PUBLIC NOTICE: NOTICE OF INTENT TO FILE PUBLIC NOTICE: NOTICE OF INTENT TO FILE
Please take notice that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), 696 Virginia Road, Concord MA 01742 (Phone: (978) 318-8238) is intending to request Water Quality Certification and Coastal Zone Management Consistency Concurrence through Maine's Natural Resources Protection Act permit application with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to the provisions of 38 M.R.S. §§ 480-A through 480-BB on or about May 15, 2026. The application is for the maintenance dredging of the Searsport Harbor Federal Navigation Project (FNP) in Searsport, Maine.
USACE is proposing to dredge approximately 40,000 cubic yards (cy) of mixed sand and fine-grained sediments from shoaled areas totaling six acres within the Searsport Harbor FNP located in Searsport, Maine. These areas will be mechanically dredged to the authorized project depth of -35 feet at mean lower low water (MLLW) plus 2 feet of allowable over depth. Two Confined Aquatic Disposal (CAD) Cells will be constructed adjacent to the FNP for the placement of the dredged material that is unsuitable for open water disposal, CAD Cell A (Starter Cell) mechanically dredged to a depth of -62 feet MLLW and CAD Cell B (Primary Cell) mechanically dredged to a depth of -72 feet MLLW. The dredged material that is unsuitable for open water disposal from the CAD Cell A/B construction, approximately 23,000 cy, will be placed in CAD Cell A. The dredged material from the Searsport Harbor FNP that is unsuitable for open water disposal will be placed within CAD Cell B. The dredged material from the CAD Cell A/B construction that is suitable for open water placement, approximately 62,000 cy, will be placed at Rockland Disposal Site (RDS) in Penobscot Bay, Maine. The work is anticipated to begin in the fall of 2027 and would take approximately six months to complete. The window for construction will be November 8 through April 8 in the year(s) in which funds are available.
A request for a public hearing or a request that the Board of Environmental Protection assume jurisdiction over this application must be received by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection in writing, no later than 20 days after the application is found by the Department to be complete and is accepted for processing. A public hearing may or may not be held at the discretion of the Commissioner or Board of Environmental Protection. Public comment on the application will be accepted throughout the processing of the application. For Federally licensed, permitted, or funded activities in the State's Coastal Zone, review of this application shall also constitute the State's consistency review in accordance with the Maine Coastal Program pursuant to Section 307 of the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1456.
The application will be filed for public inspection at the Department of Environmental Protection's office in Bangor, Maine during normal working hours. A copy of the application may also be seen at the municipal offices in Searsport, Maine. Written public comments may be sent to the regional office in Bangor where the application is filed for public inspection: DEP Eastern Maine Regional Office, 106 Hogan Road, Bangor, Maine 04401, Phone: (207) 941-4570, Fax: (207) 941-4584.
