Town advancing 10-year harbor dredging plan; agencies pressing for clarity on disposal locations

Natural resources staff briefed the Harbor Shellfish Advisory Board on progress toward a multi-year dredging permit and said the town is moving from conceptual areas to mapped dredge footprints for permitting.

Jeff said the first two priority dredge areas identified through public sessions are the entrance to Nantucket Harbor (Poultney Harbor entrance referenced in transcript) and an area from Madaket through Hither Creek into Madaket Harbor; secondary areas include Easy Street Basin, the channel from town and areas in and around Cushman Point. Staff held a pre-application meeting with relevant state agencies seeking to bundle a 10-year permit and were asked to provide more detail about dredge-disposal locations and reuse plans.

"One of the things they've asked for is a little bit more clarity on where any dredge material is gonna go, whether it's on beaches in the area or if the town's gonna kind of stockpile it and create, like, a little sandbank to be reused or something later," Jeff told the board. Agency feedback emphasized prioritizing public beaches and coordinating dredged sand with local coastal resilience objectives.

Staff said the town aims to submit permit materials this winter to begin a multi-year implementation window and is working to align dredge designs with resiliency concerns such as erosion control. Timing and disposal details remain subject to state permitting decisions and to coordination with coastal-protection plans.

Ending

The advisory board received the update; staff said they will continue mapping dredge prisms, develop disposal/reuse plans that prioritize public beaches and seek permit authorization during the winter permitting season.