On August 4th, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (WA) and Gordon Smith (OR) and Congressman Brian Baird (WA), Undersecretary of Agriculture J.B. Penn, Corps of Engineers District Commander Colonel Thomas O’Donovan, state legislators, local officials, and many Coalition members representing businesses, labor unions, farms, ports, and communities across the Northwest joined to celebrate the start of deepening the Columbia River navigation channel from 40 to 43 feet.

This celebration event took place on the banks of the Columbia River at Frenchman’s Bar Park in Vancouver. As speakers commemorated the beginning of channel deepening, a bulk ship awaiting a load of grain from the Port of Kalama provided an appropriate backdrop as did a tug and barge brought by Tidewater Barge Lines. In addition, the Portland Fire Bureau kindly provided their fire boat to display an celebratory fountain of water.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractor Great Lakes Dredge & Docks has now completed deepening 14 miles in the lower Columbia River navigation channel from River Mile 3 to RM 17. The next phase of deepening is anticipated to occur later this year in the channel’s upper 10 miles near Portland/Vancouver.

After more than 15 years of study, planning, economic and environmental analysis, and funding requests, the Coalition thanks everyone who has supported the Columbia River Channel Improvement Project for helping to build a stronger Northwest economy through maritime trade. Now that this important work is underway, let's stand together to ensure that the full channel is deepened as expeditiously as possible.

Many Oregon and Washington state legislators and several key Northwest Congressional staff joined some port, business, labor, agricultural, navigation, and community leaders for the fifth annual informative tour of the Columbia River from Portland to Longview on August 11, 2005.

Participants were able to personally view the ports of Vancouver, Portland, Woodland, Kalama, St. Helens, and Longview, longshoremen at work, wheat and other cargo being loaded, large ocean-going ships being piloted through the channel, tugs and barges in action, and other elements of the navigation system that support our region's trade-based economy. These officials were also briefed on the economic benefits and environmental protections of the Columbia River Channel Improvement Project to deepen the navigation channel from 40 to 43 feet.

This boat tour provided an excellent opportunity to thank legislators who have actively supported the channel project, encourage strong future legislative support, and provide a detailed project update for all participants.

Special thanks to the generous co-sponsors of this year’s successful boat tour:

The Coalition has been working with lower river communities for several years to develop and implement plans to keep more dredged sand in the littoral system and to protect the jetties that are so important to safe navigation at the mouth of the Columbia River. We convened the group that put together the Benson Beach nourishment demonstration project which placed dredged sand on the beach north of the north jetty in 2002. The Coalition also participates in and financially supports the Lower Columbia Solutions Group, which is working to prevent erosion of the south jetty.

Just this month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a research permit for the Near-Shore Disposal Demonstration project to evaluate enhanced disposal on a limited basis in the near-shore environment on the southwest end of the south jetty. NOAA Fisheries and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service completed their reviews under the Endangered Species Act and for Essential Fish Habitat, giving EPA a green light to issue the permit for the demonstration project.

This demonstration project began on September 14th. Over a two-day period, the dredge Essayons dispersed six loads of maintenance dredging material taken from the Mouth of the Columbia River into the near-shore zone resulting in a thin layer approximately seven centimeters deep. The disposal took place in depths of 40-60 feet and no visible turbidity plume was evident. Science Applications International monitored the placement side using sediment profile imagery. In addition, Parametrix is conducting multi-beam bathymetry readings of the area to show the footprint of the accumulations on the ocean bottom.

This project will test the feasibility of a thin-layer disposal method and indicate if the dredge material will disperse toward the shoreline as anticipated. In addition, it is critical to ensure minimal impact to aquatic organisms, especially Dungeness crabs.

If the demonstration project is successful, this disposal method may be used on a regular basis to replenish sands and protect the south jetty. This year, the Coalition is contributing $49,000 to the Lower Columbia Solutions Group that oversees the Near-Shore Demonstration Project. In addition, Coalition members are contributing $3,000 to fund the monitoring for this project.

Our objective has been and remains to support efforts to find solutions that will beneficially use dredged material to nourish beaches and protect the important jetties.

Northwest Environmental Advocates (NWEA) filed an appeal with the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in August requesting review of the U.S. District Court decision in June that allowed the channel deepening project to move forward. The NWEA appeal raises the same issues that were already addressed from the original lawsuit, which attempted to halt both the channel deepening project and the annual maintenance dredging that allows maritime commerce to function on the lower Columbia River.

The channel project has passed the test of extensive economic and environmental reviews by both state and federal environmental agencies during the past several years. Additionally, the U.S. District Court in Seattle found that the Corps of Engineers and National Marine Fisheries Service had complied with requirements under both the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act. The channel deepening project has received unanimous support from the Northwest Congressional delegation as well as strong support from the White House.

We welcome the following organization who officially joined the Coalition during the past few weeks:

Dredging of the Columbia River navigation channel has occurred since the 1860s. For over 30 years the channel has been maintained at a federally- authorized depth of 40 feet. The channel is only 600 feet wide (enough room for two large ships to safely pass each other) and runs just over 100 miles from Portland/Vancouver out to the mouth of the river near Astoria.

Please feel free to contact the Columbia River Channel Coalition (CRCC) with any questions, concerns, or information requests. Thank you so much for your partnership in building a stronger economy through maritime trade.