Delays may sink Senge dredging
By Steve Myrick
Published: November 25, 2009
Further delays in the permitting process make it unlikely that Oak Bluffs can complete the Sengekontacket Pond dredging project this winter as planned, according to town officials.
Federal fisheries officials want more time to comment, the Wampanoag Tribe is concerned about cultural artifacts that may be turned up by the dredging, and the cost of the dredging appears likely to exceed funds earmarked for the work.
"We're certainly not going to be able to get all the work done this year," said Dave Grunden, the town shellfish constable, who is overseeing the dredging project. "We're hoping to get some of it done this year."
"If you do the math," town administrator Michael Dutton said, "there's no way we can get 57,000 cubic yards of sand out of there."
Town officials hoped to begin dredging the channel between Big Bridge and Little Bridge in September. Since then, they have been dealing with an ever-shortening window to complete work. Dredging must be complete by January 15, to prevent disturbing fish during their breeding period. Clearing the channel is intended to improve circulation of water in the popular salt pond, in order to improve water quality.
Comment period extended
The latest delay is an extension of the notice period set by the Army Corps of Engineers for interested parties to comment on the project. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) asked for more time to comment on the project. Under the Army Corps' regulations, the extension is automatic, so the comment period that was scheduled to close on November 20, is now extended to November 30.
"It's relatively standard in the review process," said Mike Johnson, of NMFS. "We're bumping up against our time frames to respond. It gives us a little extra time. We have to take it in the context of reviewing other projects. Occasionally we may not be able to respond in time for the end of the comment period, particularly if there are additional details."
According to Mr. Grunden, NMFS has requested additional information about beach profiles for the areas where dredge spoils are to be added to town beaches across from Ocean Park, and to Joseph A. Silvia State Beach. "The town shouldn't worry about getting the work done, we're just looking at a ten-day extension," Mr. Johnson said.
Following the comment period, the Army Corps must consider the concerns of NMFS, and decide what conditions, if any, are warranted as part of the dredging permit. That will also take some time, though the Army Corps could not put a time frame on the process.
"They don't ask for an additional 10 days unless they have an issue," said Karen Adams, chief of permits and enforcement for the Army Corps' New England district. "We still have a lot of work to do after the comment period is over."
Wampanoag concerns
Also contributing to the delay are the concerns of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah). Last summer the tribe's historic preservation officer, Bettina Washington, expressed the tribe's concern about future dredging projects to the Army Corps. Under federal law that obligates the Army Corps to take those concerns into account and consider conditions that prevent or mitigate damage to historic materials.
Erica Mark, project manager for the Army Corps, said, the tribe has sent no formal notice of its concerns during the notice period. "I'm expecting an actual letter from the tribe," she said. "I'm hoping we'll be able to schedule a meeting."
Ms. Mark said she has been attempting to schedule a meeting with Ms. Washington for several weeks. She wanted to schedule the meeting before November 20, the end of the original comment period. That could have expedited the final work necessary for a permit.
Oak Bluffs officials met with the Army Corps in October to press for an expedited review of the permit because of the tight timelines for the dredging project. Town officials say privately they expected the tribe to send a letter outlining its concern months ago.
The Army Corps is aware of an agreement between Oak Bluffs and the tribe for an archeological survey, but it is not yet part of their review process. "If the town is willing to agree to do the additional survey that's fine with us," Ms. Mark said. "But we don't know what the tribe's concerns are. They've been talking directly to the town."
Tribal concerns
This week Ms. Washington responded publicly to questions about items she said were found last year during an unrelated dredging project in another part of Sengekontacket Pond. The discovery of the items were part of the basis for an agreement between Oak Bluffs and the tribe to conduct an underwater archaeological survey of the dredging area, at a cost $24,900 to Oak Bluffs taxpayers. No Oak Bluffs officials connected with the dredging project have ever seen the items, and Ms. Washington refused to describe them during a phone conversation with The Times yesterday.
"We had cultural materials that popped up," Ms. Washington said. "Now we want to be careful, we want to be monitoring this a little bit closer."
The materials are in her office, Ms. Washington said. They were brought to her last year by someone she refused to name. She said the items have not been scientifically examined or authenticated by any independent experts, or tribal experts.
"We have said these are cultural resources. It begins very often with our identification. This is a real important thing to understand," Ms. Washington said. "We cannot use experts. The scientific world is finding out, a lot of their experts have turned out to be wrong."
Ms. Washington said the $24,900 cost of the survey to taxpayers is warranted. "If that is what is going to satisfy our concern, yes," she said. "We're concerned about cultural resources. They're being asked to pay for a survey because of cultural concerns on the whole pond. This is what we asked.
"Sengekontacket was a large village site. We know people have been using it for thousands of years. The likelihood of artifacts is highly likely. The fact that something has been found confirms that."
Ms. Washington said the tribe may have further testing or have an archaeologist examine the items in the future if asked by Oak Bluffs. "If it comes up to be important, we would look at that," she said.
Complicating factors
Selectmen Duncan Ross updated the board on the Sengekontacket dredge project at last week's meeting. He said the foreman of the Edgartown dredging crew has quoted Oak Bluffs a price of $11 per cubic yard to dredge the channel. At that rate, just removing the amount of sand requested in the permit application, 57,000 cubic yards, would cost $627,000. Voters have authorized a bond in the amount of $500,000 for the project, and that must pay for all ancillary costs, including the underwater archaeological survey.
"It's higher than I was expecting, to be honest. That's what Cow Bay is paying," Mr. Ross said, referring to the rate that homeowners in the Cow Bay section of Edgartown are paying for the Edgartown dredging crew to provide new sand for the private stretch of Bend in the Road Beach. "I have a problem when we're doing something jointly, Edgartown and Oak Bluffs, to clean up Sengekontacket."
The board voted to respond to the bid with a letter requesting further negotiation.
