The UK’s Marine Management Organisation (MMO) recently released the Harwich Haven Authority Disposal Site Characterization Report.
Harwich Haven Authority (HHA) is seeking to identify a new disposal site for its maintenance dredging material which is closer to shore than the existing disposal site at the Inner Gabbard.
The report comprises the MMO’s decision on Harwich Haven Authority’s (HHA) proposal for a new maintenance dredge material disposal site 19 km offshore east of the Essex coast at Harwich.
Following a comprehensive review of the proposal, including extensive consultation with stakeholder organisations, Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies (SNCB), Cefas and members of the local commercial fishing industry, the MMO concluded that a trial period of two dredging and disposal campaigns at the proposed disposal site will take place.
Each campaign will involve the disposal of up to 500,000 cubic meters of dredged material in order to validate the predictions made in the Site Characterization report (SCR).
After the trial, the MMO will undertake a review of the results of a physical monitoring program with stakeholders.
The MMO will then decide whether to designate the site as open for the long term disposal of maintenance dredge material.
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