Public Hearing Scheduled in OD on Dredging Project

After a request by the Town of Ogden Dunes and a number of its residents, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources has agreed to schedule a Public Hearing in Ogden Dunes regarding the dredging of the Burns Small Boat Harbor and placement of the material to nourish the Ogden Dunes beach. The Hearing will be held on Tuesday, January 13 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the Firehouse.

Residents petitioned for the hearing for several reasons:
1. The permit to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) by DNR will be effective for five years. Once the permit is approved, it becomes very difficult to make changes on the project or challenge it if there are issues or concerns.

2. Some residents have expressed concern about the quality of the sand that was hydraulically dredged and placed on our beach in 2000. The sand was very silty and contained a great deal of shredded aluminum cans, glass and other garbage.

3. DNR and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) did not involve the Town in any preliminary discussions about this project. Requesting the Hearing was our only way to allow public opinion to be expressed on the plan to place the dredged material on the Ogden Dunes beach.

4. Residents (and the National Park Service) have expressed concern that the material proposed to be dredged was tested in April 2008 prior to the September 2008 storm event that flooded Northwest Indiana and caused a disaster on the Ogden Dunes beach. Contaminants and other debris may be in the Burns Small Boat Harbor and channel that were not there previously.

Recognizing that erosion is again becoming problematic on the far-east end of Ogden Dunes, the Ogden Dunes Environmental Advisory Board (ODEAB) is certainly not looking to deny acceptance of the material. Nevertheless, it behooves us to make sure residents will be getting material that is clean and suited for our beach. Research at Duke University in North Carolina has shown that material that is too small or the wrong shape can erode 10 times faster than native sand. Furthermore, we simply cannot take that attitude that "what we don't know won't harm us."










The project also needs careful review because there are actually several areas that will be dredged as noted on the photo above: the entrance channel, the channel and the small boat harbor of refuge. Each area has different types of materials and amounts of chemical parameters in them.

Another reason to express our opinion is our current experience with the NIPSCO Intake sand that is being placed in the littoral drift by the split barge this past two summers. While areas on the west end of the beach are still showing vegetated foredunes, the foredunes and accreted sand have virtually washed away on the east end of Town. We need to make sure that the dredge on this project will place the material where it will be most beneficial.

The ODEAB met Tuesday, January 6 to share their research and begin preparing positions for presentation at the Hearing. If you are interested in seeing the back up materials, such as the Contaminant Determination conducted by USACE, please visit http://www.ogdendunes.net/. Materials should be on there soon.

We hope that you will consider participating in the Hearing. If you wish to make a statement, bring two written copies: one to hand to DNR officials and the other to give to any press that might be there. If you are uncomfortable making a public statement, DNR will accept just written comments as well.

USACE will also need an Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) Section 401 Water Quality Certification Permit before the project can proceed. We will let you know when that permit is posted on http://www.in.gov/idem/4400.htm#2008-568-26-JWR-A.

The earliest the dredging can begin is July 2009. However, it should be noted that USACE is still lining up federal funding for the project.