OAK ISLAND — Another beachside town has joined the joint regional statement, proposed by Southport and championed by alderman Karen Mosteller, calling for more mitigation efforts in the Wilmington Harbor 403 Dredging Project.
The agenda item was brought forward by Mayor Chris Brown at the Oak Island town council meeting on Feb. 10 and passed unanimously. The resolution was first brought up to council at its previous meeting in January by Mosteller, who spoke to council about the intiative. Mayor Brown also spoke with Rep. Charles Miller [R-19] about the project and the resolution.
READ MORE: Legal fees mount amid Bald Head Island concerns with harbor deepening
“This is not a resolution or a statement saying that we’re against it,” Brown explained. “If you read the statement, it says that we want mitigation protocols put in place. And right now it’s inadequate.”
Brown pointed to the lackluster mitigation budget proposed by the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which is at $60 million. The project costs a total of around $1.3 billion. Brown then pointed to a similar harbor deepening project in Savannah, Georgia, which allotted $500 million for mitigation efforts.
The harbor deepening project was first proposed by the Port of Wilmington in 2019 to dredge the channel. The channel, which is currently 42 feet deep, is set to be augmented to 47 feet. The dredging would begin 16 miles off shore and extend 38 miles up the river to the port.
The project has brought in several concerns about environmental preservation related to bird nesting sites and erosion, as well as further objections to the lack of mitigation surrounding the potential exacerbation of chemicals like PFAS and mercury.
Oak Island joins other beach towns like Southport and Bald Head Island in the regional statement.
The harbor project’s federal consistency review, which is a necessary step before a federally funded project is approved, has been put on pause by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and the USACE in order to address public comments and concerns related to its DEIS.
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