The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, and the Maine Department of Transportation will hold a meeting on the proposal for maintenance and improvement dredging of the Searsport Harbor Federal Navigation Project in Searsport, Maine.
The meeting will be held on March 26, 2014 in Belfast.
The Maine DOT is the non-Federal sponsor for the USACE Feasibility study.
The purpose of meeting is to inform the public of the project proposal and its anticipated environmental impacts and to advise the public of opportunities for public comment to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. A similar meeting was held Feb. 24 in Bangor.
The meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 26, 2014 at the University of Maine, Hutchinson Center, at 80 Belmont Avenue in Belfast, Maine.
In response to a resolution of Congress dated July 26, 2000, the USACE New England District in partnership with the Maine Department of Transportation, Maine Port Authority, has undertaken a Feasibility study of navigation improvements to the existing Federal Navigation Project at Searsport Harbor (Mack Point) in Searsport, Maine.
The selected project would deepen the existing entrance channel and turning basin from a depth of -35 feet to -40 feet at mean lower low water. In addition, the entrance channel, currently 500 feet wide at its narrowest point, would be widened to 650 feet, and a maneuvering area adjacent to State Pier’s east berth in Long Cove would be created.
Dredged material would be disposed of at the identified disposal site in Penobscot Bay. With the proposed project, deep draft vessels would be able to access the port more efficiently, and transportation costs for goods arriving at the port would be reduced.
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Press Release, March 7, 2014