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<< Back E-mail Update – April 23, 2004 – Volume 4, Number 7 Congressional Appropriations Hearing Begin:: The U.S. Senate Energy & Water Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing on Tuesday, April 20, 2004, regarding the Administration’s budget request for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). The witnesses were Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works John Paul Woodley and Corps’ Chief of Engineers General Robert B. Flowers. Woodley testified that the Columbia River project was of the “highest priority.” Flowers stated for the first time on record that $15 million was the minimum needed to begin dredging in 2005. U.S. Senators Patty Murray (WA) and Larry Craig (ID) both serve on the subcommittee. Both senators actively questioned the witnesses to establish the Corps’ support for channel deepening, laying the foundation for securing a major appropriation this year. One critical point in the hearing was testimony prompted by Senator Murray that the Columbia River Channel Improvement project clearly has received all final required approvals (economic justification, state and federal environmental approvals, and the Corps’ Record of Decision) to move toward construction, while some other projects with specific funding in the President’s budget have not yet been approved by the Corps. At this time, the Assistant Secretary of the Army is completing the project review and then will forward the project to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). OMB will complete their project review before recommending a specific funding level to Congress. Disposal Site Acquisitions Moving Forward: Deepening the Columbia River deep-draft navigation channel will produce significant volumes of dredged sand that must be placed outside the channel. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers identified 34 upland disposal sites in Oregon and Washington to accommodate both the channel deepening project as well as annual operation and maintenance dredging. Those sites include proposed disposal plans for beneficial use sites, ecosystem restoration, and wildlife mitigation. At least 28 of the 34 sites have already been utilized for disposal or were previously planned for annual maintenance dredging use by the Corps. The disposal sites requiring acquisition have been re-appraised or will soon be re-appraised to account for their current value. For details regarding the proposed sites, please see the Corps’ Final Supplemental Integrated Feasibility Report/Environmental Impact Statement at http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/issues/CRCIP/Final/vol1/Chp4.pdf. Ocean disposal at the designated Deep Water Site was again required when two proposed ecosystem restoration features (Lois Island Embayment and Miller-Pillar) were not approved for disposal of maintenance dredge material by state environmental agencies providing the water quality permits and coastal zone management approvals last summer. Those two ecosystem restoration features were included in the Corps’ preferred disposal plans and would have eliminated the need for ocean disposal. Each year, approximately 11-13 million cubic yards (mcy) of material is dredged from the mouth of the Columbia River and the lower river channel to maintain navigational safety. The channel has been dredged since the 1860s and the 40-foot depth has been maintained annually for over 30 years. Channel deepening will remove a one-time volume of approximately 14.5 mcy. After channel deepening, the Corps anticipates that annual maintenance dredging volumes will be reduced to 8 mcy. Over a 20-year period, a significant reduction in maintenance dredging is expected to drop to approximately 3 mcy. This is a long-term benefit for maintenance dredging of the navigation channel – less cost and less potential environmental impact. Coalition Keeps Expanding: We welcome the following organizations who officially joined the Coalition during the past two weeks:
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