Another option has been dumping uncontaminated sediment deep offshore in the open water. Historically, dredged material ends up in confined disposal facilities-large, enclosed areas either on land or in water that prevent the sediment from returning to the environment. Since 2018, EPA researchers and staff have been working with additional stakeholders to enhance the tool and create a manual to improve the tool’s usability. Following their discussions, they created the Dredged Material Decision Tool (DMDT) to compare sustainable disposal alternatives while accounting for economic, environmental, and social impacts. EPA researchers developed a tool that brings together these challenges to help decision-makers evaluate their options.īetween 2017 and2018, EPA staff working in Ohio worked with stakeholders in the Great Lakes basin to brainstorm alternatives to traditional dredged materials disposal methods, such as sustainably reusing the material for projects that benefit the environment and communities. When making decisions for managing this dredged material, state and federal agencies and port authorities must navigate a complex web of environmental and logistical challenges. This process excavates about four million cubic yards of sediment a year, which then needs somewhere to go. Across the United States., federal navigation channels and harbors are maintained through dredging, or removing sediment from the bottom. Keeping those waterways operational requires maintaining navigation channels and harbors at a safe depth for ships. On the Great Lakes, cargo ships travel a system of hundreds of miles of waterways to deliver critical goods to domestic and international markets. Dredging equipment conducting maintenance dredging in a navigational channel (Photo Credit: U.S.
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