Environment DEC
From the December 2007 issue
Grannis and King Announce Jones Inlet Dredging Funds Now Available
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has secured the necessary authorizations to enable the start of dredging of Jones Inlet this winter, Commissioner Pete Grannis and Congressman Peter King announced recently. This project is integral to rehabilitating Point Lookout beaches, protecting private property, preventing navigational hazards, and reducing the impacts of erosion on the natural resources of the area. State contracts were approved for a $7.6 million Jones Inlet project, clearing the way for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin the dredging and beach restoration.
Project Will Protect Waterfront Communities
The dredging will remove enough sand from the bottom to make the inlet safe for navigation
"DEC has remained committed to following through on this critical project and finding the funding to make it happen," Commissioner Grannis said. "Congressman King and Senators Schumer and Clinton have joined DEC in working to accomplish these funding authorizations, and we will continue to work with them to maintain the inlet and protect waterfront communities."
While maintaining navigational channels such as Jones Inlet is traditionally the responsibility of the federal government, New York State took the unusual action of funding the dredging to ensure the project was expedited. The dredging will be completed before the spring nesting season of the endangered piping plover, which nests at Point Lookout, and will fulfill Commissioner Grannis's commitment that the work would be completed in time for the 2008 boating season.
Culmination of Months of Negotiations
The announcement is the culmination of months of negotiations between DEC, Congressman King, senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, and the Army Corps of Engineers, as well as the offices of the Attorney General and State Comptroller which authorized the contracts. Because no federal funding was in place for the timely start of the work, $7.6 million in state funding was made available for the project's implementation as part of the state budget and legislation signed by Governor Eliot Spitzer in July 2007.
With the state funding, the Army Corps will arrange for dredges to remove sand in the Jones Inlet channel to a depth that is safe for navigation. The exact start date of the work will be dependent on when equipment is available. The dredged sand will be placed on the Point Lookout beach, and will begin to remedy the down-drift erosion problem in the area.
More Information
While Congressman King and senators Schumer and Clinton are continuing to work to obtain funding for future work at Jones Inlet, New York State does not anticipate reimbursement for the current dredging expenditure. See the complete press release upon which this story is based for more comments from officials present at the announcement.
