Revised New Haven Harbor plan reduces dredging disposal sites in Long Island Sound
NEW HAVEN — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has scrapped
plans to build a salt marsh in West Haven that
would have used enough material dredged from New Haven Harbor to
fill 200 Olympic-size pools.
Instead, the more than 650,000 cubic yards of silt and clay
originally slated for the salt marsh at West Haven's Sandy Point will be spread
among three other sites — including two
underwater "borrow pits" — as part of the Corps' $84
million effort to deepen
and widen the harbor's shipping channel for larger vessels, according
to a project official.
Craig Martin, a senior project manager with USACE, said
in an email that the "level of containment" — or the barriers needed
to form the salt marsh's perimeter and keep the soft, silty dredged material in
place — "far exceeded" what engineers initially thought.
That stronger containment, he said, would have made the salt
marsh more engineered and less natural, required more long-term maintenance and
nearly tripled the construction cost, from $7.4 million to $20.6 million.
As a result, officials determined that building a salt marsh
at Sandy Point was no longer possible and removed it from the project's scope,
according to a public
notice issued last month.
More than 4.6 million cubic yards of material is slated to
be dredged from the harbor.
That material will now be added to what's already being used
to fill the Morris Cove and West River borrow pits, Martin said. Any excess
material will be taken to the open-water Central Long Island Sound Disposal
Site, where it will dumped on existing sediment piles from older dredging
projects.
New Haven Harbor is the largest port in Connecticut and the
second largest in New England, behind Boston Harbor. But it's not deep enough
to accommodate larger cargo ships, forcing them to off-load outside the
channel.
The dredging project aims to deepen the main shipping
channel by 5 feet and widen the waterway basin so ships can more easily
maneuver in and out. More than 4.6 million cubic yards of material is
slated to be dredged from the harbor.
Project plans call for most of the dredged material to be
taken to the open-water Central Long Island Sound Disposal site, where it will
dumped on existing sediment piles from older dredging projects. Smaller
portions will be used to fill the Morris Cove and West River borrow pits and
create an oyster reef near the harbor's east breakwater. A rock reef north of
the west breakwater will also be built using blasted stone.
Dredging is expected to begin in October 2026 and be
completed in March 2029, Martin said. The project is in the design phase.
Deepening the harbor, city officials have said,
will benefit
the local economy by improving access for commercial ships. The harbor
is a major entry point for petroleum products used by Connecticut and the rest
of New England.
“It’s very important that that channel maintains significant
depth in order to remain competitive,” Michael Piscitelli, the city’s economic
development administrator, said in 2021. “By deepening the channel we’ll be
able to maintain the market position of New Haven Harbor.”
The project could also bring environmental benefits.
For years, shoreline residents have asked to fill the borrow pits, saying it
would protect them from being used
as a dumping ground for other dredging projects. A 2010 proposal
to dump
material from Bridgeport Harbor into the Morris Cove pit drew sharp
pushback from city residents and then-gubernatorial candidate Dannel P. Malloy.
Martin said the pits are about 10 to 36 feet deeper than the
surrounding seafloor, trapping organic matter and depleting oxygen levels.
Filling the pits, he said, will restore habitats for bottom-dwelling
marine life and expand breeding and nursery areas for several types of
commercially valuable fish species, such as winter
flounder.
PURA delays Aquarion sale decision amid leadership shakeup
The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority has postponed its
decision on the proposed sale of Aquarion Water Co. to a newly created
nonprofit entity, delaying a pivotal moment in the closely watched utility
deal.
A proposed final decision in the $2.4 billion sale
from Eversource Energy to the Aquarion Water Authority was
originally expected Oct. 22. However, on that same day, PURA quietly amended
its docket schedule, pushing the date to Nov. 19.
The delay comes amid major leadership changes at the agency.
On Tuesday, Gov. Ned Lamont appointed
four new commissioners — effectively resetting the five-member panel —
and named Ronald Wiehl, an engineer and longtime PURA staffer, as the new
chair.
The appointments followed the resignation
of former chair Marissa Gillett earlier this month after five years in
the post.
The Aquarion case has become a flashpoint for state and
local officials, utilities and consumer advocates. Eversource, which acquired
Aquarion in 2017, announced in January that it would sell the Bridgeport-based
water utility to the nonprofit, quasi-public Aquarion Water Authority.
The authority was created through legislative changes to the
South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority’s charter, allowing it to
acquire Aquarion and operate alongside its parent organization.
Supporters of the sale, including Eversource and the South
Central Regional Water Authority, argue the deal will lower financing costs and
stabilize rates by converting Aquarion into a nonprofit structure.
Opponents — including more than two dozen municipalities,
the state Office of the Attorney General, the Department of Public Health and
environmental group Save the Sound —
An evidentiary hearing concluded this summer, and a decision
by PURA will determine whether the deal proceeds. Eversource has said it hopes
to complete the deal by late 2025.