Dredging proposal troubles fishermen

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BAR HARBOR – Fishermen from all along the coast of Mount Desert Island are worried about a dredging project proposed for Bar Harbor.

It’s not the actual dredging of about 1.57 acres of sea floor that bothers fishermen, however.

It’s the 13-hour journey that a barge would be making to carry 9,714 cubic yards of sediment from the dredge site in Frenchman Bay to the disposal site near Tupper’s Ledge in the Union River Bay.

The lengthy proposed route travels directly through lobster grounds fished by residents of Bar Harbor, Southwest Harbor, Tremont, Cranberry Isles and Blue Hill, fishermen said at a public information meeting held in Bar Harbor Thursday night.

Because the project has sparked some opposition, the state departments of Environmental Protection and Marine Resources scheduled Thursday’s meeting so local people could air their opinions about the project, which is being proposed by hotelier Tom Walsh.

Walsh is proposing to dredge the 68,439-square-foot area in front of his Golden Anchor Inn to a standard depth of about 8 feet at low tide to enlarge the existing marina. The area now grades from 1 foot to nearly 7 feet of water at low tide.

The new marina area will be used to install a 226-foot-long series of 10-foot-wide floats at the end of an existing 125-foot float. The whole contraption would extend 351 feet into the bay perpendicular to the sandbar that leads to Bar Island. Three 10-by-80-foot finger floats would be connected to the main float, forming an E-shaped configuration that faces the town pier.

Eben Salvatore, general manager for the Golden Anchor, said Thursday that the marina is being designed for wealthy tourists who visit Bar Harbor on their yachts, but also will be made available for commercial use and rental by smaller vessels. Each float will be able to dock a 130-foot vessel, which needs at least 6 feet of water, he said.

Before any boat docks, however, the sediment must be removed from the sea floor and dumped miles away in Union River Bay.

Fishermen are concerned that the barge, which must make its journey around MDI at least 25 times to dispose of all the dredge material, will disrupt the fall lobster and scallop seasons. The Army Corps of Engineers requires dredging projects to take place between November and April.

“The whole length of the route is going to be filled with lobster gear. You’ve got, I don’t know how many, hundreds of thousands of dollars of gear in there,” said Jack Merrill, a Northeast Harbor resident who serves as vice president of the Maine Lobsterman’s Association.

Salvatore responded with a verbal offer to delay the project’s start into December, as well as shift the disposal barge’s route, if necessary.

“This route is flexible,” he said. “It’s already 13 hours – one hour in either direction isn’t going to bother us.”

Several local residents also raised concern Thursday over a clam bed located near the sandbar, only 500 or so feet from the dredging site. Sediment from the dredging could cause irreparable harm to the sensitive ecosystem, they said.

Since 1997, the MDI Water Coalition has been doing environmental monitoring along the waterfront in an effort to bring the clam bed to a size where it is commercially viable, said Jane Disney, executive director for the coalition.

“There’s been a huge investment in the area on the part of citizens and kids and teachers,” Disney said.

“We are still putting in our best effort to do the right thing for this area. I would hate to see any risk,” she said. “What if it goes awry? What’s the accountability?”

Sherman Merchant of Gouldboro raised a similar concern that sedimentation could follow currents across the town line and interfere with his clam beds, a complication that he saw during a recent dredging project on the Schoodic Peninsula.

“Where I used to go dig eight, 10, 12 bushels of clams, there’s nothing now,” Merchant said.

Little risk exists of sediment becoming suspended, then smothering shellfish beds when it settles out in other locations, said Christopher Heinig, of MER Assessment Corp., a Brunswick consulting firm hired by Walsh.

Much of the surface material to be removed is rocky cobble and coarse sand – with particles too heavy to travel great distances. Beneath the surface lies a sticky marine clay that will be removed in large pieces, Heinig said.

“The sediments here are cohesive,” he said. “It’s really chunky stuff; it’s not subject to a lot of siltation.”

Residents also raised questions about the dredging project’s impact on the ecosystem of the Bar Island area.

An eelgrass meadow located about 100 feet east of the proposed dredge site is home to urchins, crabs and flounder. The grass has begun colonizing the dredge area and small patches of this wildlife habitat will be destroyed.

“Eelgrass is a vital habitat,” said David Dunton, a biologist and recreational sailor from Salisbury Cove.

Dunton also raised concerns about the impact that dredging would have on the often-unpredictable currents in the Bar Island area. Waves could bounce off the newly flattened bottom and erode the edges of the dredged area, or even Bar Island itself, he said.

“You’re creating a basin and causing whirling currents,” he said. “You’re turning it into a bathtub.”

Studies have not been done to consider impacts beyond the dredging area because of the expense and uncertainty involved.

“It’s very difficult for any of us to look into a crystal ball,” Heinig said.

No such studies are required by state agencies or the Army Corps of Engineers, Salvatore said.

The project’s global impact worried several residents, however.

The marina’s location is within the limits of the town’s harbor, but it doesn’t offer the safe haven associated with most harbors, said Jon Carter a lobsterman from Bar Harbor who serves as chairman of the town’s harbor committee.

“We all know that Bar Harbor isn’t really a harbor. We have a huge problem with storm surges,” he said.

Offshore storms have caused waves large enough to strike the windows of the Golden Anchor Inn and even tear down piers. They would certainly be powerful enough to knock boats and floats from the Golden Anchor Marina into the crowded inner harbor area, residents said.

“It’s like dropping a stone in a puddle. The waves just go until they hit something,” added Harbor master Charlie Phippen. “The potential is always there.”

The DEP will accept public comments until a decision is made on whether to grant the Golden Anchor a permit for dredging under the Natural Resources Protection Act.

Written comments may be submitted to Department of Environmental Protection, 106 Hogan Road, Bangor 04401, Attention: Stacie Beyer.

For more information, contact Beyer at 941-4570.