USA: No Money for Essex River Dredging

Merrimack River Beach Alliance members have started an initiative to ensure help to rivers to the south, the Ipswich, the Essex and the Annisquam, however the future is not very bright due to financial constraints of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, reports salemnews.

Edward O’Donnell, navigation division chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in New England district says: “Assistance requests like these are way down on the priority list. The funding that would be available goes to projects that have commercial traffic, like the deepening of Boston Harbor. Rivers in this area are viewed as recreational, and there’s no money for that now.”

Gloucester harbor officials said that frequently used parts of the Annisquam are so shallow that it’s very hard for two boats to traverse the river in opposite directions.

“I hear what you are saying about the problems of the three rivers, and getting together in a political way,” Edward O’Donnell said. “As the situation now stands, there is no funding for (recreational) projects like that.”

[mappress]

Dredging Today Staff, July 30, 2013