What is the Process for Determining if Dredged Material can be Dumped in Open Water?

 Stakeholder input was received in the summer and fall 2007 through a questionnaire, public meetings and technical workshops. The input received for the DMMP agencies consideration for the development of revised interpretive guidelines for dioxins was summarized in the DMMP Dioxin Analysis of Stakeholder Input report as described above. The DMMP agencies have deliberated on the input received, as well as each DMMP agency's legal and regulatory context. Due to the technical, legal, and policy level complexity of dioxins and challenges associated with balancing various objectives a proposal for a revised framework is still under development.

A number of alternatives are under consideration to determine the suitability of dredged material containing dioxin (and dioxin-like compounds such as PCBs) for unconfined, open-water disposal. However, there are few dioxin/furan or PCB congener data for Puget Sound outside of certain Superfund and MTCA cleanup sites. Therefore, it is currently difficult to evaluate the practical, economic, environmental, and regulatory consequences of these alternatives.

As a result, the agencies have determined that additional sampling is needed to provide data on concentrations of dioxins/furans and PCB congeners in Puget Sound which would be a useful set of information for inclusion in the DMMP program deliberations. In addition, data collected will have utility for other programs such as cleanup programs (CERCLA/MTCA) and the Puget Sound Partnership. To assure timely progress towards realization of the procedures, the DMMP intends to complete this sampling by September 2008, and have results available to the agencies mid-winter. The DMMP Agencies are committed to having a proposal for interpretive guidelines that is as clear as possible, and includes public input, by the 2009-2010 dredge season.

Dredging suitability determinations regarding dioxins will be made in the interim on a case-by-case basis, using a disposal-site-specific, background-based evaluation method, similar to that used in 2006 at the Anderson/Ketron disposal site. More information on the interim approach can be found here.



Link to Army Corps of Engineer page