Angus Council scheme to dredge Arbroath’s flagship marina and keep it as navigable as possible is still on the table, waiting for the approval of the authorities.
Shearwater Dredging Ltd. has been awarded the contract to remove 12,000cum of silt from the inner and outer harbors as well as the navigational channel.
According to the Council, they are expected to be in Arbroath as soon as the licence is in place and consent has been granted by the Crown Estate Commissioners.
Before the dredging can begin, the Marine Scotland will need to approve a new three year licence to dispose of dredged material at sea.
As part of the licence application a Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO) report and chemical analysis of the silt within the harbor was carried out. The results of the chemical analysis found a high content of metals such as chromium, copper, nickel and zinc.
This gave the Marine Scotland cause for concern and they requested that further chemical analysis and particle size analysis was carried out on more samples of silt.
The BPEO has also had to be updated to reflect the results of all the additional analysis and to reinforce that dumping at sea is the optimum proposal for disposal of the silt.
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