Peabody Dredging Plan Unveiled

The town of Peabody is seeking a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, to impact waters of the U.S. in conjunction with excavating sediment from Crystal Lake, located at Crystal Drive and Lowell Street, in Peabody, Mass.

The town of Peabody proposes to excavate sediment from Crystal Lake to improve its aquatic habitat and recreational use.

Crystal Lake and Elginwood Pond are eutrophic man-made ponds that feed into Norris Brook. The proposed work involves drawing down Crystal Lake, excavating and dewatering sediments on the lake bottom, and removing the dewatered sediments, approximately 51,500 cubic yards, for disposal at the town of Peabody’s Farm Avenue Landfill.

A portion of Elginwood Pond will provide an area to receive dewatering discharges from Crystal Lake.

Work in Crystal Lake includes the temporary discharge of dredged or fill material below the ordinary high water line (OHWL) of waters of the U.S. consisting of 2.1 acres of pond bottom for construction access roads, which will be either timber mats or temporary gravel roads underlain by filter fabric; 2 acres of pond bottom for dewatering stockpiles; 800 square feet of pond bottom for a cofferdam at the inlet at Lowell Street; an undermined area of permanent stone fill to construct a drawdown sump; and 725 square feet of pond bottom for two construction entry pads, which will be constructed of stone and geotextile.

Work in Elginwood Pond in connection with the Crystal Lake work includes the discharge of dredged or fill material below the OHWL of waters of the U.S. consisting of 2,840 square feet of pond bottom for a temporary construction entry pad, which will be constructed of stone and geotextile; turbidity curtains; and an undetermined area of temporary fill for a riprap energy dissipater.

After completion of the Crystal Lake work, approximately 0.56 acres of Elginwood Pond will be isolated by cofferdams and dewatered to remove sediments that accumulated in the pond as a result of the Crystal Lake work. Up to 1,300 cubic yards of sediment will be removed for disposal at the town of Peabody’s Farm Avenue Landfill. Impacts to Elginwood Pond for this later work are 2,700 square feet of cofferdams and an undetermined area of permanent stone fill to construct a drawdown sump.

[mappress mapid=”21314″]