US Army Corps of Engineers seeks public comments on navigation channel environmental review

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is seeking public comments on a draft environmental review for continued maintenance of the Columbia River Federal Navigation Channel.

The proposed maintenance includes placement of dredged material on the shoreline of Rice Island, just upstream from Astoria. The goal is to rebuild and protect the existing placement site and allow development of a forage area for streaked horned larks, a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

Maintenance also includes re-handling of dredged material at an in-water site near Howard Island, located where the Cowlitz River meets the Columbia. It’s needed because sediment deposition is forming too far away from the island for a dredge to directly pump that material to the existing placement site.

The public comment period ends Sept. 7, 2015.