Evergreen

[All U Get]

Hi all,

They finally freed the Evergreen ship in the Chesapeake. Watching the news it was stated that they removed 5 million tons dredge material. Nice to have a new channel, but where did they drop the material? Is there a new Evergreen Island?

 

[dlochner]

It will be used to re-build a nearby island.

DonJon & Cashman Lead Dredging of Grounded Evergreen Container Vessel - DredgeWire

William Doyle, the Executive Director of the Port of Baltimore advised DredgeWire: “Technical experts have been onboard and have been surveying the vessel since last week. A salvage team, Naval architects and divers are working to determine the best course of action to free the ship. The...

dredgewire.com

 

[tfox2069]

Hi all,

They finally freed the Evergreen ship in the Chesapeake. Watching the news it was stated that they removed 5 million tons dredge material. Nice to have a new channel, but where did they drop the material? Is there a new Evergreen Island?

I don't know the ACTUAL answer to your question, BUT, I can tell you that for many years now the state of MD has been funding the rebuilding of islands in the Chesapeake that have suffered erosion over time. Poplar, James and Barren islands have received huge amounts of sediment from channel dredging, etc. There's really no shortage of places in the bay that need shoring up (see what I did there?). Poplar Island isn't far from Baltimore, and is an uninhabited island being restored for wildlife habitat. James Island alone was looking for 72 acres of dredged material (and isn't far from where the ship ran aground):

Dredged material to rebuild two Chesapeake Bay islands | Wildlife & Habitat | bayjournal.com

And the port of Baltimore is a common source of the dredging material for these islands:

Mid-Bay Project to get $84M for dredging to benefit islands, port (wbaltv.com)

Its my sailing grounds, so I'm happy to have the muck dredged from where its inconvenient to where it isn't. I hope the ironically named Ever Forward at least contributed to the projects.

 

[jssailem]

Do I understand this correctly, they dig up the muck that has carried the heavy metals, and discards of a port like Baltimore, and deposit on a manmade island that is to become a wildlife sanctuary...

Is there no issue with the disturbing the muck and then putting it on an island for the animals to play?

 

[tfox2069]

Do I understand this correctly, they dig up the muck that has carried the heavy metals, and discards of a port like Baltimore, and deposit on a manmade island that is to become a wildlife sanctuary...

Is there no issue with the disturbing the muck and then putting it on an island for the animals to play?

They do exactly that, jssailem. No idea what the environmental analysis (if any) says about its effect on the animals using the reclaimed habitat.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Poplar Island, which was used for these spoils, is used for all of the spoils from ongoing maintenance dredging of Baltimore and the channels that feed it. I don’t know how they manage the contaminants in the mud, but it’s not a new problem for this effort.

 

[jssailem]

Well time will tell. Flightless 3 legged birds and such will give us clues into the success. Pretty sure I don't want to be eating fish caught in that vicinity...

 

[All U Get]

They do exactly that, jssailem. No idea what the environmental analysis (if any) says about its effect on the animals using the reclaimed habitat.

We’ve never been on that side of the Chesapeake but know there are spots that are very shallow. The analysis used for impact generally gives a radius of where the spoils can be dumped. I will highlight my paper charts once it is confirmed.

 

[dlochner]

Do I understand this correctly, they dig up the muck that has carried the heavy metals, and discards of a port like Baltimore, and deposit on a manmade island that is to become a wildlife sanctuary...

Is there no issue with the disturbing the muck and then putting it on an island for the animals to play?

Don't blame it all on Baltimore. The Chesapeake has a very large watershed that includes parts of NY state, NJ, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia and Delaware. From my home in Syracuse, I only need to drive about a half hour to be in the watershed.

The Chesapeake Bay Watershed

The Chesapeake Bay watershed extends about 500 miles south from the headwaters of Otsego Lake, near Cooperstown, New York to the Atlantic Ocean and Suffolk, Virginia.

www.cbf.org

A good source of current information on the Chesapeake is the Chesapeake Bay Journal.

www.bayjournal.com

 

[JamesG161]

Nature does its best by many rainfalls, which also drains to the Bay.

The Clean Water Act had stopped much of so called Heavy Metals for years [1972].

Why would the "Muck" be full of them?

Baltimore is famous for it Crabs, I would like a bushel of those Crabs sent to me, please.
JIm...

 

[rgranger]

(snip) The Chesapeake has a very large watershed (snip). A good source of current information...

I see what you did there....

 

[All U Get]

Nature does its best by many rainfalls, which also drains to the Bay.

The Clean Water Act had stopped much of so called Heavy Metals for years [1972].

Why would the "Muck" be full of them?

Baltimore is famous for it Crabs, I would like a bushel of those Crabs sent to me, please.
JIm...

She crab soup, where’s my spoon?

 

[Will Gilmore]

Do I understand this correctly, they dig up the muck that has carried the heavy metals, and discards of a port like Baltimore, and deposit on a manmade island that is to become a wildlife sanctuary...

Is there no issue with the disturbing the muck and then putting it on an island for the animals to play?

An old family friend had a marine construction business when we were living in Florida. He was often complaining about the state regulations around dredging and construction of docks because you had to send water samples in to Tallahassee to be tested for clarity. The state wanted more sea grass to grow and if the water wasn't clear enough for sunlight to reach the bottom, no dredging and no covering the surface with a dock.

The thing is, sometimes a permit was denied where the channel was too shallow, because the water was murky for whatever reason, sediment or pollution, and the grasses were already struggling. Dredging the channel deeper and/or wider would have had the effect of improving the flow through the channel and lowering the bottom well below the churning blades of boat traffic. This would create a better environment for grass because silt laden water would flush through and remain clear while grasses could grow undisturbed from surface traffic. Well intentioned regulations or initiatives almost always have unintended side effects. We live and learn, and hope we don't correct ourselves out of the beauty of this world we live in. Leave poisoned muck under the bay where delicious crabs frolic or pump it up onto land where tasty rabbits nibble their days away?

There must be a third choice?! Hum, I wonder what it could be?

-Will

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Don't blame it all on Baltimore. The Chesapeake has a very large watershed that includes parts of NY state, NJ, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia and Delaware.

Hmmm, all of New Jersey drains into the Delaware River (or Bay) and the Atlantic. I suppose you could say there is drainage from the C&D canal, which is linked to the Delaware drainage, but I think that's a stretch! There isn't any natural drainage from New Jersey to the Chesapeake.

 

[dlochner]

Hmmm, all of New Jersey drains into the Delaware River (or Bay) and the Atlantic. I suppose you could say there is drainage from the C&D canal, which is linked to the Delaware drainage, but I think that's a stretch! There isn't any natural drainage from New Jersey to the Chesapeake.

@Scott T-Bird you are correct, the map I posted does not include NJ. I didn't look close enough and relied on memory. Now, let's talk about Bayonne in the 60s and 70s.

 

[kappykaplan]

And to close this out, the Coast Guard has faulted the pilot in the grounding of Ever Forward in March 2022. "A Coast Guard investigation into the grounding in March of a cargo ship in the Chesapeake Bay faulted the pilot tasked with helping the ship navigate the waterway, saying he relied too much on one piece of equipment to navigate and was on his cellphone in the runup to the grounding." Full report is here: EverForwardGrounding_ROI_Redacted.pdf (uscg.mil)

 

[jssailem]

If I understand the report, just like airplane crashes, “ the pilot” did it.

Thanks Kappy.
Failure to attend to one’s job, multitasking, is again the cause for a ship to sail in waters too shallow.

They will never learn.

 

[kappykaplan]

Failure to attend to one’s job, multitasking, is again the cause for a ship to sail in waters too shallow.

And people still think it's safe to text and drive!

 

[jssailem]

Though it was not specifically stated in the report. The Able Bodied Seaman at the helm failed to be aware of the route, failed to raise an alarm when the individuals in charge put the ship in danger. Likely raising the defense “I was just following the commands of the deck officer “.

 

[jssailem]

The report recommends Civil action against the persons in charge.

Ever wonder about the boat skipper using an Auto pilot to follow a pre defined route. The boat is approaching a “critical turn” and the skipper is in the galley.

There is a scene in Hunt for Red October that I love. The boat is approaching a critical turn. The captain is off the bridge. The crew and Exec are preparing to execute the turn and suddenly The booming voice of Sean Connery commands the ships crew to execute his order as he is suddenly in their midst.