In light of the recent decision announced by Maersk Inc., and Sea-Land Service Inc., to bypass the Port of Baltimore for an East Coast hub in favor of New York, U.S. Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest (R-Maryland-1st) has called on the Governor to delay plans for dumping dredge material at Site 104 for at least 18 months until further environmental impacts can be studied and the state can assess alternative placement sites.

"The Maersk/Sea Land decision takes some of the pressure off of the situation since the state will not have to immediately embark on deepening berths and channels to accommodate these giant ships. It would now be a reasonable step by the state to yield to the serious environmental questions raised as well as the overwhelming public concern and opposition by communities on both sides of the Bay and take this time to consider some alternatives," Gilchrest said.

The Congressman also pledged to seek a delay in federal funds should the state not voluntarily delay action. Gilchrest has met with House Appropriation Committee leaders seeking to delay funding in the FY99 Energy and Water Appropriations bill which funds the federal share of US Army Corp of Engineering projects - the agency responsible for overseeing the dredging work. However Gilchrest cautioned that this is a difficult proposition for Congress, since it is using legislation to override a federal permitting process.

Gilchrest has successfully added language to the Water Resources Development Act requiring the Corps of Engineers to examine the environmental impact of overboard dredge dumping on nutrients in the Bay. Excess nutrients in the Bay have been linked to outbreaks of harmful algal blooms such as Pfiesteria. Yet the issue of nutrient overloading has never been considered when it comes to dumping dredge spoils. Gilchrest hopes that a delay in dumping at site 104 will allow time for the completion of this study and will shed further light onto the dangers of open water dumping. If passed by the Senate, the study would be completed 18 months after the bill is signed into law.

"I am well aware of the difficulty in assembling a universally acceptable plan for dredge material disposal. However, in this time of shared sacrifice for the general protection and health of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, when we are calling for changes in the way we farm, we fish, we build, and we drive, it is not unreasonable to expect our state government to work a little harder and a little smarter to find a better way to protect both the Port and the Bay," Gilchrest wrote in a letter to the Governor.

"I am especially sensitive to the need to protect and promote the employment base of the Port, but we are smart enough to figure out a better way to dispose of the spoils generated by dredging. It may be a little more difficult or a little more expensive to dump somewhere else, but too many livelihoods and too much of Maryland's economic and ecological future depends on the Bay not to try harder," Gilchrest said.

Reference TheChesapeakeBay.com's February 22, 1999
article, Stop Open Bay Dumping at Site 104.