Town of Chatham Seeks to Modify Dredging Permit

The town of Chatham is seeking a permit from the USACE, New England District, to conduct work in waters of the U.S. in conjunction with modifications to a previous permit to dredge and dispose of material as beach nourishment in Chatham, Mass.

The town of Chatham has applied for permit modification to a previous permit which was issued to the town on January 31, 2014.

The modifications would allow expansion of the town’s dredging and disposal program into other areas that have become a priority since approval of the original project.

The original permit combined seven town dredging projects and 17 disposal sites into a town-wide dredging permit for better management of the projects. The town of Chatham is now seeking to incorporate additional sites into the town-wide permits as follows:

Two new dredging sites are proposed.

A large new zone of dredging (improvement dredging) is proposed in Pleasant Bay. Shoaling within Pleasant Bay has been an ongoing concern and the town is proposing to incorporate improvement dredging within a new large “zone of potential dredging” located in Pleasant Bay between Minister’s Point and Strong Island.

A small maintenance dredging project has been added at Mitchell River.

Four additional beach nourishment disposal sites are proposed:

  • Scatteree Landing – expansion of existing approved beach nourishment area from 18,320 square feet to 80,995 square feet for the Pleasant Bay dredging material;
  • Linnell Lane – for disposal of dredged material from town dredging projects and additional capacity for the Pleasant Bay dredging;
  • Nearshore – an additional nearshore disposal site just outside the northern inlet for mechanical dredging in proximity to potential dredging locations and to provide an alternative site for hopper dredging operations if existing nearshore sites become infeasible to access due to ongoing changes in the beach and inlet morphology of the old inlet system;
  • Pleasant Street (Private Beach) – for disposal of dredged material from town dredging projects.

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