Posted on April 24, 2018
By Michael Praats, Port City Daily
It has been more than a year since the Town of Carolina Beach implemented what ultimately became an ill-fated lake dredging project. In December, the town terminated the incomplete project, but that left some issues unresolved.
Background
The project was originally created to help address the town’s flooding issues, and the intent was to increase the depth of the lake.
Expectations were that the project would be complete by the end of 2017, leaving the lake with 83,000 cubic yards more room for flood waters.
Problems began in September 2017 when MOTSU (Military Ocean Terminal at Sunny Point) demanded the town stop placing the dredging spoils from the lake on MOTSU property.
Problems for the town only compounded after receiving the suspension notice.
Finding a secondary location to dump the spoils from the dredging proved difficult, and once soil tests were completed, it was revealed the material in the lake contained arsenic.
After more than one year since its commencement, Town Council will meet Tuesday to discuss the future of the lake.
Although the project resulted in some setbacks, it was not a complete failure. According to the project goals, the town had planned on removing 83,000-cubic-yards of material to add 16 million gallons worth of water storage. Instead, the town removed 32,720-cubic-yards and added more than 6 million gallons of water storage, increasing holding capacity by 40 percent.
The project also managed to increase pumping capacity to Henniker’s Ditch as well as capacity through the emergency pipe to the ocean.
What’s next?
The town is still responsible for dealing with the spoils that have been placed on MOTSU property. New guidelines per MOTSU include:
• Existing material should be moved to Old Spray Field
• Material must be removed from Old Spray Field within 3 to 5 years
• An additional 10,000-cubic-yards can be added to the existing 30,000-cubic-yards
• A new lease will be established for the spoils location for a 3-5-year term
• At the end of the lease, the property must be returned to previous condition
The Town Council will have to decide what steps to take next when it comes to the completion of the product. Options include leaving the soil in place and calling the project official off, create a new island in the lake and move the soils to this island, remove the arsenic soils, or a remediation action plan.
The pr- s and c- ns
These are the f- ur – pti- ns f- r dealing with the lack dredging pr- ject, and the pr- s and c- ns acc- rding t- T- wn Manager Michael Cramer.
– pti- n 1 – leave Car- lina Beach Lake as it
• Pr- s
– Increased Lake Capacity by 40 percent
– Increased Pumping Capabilities by 68 percent
– Identified future challenges with c- ntinued dredging
– Utilize remaining pr- ject funds f- r – ther st- rm water impr- vement pr- jects. Estimated c- st: $1.4 milli- n
• C- ns
– Did n- t c- mplete the entire pr- ject
– M- re than half – f lake is still 18 inches deep
– C- ntinual issues with aquatic vegetati- n
– Difficulties f- r rental b- ats
– pti- n tw- – create a new island
• Pr- s
– 200 x 200 island- 3 feet high, w- uld increase lake capacity by 626-cubic-yards
• C- ns
– W- uld reduce the surface area – f lake by 1 acre
– W- uld have a high c- st t- benefit rati- f- r this – pti- n
– pti- n 3- rem- ve c- ntaminated s- ils
• Pr- s
– Pr- vides maximum lake capacity
– Reduce maintenance f- r aquatic vegetati- n
– Increase depth f- r rental b- ats
• C- ns
– W- uld have a high c- st t- benefit rati-
– Landfill disp- sal c- st: $3 t- 4.5 milli- n
– T- wn Pr- perty disp- sal c- st: $2.2 milli- n
– pti- n 4 – remedial acti- n plan
• Pr- s
– Pr- vides maximum lake capacity
– Reduce maintenance f- r aquatic vegetati- n
– Increase depth f- r rental b- ats
• C- ns
– Unlikely t- get State Appr- val
– Difficult (Imp- ssible) t- find large en- ugh pr- perty t- remediate s- il
– Cann- t use M- TSU
– Questi- nable C- st t- Benefit Rati-
– Need f- r future m- nit- ring
Acc- rding t- a draft presentati- n prepared f- r Tuesday’s meeting, Cramer’s rec- mmendati- n is t- leave the pr- ject as it, and use the remaining funds f- r the lake dredging – n – ther pr- jects.
Source: Port City Daily
