Barriers to the Beneficial Use of Dredged Material and Potential Solutions

Sediment deposition into receiving waterbodies has long been a problem for maintaining ports and shipping channels. Ocean disposal of dredged material, once the prevalent disposal method globally, is becoming more restricted due to the range of contaminant concentrations in the dredged material. In the New York New Jersey (NYNJ) Harbor, the volume of potentially contaminated dredged material not suitable for ocean disposal will have to go upland. Due to maintenance dredging and harbor deepening, the volume of this material is expected to exceed 100 million cubic yards over the next forty years. Upland disposal of dredged material is expensive and has limited capacity. Innovative solutions are required to find adequate disposal options, targeting beneficial uses of dredged material. To make beneficial use viable, we need to improve efficiency by reducing costs, reduce environmental impacts and create marketable products. Key barriers to the beneficial use of these materials include intermittent supply, and lack of demand for recycled dredged material, regulatory and public acceptance, and capital costs. We propose, citing NYNJ Harbor case studies, a range of potential solutions to address long-term and short-term concerns, including changes in legislation, business, technology, science and education.