Public comments on the New Haven Harbor Connecticut Navigation Improvement Project Draft Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement are due to the Corps of Engineers by November 15, 2018.
The study is sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ New England District and the Connecticut Port Authority.
USACE said that a Draft Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement (D-IFR/EIS) has been prepared as part of the New Haven Harbor Navigation Improvement Project Study (NHHNIP).
To facilitate efficient and safe navigation and marine commerce in New Haven Harbor in New Haven, Connecticut, navigation improvements (deepening and widening) to the existing Federal navigation project were studied.
The proposed project consists of deepening the main ship channel, maneuvering area, and turning basin to -40 feet MLLW and widening the main channel and turning basin to allow larger vessels to efficiently access the Port of New Haven’s terminals.
The proposed improvements would remove about 4.28 million cubic yards of predominately glacially deposited silts from the Federal channel. Additionally, approximately 43,500 cubic yards of rock would be blasted and removed from the channel.
Several feasible alternative dredged material placement sites were identified and include: an area for shellfish habitat creation, two borrow pits in the harbor, an area for salt marsh creation, an area for rock reef creation, and open water disposal at an EPA-designated ocean dredged material disposal site (ODMDS) in Long Island Sound.
This D-IFR/EIS describes the existing environment of the project area and assesses the impacts of the proposed project.