Posted on June 13, 2018
By Neal Simpson, The Patriot Ledger
Congressman Bill Keating says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has committed to spending millions of dollars on a long-awaited dredging project that will deepen a channel into Plymouth Harbor just in time for the town’s 400th anniversary, which organizers hope will draw wooden boats and small cruise ships from around the world.
Keating, who had been pushing legislation that would have encouraged the Corps to consider Plymouth Harbor dredging as a top priority, said Friday that he had been told that $14 million had been released for the project, which officials have spent more than a decade planning for. As it stands now, some larger boats are unable to enter the harbor and others avoid it rather than risk running aground at low tide.
“There’s a great sense of relief on the part of everyone planning this,” Keating said Friday. “This is work that had to be done anyways for safe navigation in and out of the harbor.”
A spokesman for the Corps of Engineers’ New England District could not confirm Friday that the money for the project had been released, but Keating said he was “confident” it was coming. He said there would likely be an official announcement on Monday.
The project, which has awaited Corp funding for years, has gained urgency as the year 2020 and the 400th anniversary of Plymouth’s founding has grown closer. Through the year, planners hope to bring wooden boats into the harbor – including the Mayflower II, now undergoing a full restoration – as well as small cruise ships.
“We want to welcome her back with the ability to not sit on the mud,” said Michele Pecoraro, executive director of Plymouth 400 Inc., the nonprofit organization created to coordinate events around the quadricentennial celebration
But officials are facing a tight deadline. Chad Hunter, Plymouth’s harbormaster, said it’s likely only the first part of the project – the dredging of the channel – will be completed before the summer or 2020, leaving the dredging of the harbor’s mooring area for another time.
As it is, Hunter said parts of the channel, which should be 15 feet deep, can become as shallow as 5 feet in places during high tide. He said scallop boats have been known to run aground in the channel at high tide while cruise ship operators skip Plymouth altogether after learning they have to “play the tides” to get in and out of the harbor.
“Generally that’s the end of the discussion,” Hunter said. “Nobody wants to run aground.”
Hunter, who met Friday with U.S. Sen. Edward Markey and Army Corps of Engineers Assistant Secretary R.D. “Ricky” James to discuss the project, said some of the sediment removed from the bottom of the harbor could be used to build up Plymouth’s beaches, through some of it is likely contaminated and will have to be hauled away.
Source: The Patriot Ledger
