The Maine Department of Marine Resources is about to hold a public hearing on a proposal to dredge Beals Harbor and Pig Island Gut Channel.
Following the town of Beals request for maintenance dredging, approximately 100,000 cubic yards of clay, silt, and sand will be removed from the 10-foot anchorage in Beals Harbor.
The project consists of a 10-foot-deep anchorage in the harbor with an average length of 600 feet and a width that varies from 600 – 1,000 feet. The anchorage was completed in 1957.
In addition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed a maintenance dredging project in Pig Island Gut, which would remove approximately 17,000 cubic yards of mostly silty sand material from the 6-foot channel and 6-foot anchorage of Pig Island Gut.
The public hearing, to take place May 14th at 6 p.m. at the Beals Elementary School, will be conducted to receive testimony solely about the impact of the project on the fishing industry.
If everything goes according to plan, the dredging will occur in the fall and winter of 2015-16 and is expected to take several months.
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