Dredge Compromise

EPA and the two states announced a compromise yesterday on the issue of where to dump material dredged from local harbors: New Rochelle, Rye and Norwalk can go ahead with projects they already have permits for and dump the dredge spoils at Long Island Sound's two longtime dump sites.

After that, the Times reports:

Decisions about future projects will be made by a team of state and federal experts who will first look for treatment options and disposal on land.

And Newsday added:

Under the agreement, both states and the EPA will have to develop a plan to promote alternatives to on-water dumping, such as using dredged materials to cap landfills or build beaches. The plan also will promote technologies that remove toxins from dredged material.

The two dump sites can be closed down by EPA if the new procedures are not followed or if adverse environmental impacts are detected, EPA spokesman David Deegan said.

Citizens Campaign for the Environment had been pushing hard for a ban on dumping in the Sound, and I know that some people in the environmental community in both states had raised their eyebrows at the zeal with which CCE was pursuing the issue. But CCE seems to be able to live with the compromise:

"We're playing in the realistic world here, and this is a realistic agreement," said Adrienne Esposito of the Farmingdale-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment.

The Stamford Advocate covers the Norwalk angle here. And here's EPA's press release.