Port of Baltimore Dredged Material Management Plan Studies Alternatives, Economics, and the Environment

To prepare for a predicted shortfall of placement capacity for future dredged material placement from the Port of Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay channels, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, needed a Dredged Material Management Plan (DMMP). The goal was to maintain navigation in an economically and environmentally sound manner, study alternatives for dredged material placement, and maximize the use of dredged material as a beneficial resource.

The DMMP is driven by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers mandate to hold a 20-year plan for placement capacity, which includes the 4.5 million cubic yards of material produced by annual maintenance dredging for the Port of Baltimore. Preliminary Analysis predicted a shortage of material placement sites within 10 years. The DMMP process must also be National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliant.

Developing a DMMP for All Stakeholders

Concentrating on public outreach as a critical component of developing the DMMP, Weston Solutions, Inc. (WESTON®) created public information documents and organized and conducted three Baltimore-Area community outreach meetings to solicit comments, ensuring compliance with NEPA regulations. WESTON prepared and distributed public notices, advertisements, and presentation materials, and developed two informational public Web sites for the District.

In developing the DMMP, WESTON is working with public advocacy groups, state committees, and other governmental agencies, and addressing federal, state, and local dredging needs, with beneficial use of the material as a top priority. As a federal project, the DMMP required a NEPA-mandated Environmental Impact Statement, a tiered and programmatic approach, and an economic and placement site evaluation that considered national interests.

A final DMMP that meets the requirements of all stakeholders includes the following tasks for WESTON: 

• Compiling an extensive reconnaissance study of existing data and identifying dredged material disposal options

• Performing a feasibility study of placement options

• Formulating placement options with emphasis on beneficial use

• Analyzing and comparing alternatives

• Establishing alternative screening criteria

• Documenting the plan formulation process

• Finalizing a 20-year plan

To uncover the most effective environmental and economic placement site alternatives, WESTON evaluated transportation costs; assessed economic benefits; provided conceptual cost estimates; collected demographic, land-use pattern, and regional economic data; conducted economic risk and uncertainty analysis and trade-off analysis; and reviewed commercial and recreation data. WESTON also evaluated existing environmental assessment data, and performed endangered species searches,  habitat mapping, cultural resource surveys, benthic community structure surveys, and GIS environmental data management.

WESTON used its engineering experience to identify the capacity of existing disposal sites, study beneficial dredged material uses, and evaluate innovative technologies. To determine the feasibility of disposal and navigation options, WESTON reviewed and analyzed wind, tide, and current data; wave analysis; sediment depositions; shoaling and erosion rates; hydrodynamic model data; and erosion and sediment control measures.

As part of the Alternative Screening Process for dredged material use, WESTON analyzed environmental and economic benefits using the Bay Enhancement Working Group’s scoring system. A suite of alternatives was developed for each of the bay’s geographic areas, the choices were ranked, and the best suite of beneficial uses was proposed.

Effectively managing an extensive amount of project data, WESTON established a secure Web-based knowledge management portal and a secure internal Web site for information, contacts, and reports accessible by all team members.