Squalicum Dredging Project Included in FY16 Plan

Recent plans to dredge the Squalicum Waterway in Bellingham will move forward, according to the announcement of Rep. Rick Larsen.

Larsen yesterday announced that the project is moving forward after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers included $436,000 for the first phase of the project in its FY16 work plan.

The Corps is funding the sediment characterization portion of the project, which is required before carrying out the larger maintenance dredging project.

“The Squalicum Waterway enables commerce to flow in Northwest Washington, supporting about 2,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. I am pleased the Corps recognizes that maintaining this waterway is critical to the Pacific Northwest economy,” Larsen said.

“The Army Corps’ commitment to maintaining the Squalicum Waterway is great news for jobs and the economy in Whatcom County and the greater region, because our working waterfront businesses depend on the waterway to sell their goods both domestically and internationally,” said Port of Bellingham Executive Director Rob Fix.

Larsen worked on the project for quite some time now, holding meetings with the Port of Bellingham and pressing the Corps to invest in the dredging project that is critical to the Northwest Washington economy.

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