A local university will work with the New York Harbor channels to research sediment contamination.
The Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI) received a $4 million grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation to work with the Hudson River Foundation and other partners to study sediment contamination levels in New York/New Jersey Harbor, according to the press release.
According to the release, The research will focus on navigation channels that are periodically dredged by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to ensure they are deep enough for container ships, tankers and other large vessels traveling to and from the Port of New York and New Jersey. The project will take three years and will help determine whether dredged materials in these areas are clean enough to deposit at sea, or when they will be in light of remediation efforts, according to the release. If sediments do not meet the ocean disposal standards, arrangements must be made to move them to suitable land sites, according to the release.
Tthe project builds upon the work of a 2002 Contamination Assessment and Reduction Project (CARP) that modeled the rates in which remediation efforts and natural processes would improve the quality of sediments in these areas. This project will be called CARP II and will revisit the accuracy of the models based on new and recent sampling and consider how unforeseen factors such as Hurricanes Sandy and Irene may have impacted contamination levels, according to the release. According to the release, CARP II will also produce new 15- and 25-year projections based on the findings.
UCI Director Tony MacDonald is the project’s administrator and thinks that the project is important to the future of the functionality of the harbors in the area.
“This project will provide the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other harbor stakeholders the scientific information they need to plan future dredge projects in a manner that fully considers the health of marine environments,” MacDonald said. ““With the Panama Canal expansion complete and the Bayonne Bridge being raised, New York and New Jersey can expect to see far larger vessels at their marine terminals. The maintenance of our navigation channels will be more important than ever to safely accommodate these mega ships and ensure our ports remain economically competitive.”
Some of the other partners in the project include Rutgers University, the University of Rhode Island, Manhattan College, as well as two private consultants, Simon Litten and HDR Inc, according to the release. UCI and the Hudson River Foundation will serve as the co-principal investigators on the project, according to the release. Sampling is expected to take place at points in the Arthur Kill, East River, Flushing Bay, Hackensack River, Hudson River, Lower and Upper New York Bay, Newark Bay, Passaic River, Raritan Bay, Raritan River, Red Hook Channel and Sandy Hook Bay, according to the release.
According to the release, UCI Marine Scientist Jim Nickels will lead the field sampling activities. Nickels feels like the project is not only a great opportunity for the students, but also a great indicator as to what the harbors will have to do next.
“Through CARP II, students will have excellent opportunities to conduct scientific research outside of the classroom,” Nickels said. “Their work will help gauge the health of some of the busiest marine corridors in the country.”
According to officials, the initial research portion of the project has already begun, and the group plans to start date samples later on this summer.
