REPEAT/Corps issues dredging permit to Castle Astoria Terminals.Business/Shipping/City Desk Editors REPEATING... NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 11, 2000 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of District, today issued a federal permit to Castle Astoria Terminals, Inc., to dredge up to 105,000 cubic yards of material from its facility on Steinway Creek, off the East River in Queens, N.Y. The dredged material will be transported to the Historic Area Remediation Site in the Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Ocean [Lat.,=of Atlas], second largest ocean (c.31,800,000 sq mi/82,362,000 sq km; c.36,000,000 sq mi/93,240,000 sq km with marginal seas). Physical Geography Extent and Seas , where it will be placed as cover to remediate the site. The Corps and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and determined that the dredged material meets EPA EPA eicosapentaenoic acid. EPA abbr. eicosapentaenoic acid EPA, n.pr See acid, eicosapentaenoic. EPA, n. guidelines as material acceptable to be placed in the ocean and suitable to remediate the Historic Area Remediation Site (HARS HARS Historical Aircraft Restoration Society HARS HIV/AIDS Reporting System HARS Historic Area Remediation Site HARS Highway Advisory Radio System (public service announcements) HARS High Altitude Route System ). The agencies determined that issuing the permit is consistent with a 1996 agreement among the federal officials, port and labor interests, and environmental groups to resolve long-standing disagreements regarding disposal of dredged material from the Port of New York and New Jersey. As a result of the agreement, the Mud Dump Site, a site about six miles off Sandy Hook Sandy Hook, low, sandy peninsula, NE N.J., projecting 5 mi (8 km) N toward New York and separating Sandy Hook Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. At the northern end is a Coast Guard station and the former Fort Hancock, which was built to protect New York harbor and was , N.J., historically used for disposal of sand, silt and clays dredged from shipping channels, was closed. Simultaneous with closure of the Mud Dump, the site and surrounding areas that have been used historically as disposal sites for contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. material, were re-designated as the HARS. The material from the Castle Astoria Terminals facility has been tested and meets the criteria put forth in that 1996 agreement as material suitable to cover contaminated sediments that presently exist within the HARS. Under the 1996 agreement, significant additional protections were afforded to the ocean environment, and a long-standing backlog of dredging projects moved forward expeditiously ex·pe·di·tious adj. Acting or done with speed and efficiency. See Synonyms at fast1. ex , strengthening the economic viability of the Port. The permit issued to Castle Astoria Terminals contains 22 special conditions aimed at protecting the environment and navigation during dredging and HARS remediation activities. For example, the permit requires that all dump scows be equipped with "black boxes" which contain positioning equipment protected in tamper-proof receptacles. The boxes allow accurate monitoring of transport and placement locations. In addition, inspectors responsible for ensuring strict observance The Rite of the Strict Observance was a branch of Freemasonry which flourished on the continent of Europe for a period of no more than sixty years during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. of dredged material placement requirements must monitor all trips to the HARS. Inspectors must also ride vessels to ensure placement activities do not interfere with federally protected sea turtles and whales. The permit further requires strict adherence to conditions requested by the National Marine Fisheries Service The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is a United States federal agency. A division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Commerce, NMFS is responsible for the stewardship and management of the nation's living marine , U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and N.Y. State Department of Environmental Conservation. These include seasonal windows on dredging activities to protect fish migrations and fish spawning, as well as windows prohibiting dredging during periods of low dissolved oxygen in the East River. Additional conservation measures include a requirement for a closed clamshell dredge bucket and a restriction on barge overflow practices, which will further minimize environmental impacts of the project. Today's decision ends a three-year public interest review process which provided the opportunity for substantial public input through the issuance of three public notices by the Corps and through testimony received at a public meeting in October. EPA and the Corps believe, based on careful testing and evaluation, that the material from both Castle Astoria and the Brooklyn Marine Terminal is suitable for placement at the HARS based on the evaluation framework the Agencies have been using since the HARS was designated. It also meets the spirit and intent of the 1996 agreement. |
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