHIO
This Public Notice has been prepared pursuant to Section 404(a) of the Clean Water Act (CWA). It has been prepared in conformance with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) regulation, “Practice and Procedure: Final Rule for Operation and Maintenance of Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works Projects involving the Discharge of Dredged Materials into Waters of the United States or Ocean Waters,” 33 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 337.1. The purpose of this Public Notice is to specify what dredged/fill materials would be discharged into waters of the United States by implementation of the proposed action and advise all interested parties of the proposed project and to provide an opportunity to submit comments, or request a public hearing.
The USACE – Buffalo District anticipates the need to dredge and place sediment excavated from the federal navigation channels of the Sandusky Harbor project in order to maintain sufficient depth for deep-draft vessels. Figure 1 shows the authorized limits and depths of the federal navigation channels. To ensure that the minimum authorized depth is maintained and to account for dredging tolerance, up to an additional one foot of sediment may be dredged. An estimated total of up to 110,000 cubic yards (CY) of sediment would be dredged from Sandusky Harbor federal navigation channels in a dredging season. The actual dredging need to fully maintain all authorized channels of the harbor is approximately 140,000 CY annually, but the proposed dredging volume reflects capacity of practicable placement options.
Annual dredging operations at Sandusky Harbor are tentatively scheduled to be performed during the period between July 1 and March 15. A contractor of the federal government would accomplish the project. Sediments would be removed from the channel bottom by a mechanical or hydraulic dredge and placed into hoppers aboard ship or scow for transport to the designated dredged sediment placement areas. The method of excavation would be determined by the contractor performing the maintenance dredging. In previous years, clamshell and hopper dredges have been used to complete the required work.
