Public may comment on Massey’s Ditch dredging

The deadline is coming quickly, but there’s still time to comment on Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s proposal to dredge Massey’s Ditch.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a public notice Oct. 19 to solicit comments and recommendations from the public concerning issuance of a permit to dredge the popular waterway. The notice says comments on the proposed work should be submitted, in writing, within 30 days.

The purposes of the project are to maintain safe navigable depths within the high vessel-traffic areas between Rehoboth and Indian River bays, and, said the notice, to provide for beach nourishment along Delaware Seashore State Park.

The public notice states the entire federal channel will be dredged as needed, which is expected to result in the removal of approximately 50,000 cubic yards of accumulated sediment from Massey’s Ditch. Dredging is also proposed north of Middle and Lynch Thicket islands, which is expected to remove another 50,000 cubic yards of sediment.

The federally authorized project provides for a channel 6.5 feet below mean lower low water, 100 feet wide and approximately 2.7 miles long. The channel connects Rehoboth Bay to Indian River Bay. The dredging north of Middle and Lynch Thicket islands is expected to be 7.5 feet below mean lower low water. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, mean lower low water is the average height of the lowest tide recorded at a tide station each day during a 19-year recording period, known as the National Tidal Datum Epoch.

If approved, the proposed 100,000 cubic yards of sediment removal will match the amount dredged since the channel was completed in 1957. The notice states the last federal dredging was in 1980, which saw the removal of about 39,000 cubic yards of sediment. Since then, DNREC has dredged the waterway a number of times – in 1987, about 10,000 cubic yards were removed; in 1990, another 15,000 cubic yards were removed; in 1991, 7,000 cubic yards were removed; and in 2002, 30,000 cubic yards were removed.

Based on a laboratory analysis from August, sediment samples indicate that approximately 95 percent of the sediment is sand, while 5 percent is silt.

DNREC proposes to hydraulically pump the material to Delaware Seashore State Park, just north of the Indian River Inlet for beach nourishment. The dredged material will be placed along 4,000 linear feet of the coast within the surf zone to allow the sediment to naturally disperse.

Additional information concerning this permit application may be obtained by calling Michael D. Yost at 267-240-5278, by email to michael.d.yost@usace.army.mil or by writing to District Engineer, US Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District, Wanamaker Building, 100 Penn Square East, Philadelphia, Pa., 19107.