Port eyes funds for emergency river dredging

Flood waters have caused a portion of the Atchafalaya River to accumulate so much sand that many vessels cannot navigate about a mile long stretch, Port of Morgan City Executive Director Raymond “Mac” Wade said.
The Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District Commission met Monday.
That mile long section of the river is only 9.5 feet deep due to sediment buildup but is authorized to be 20 feet deep. The “plug” of sand accumulation is located 3 miles south of Crewboat Cut in the Atchafalaya River, Wade said. Water depth hasn’t been an issue at that spot in the river for many years, he said.
“This is a direct result of all the flooding that we’ve been having up north on the Red River … It’s hurting our economy,” Wade said.
Companies are having lots of trouble transporting equipment, he said.
Normally, the Atchafalaya River Bar Channel, which starts about 20 miles south of Morgan City, causes the most problems for vessels because of the buildup of fluid mud or “fluff.”
Port officials are requesting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers allow the port to use $1.2 million of the port’s annually allocated dredging funds to bring in a cutter-head dredge to remove 40,000 to 50,000 cubic yards of sand in the river between Deer Island and Shell Island, he said.
A cutter-head dredge uses a device similar to a blender to cut through the hard river sand and then transport the sand via a pipeline to a disposal site, he said. The dredge can probably be on site within a week to 10 days and finish dredging within 15 to 20 days, Wade said.
The $1.2 million will come from the $6 million port leaders had set aside for a dredge demonstration aimed at determining the best way to keep the Atchafalaya River Bar Channel dredged to 20 feet year round.
Port Commission President Jerry Gauthier said it is encouraging that the port’s dredging consultants think the dredge demonstration will probably have sufficient funds without the $1.2 million.
Port officials plan to start the Bar Channel dredge demonstration in May or June using a hopper dredge, Wade said. That demonstration should take about 60 days.
Corps Atchafalaya Region Manager Tim Connell said the Corps has limited funding right now and using a portion of the Bar Channel demonstration funds is the only option to dredge the problem area in the river right now.
The Corps has “bent over backwards” doing everything possible to try to get dredging funds, Wade said.
Wade has been talking with the Corps, Congressional staff, FEMA, the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, local legislators and parish officials trying to find funding to dredge the river, he said.
The Port of Morgan City is just one of many entities in the region that are in need of funding for dredging projects, Wade said. The Mississippi River is losing depth as well, and officials can’t get money to dredge there either, Wade said.
Port Economic Development Manager Cindy Cutrera said she has received many letters from businesses in the area to help strengthen the port’s case to receive more funding for dredging. Cutrera encouraged companies to contact the port regarding any problems they have with depth in the river.
In other business, the commission:
—Approved submitting applications and providing local matching funds for two U.S. Department of Transportation grants.
—Approved lowering the district’s annual millage rate from 4.49 mills to 4.48 mills.
—Authorized Wade to sign a letter of no objection for McDonough Marine to put mooring piles in Bayou Black.