Wilmington Harbor Deepening
an environmentally damaging project
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) plans to expand the Wilmington Harbor by deepening the port from 42 to 47 feet.
Additional Opportunity for Public Comments - N.C. Division of Coastal Management
The N.C. Division of Coastal Management is holding a public hearing and comment period on the federal consistency determination associated with the Wilmington Harbor Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). The "consistency determination" is where the state has an opportunity to tell the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) whether or not the project is "consistent" with its coastal management program.
The primary message for comments is that the harbor expansion is inconsistent with the state's Coastal Management Plan and means that pretty much any coastal natural resource concern is relevant to the consistency determination of the Coastal Management Plan.
The public comments meeting takes place Monday, November 17th from 5:30 - 7:30 pm at the Skyline Center 929 N. Front Street, Wilmington. Comments can also be submitted to the N.C. Division of Coastal Management by 5 pm on December 5th. Written comments should be mailed to Federal Consistency Coordinator, 400 Commerce Avenue, Morehead City, NC
28557, or by email to Federalconsistencycomments@deq.nc.gov. Please put “Federal Consistency: USACE Wilmington Harbor 403 Navigation Project” in the email subject line.
by Linda Schoeni, Cape Fear Sierra Club Conservation Chair
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Wilmington District has opened a public comment period on its draft environmental impact statement (EIS) of the Wilmington Harbor project. Public comments on the multi-million dollar project to deepen the main channel from a depth of 42 feet to 47 feet will be accepted through November 3rd. The Corps’ draft letter report and draft EIS are available online: https://wilmington-harbor-usace-saw.hub.arcgis.com/ . Environmental issues mentioned in the report and EIS include increased salinity, wetlands function impact, and loss of fish habitat in the Cape Fear River. The potential impacts of dredging and disposing of PFAS-contaminated soils as well as the release of PFAS from Brunswick County’s nearly finished reverse osmosis (RO) plant are not mentioned. PFAS contamination in the Cape Fear navigation channel is currently one of the many critical environmental concerns that must be addressed.