New Bedford Ocean Wind Turbine Port Fiasco

New Bedford Toxic Ocean Wind Port -  One Million Cubic Yards of Material Stopping Project ?

Taxpayers Need Answers Now ! The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center has spent over 100 million building the New Bedford Ocean Marine Commerce Terminal at taxpayers expense.

Tug boat and ship operators in June of 2014 have complained the channel is still to narrow and shallow for an ocean wind turbine port.

The result of the complaints by tug boats is the Army Corps Of Engineers has of August of 2014 a brand new dredging plan for New Bedford Harbor. (To remove 930,000 cubic yards of material)

The material in New Bedford Harbor is the most toxic in the world.

This brings into question the management and finances of the current ongoing construction of the ocean wind turbine port. Why now a few months before the completion of the ocean port have they found the channel not wide enough and deep enough ?

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center put out a RFI in April. The RFI now has to be questioned ! What are they talking about in the RFI if the channel isn't wide enough and deep enough as stated in the RFI below :

One Million Cubic Yards Of Material Stopping Ocean Port New Bedford

http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Portals/74/docs/Media/MAJul2014.pdf

Page3 July 31, 2014

NEW BEDFORD AND FAIRHAVEN HARBOR (9th CD) –

”The District is currently preparing a dredged material management plan (DMMP) for maintenance dredging of the navigation channels in New Bedford and Fairhaven harbors. The main deep-draft channel to New Bedford has an authorized depth of 30 feet, while the shallow draft channels for the fishing fleet at Fairhaven have depths of 15 and 10 feet.

 A 2011 topographic survey of the Federal navigation system identified a total dredge volume requirement of 930,000 cubic yards (cy) of shoal material to restore the authorized project dimensions.The District is developing and evaluating a range of disposal alternatives with potential disposal locations in the upper and lower harbors and in the outer harbor.

The District also is conducting a suitability analysis to determine what portion of the identified shoal material may be suitable for disposal in approved disposal areas outside the harbor.The District will be considering several layouts of confined Aquatic Disposal (CAD) cells, to dispose of unsuitable materials. Some of these potential cell locations were identified in a Massachusetts state DMMP completed in 2004 by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (MACZM). “

The District plans to have a draft DMMP prepared in 2014.The DMMP will be accompanied by an environmental assessment.For details visit: http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/Navigation/Massachusetts/NewBedford.aspx

. A map is available at:

http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Portals/74/docs/Navigation/MA/NBH/NBHmap.pdf

.Massachusetts Clean Energy Center RFI :

http://images.masscec.com/uploads/programdocs/MassCEC%20RFI%20New%20Bedford%20Marine%20Commerce%20Terminal%20Operations.pdf

There is a picture o