How Long-Term Dredging Policies Can Impact the Community: Finding A Dredged Material Placement Site In St. Joseph, MI

At St. Joseph Harbor, MI, efforts have been made to secure a long-term dredged material placement plan for over 30 years. Numerous sites with seemingly strong potential have gone awry for numerous different reasons over this period. This has frustrated the local harbor board, commercial entities, local community leaders and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Although a long-term dredge material placement plan is needed for annual maintenance dredging required to keep the Federally mandated shipping lane at it's authorized and required depths, a 1990 USACE reconnaissance study also determined that deepening the harbor by two feet was economically justified. However, without a site to house the material dredged from the harbor to provide this extra depth, the study has remained inactive. Upon the local sponsor identifying a viable alternative, a detailed feasibility study may be warranted to more closely examine this potential economic enhancement project.