DREDGING UP CONCERNS

State: Project does not harm marine life


ABOVE: AGM Marine Contractors of New Bedford arrived in the Dumplings last week to begin dredging 2,000 cubic yards of sediment from the seafloor. The dredging will allow Jamestown Boat Yard to work on yachts from its piers through high and low tides.

ABOVE: AGM Marine Contractors of New Bedford arrived in the Dumplings last week to begin dredging 2,000 cubic yards of sediment from the seafloor. The dredging will allow Jamestown Boat Yard to work on yachts from its piers through high and low tides.

Despite objections from more than 550 Jamestown residents because of environmental and safety concerns, dredging off Dumpling Drive is underway by marine contractors from New Bedford, Mass.

The work by AGM Marine commenced Friday to remove 2,000 cubic yards of sediment from the seafloor. According to Brandon Sommers, general manager of Jamestown Boat Yard, work must be done by Jan. 31 because state law restricts dredging from February through mid-October. He expects to meet that deadline with time to spare.

“There are always snafus in the world,” he said, “but we should be done by the weekend.”

A subcommittee of the Coastal Resources Management Council, the state agency in charge of preservation and development along Rhode Island’s shoreline, approved the project by a 4-2 vote in October. The application was passed despite objections from 25 witnesses, including testimony from Anne Kuhn-Hines, chairwoman of the conservation commission, who said dredging could disrupt eelgrass beds in the cove.

A supervisor watches as water pours from a clamshell dredge after it removes a mound of sediment from the bottom of the bay. Work is scheduled to finish this weekend. PHOTOS BY CHRIS POWELL

A supervisor watches as water pours from a clamshell dredge after it removes a mound of sediment from the bottom of the bay. Work is scheduled to finish this weekend. PHOTOS BY CHRIS POWELL

The decision to approve the application was filed Dec. 31. Laura Dwyer, public education officer for the coastal agency, said they used scientific evidence to ensure the project would not harm quahogs and eelgrass. The quahogs that were removed from the dredging area, about 41 bushels, have been relocated “to a nearby location” under the supervision of state biologists.

“We used measurable standards that showed the project is not a threat,” she said.

The decision echoes Dwyer’s comment. “It appears that the proposed activity does not have a reasonable probability of causing a detrimental impact upon the coastal resources of the state of Rhode Island,” it reads.

Steve Devoe, the former marina owner who retired in December, testified that the proposed improvements were meant to increase the operational efficiency of the boatyard. Without the dredging, he said, the mechanical work that is done on boats is based on the tide cycle, and workers continually are bringing boats on and off the working pier during the day. The water at the docks is not deep enough for work to be done at low tide.

A drone shot of the work being done in the water off Dumpling Drive. According to Jamestown resident Stuart Ross, the photo “clearly shows the silt plume from dredging wafting over the eelgrass beds.” Jamestown Boat Yard is contracting the work. PHOTO BY STUART ROSS

A drone shot of the work being done in the water off Dumpling Drive. According to Jamestown resident Stuart Ross, the photo “clearly shows the silt plume from dredging wafting over the eelgrass beds.” Jamestown Boat Yard is contracting the work. PHOTO BY STUART ROSS

Dredging the seafloor, Devoe said, would allow boats to stay at the docks until they are fixed. This process is not intended to increase boating traffic, he added. Despite Devoe’s testimony and the approval, Stuart Ross called the project “a brutal assault on a healthy ecosystem.”

“We can’t undo the dredging,” he said. “That’s permanent damage. This cove is being turned into something that it should not be.”

Ross, who serves as president of the Friends of Dumplings Cove, said the objectors are looking into legal recourse. While nothing has been filed yet, an appeal of the decision could impede the second part of the project, which is to extend the working piers by 56 feet. The group also is looking to block future maintenance dredging.

“We can still stop some damage,” Ross said.

Along with the work resulting in environmental damage, Ross said the project will turn the cove into a safety hazard for kayakers and swimmers. The group also is worried about increased traffic congestion on Dumpling Drive because the dredging will allow the boatyard to service larger yachts. The harbor commission also is concerned about the potential influx of houseboats in the future.

Sommers, who arrived in Jamestown following the boatyard’s sale to Safe Harbor, said “none of that is true. Nobody has to worry about megayachts and houseboats.”

Sommers reiterated Devoe’s position about the project being nothing more than an opportunity to increase the boatyard’s efficiency.