HomeProgress-Index, 03/29/2006
$12 million, three years needed for dredging Appomattox River
PETERSBURG - Over 100 residents attended the Petersburg Harbor Initiative’s meeting in the Petersburg Regional Art Center Tuesday to see the most recent presentation on the harbor dredging project.
The presentation, run by Ron Reekes, assistant director of public works, was presented to state Secretary of Natural Resources L. Preston Bryant earlier in the week. The presentation was made to give him further information on the project.
The dredging project will encompass 9.7 miles of the Appomattox River from where it meets the James River to the Petersburg harbor. Its goal is to return the harbor and its channel to a width between 60 and 80 feet and a depth of at least 10 feet with a turning basin at Lieutenant Run.
One of the biggest concerns of the project, and the cause of the original stalling in 1993, is a large amount of hydrocarbons in the bottom of the channel.
“The dredging will take those [pollutants] and put them in a secure location,” Reekes said. If left on the bottom, he said, any significant flooding could stir up and spread those toxins.
A 60-acre site off Temple Avenue in Prince George County will hold the polluted sediment. Unlike the fill site used in the 1993 dredging downstream, this location is not on the riverfront.
“We need to figure out how to get fill from the river to this site,” Reekes said. The site will be surrounded by a 20-foot dike and “lined to ensure that contaminants do not move,” he said.
Additional work must also be done at Twin Ponds, a borrow pit site in Colonial Heights, to replace wooded wetlands that have formed near the Interstate 95 bridge, the area with the most silt buildup.
The next major step in the project is to secure funding for the dredging itself. Reekes estimates that it will take about $12 million over three years to complete the project.
A preapplication with the Department of Environmental Quality is being written, Reekes said. “Not only do we have to get a dredging permit but an air permit,” he said. During the dredging, the hydrocarbons may produce a strong odor when exposed to the air. Any contaminated silt left in the channel and placed in the fill site will be covered to prevent any further spread, Reekes said.
“If the funding is to come in as predicted, when would you see dredging?” Reekes said near the end of his presentation. “In fall 2008 or, if any funding doesn’t come in as expected, fall 2009.” The project must start when the water is cold, he said, to cause minimal disturbance to wildlife in the channel.
Gathering funding for the project has been hard in some instances, Reekes said, due to the status of the channel. “Its classification is shallow depth noncommercial dredging,” he said. “It’s one of the lower classifications.”
“I was impressed with the presentation,” said Del. Rosalyn R. Dance, D-63rd. She said that she had spoken to several delegates and not only is there support from area delegates, “We have positive feedback from the state.”
Although funding to complete the project seems within reach, “We have a lot of work ahead of us,” Reekes said. Once the project is completed, Reekes said, it would remain on the Army Corps of Engineers list of areas to dredge every eight to 10 years.
Once the dredging is complete, a plan to redevelop the harbor area and downtown will be implemented. Before that happens, Downtown Petersburg Inc. is trying to increase citizen involvement.
“We want feedback on what [citizens] want to see happen before this big team comes down to design,” said Terry Ammons, principal of studioAmmons in Petersburg. “Anyone who wants to can play a part in planning this process.”
* T. DeVon Robinson may be reached at 732-3456, ext. 260.
