The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wants to dredge New Haven Harbor in Connecticut and expand the channel to allow larger ships to pass through.
The Army Corps says they want to make the main channel of New Haven Harbor five feet deeper and widen parts of the harbor by as much as 200 feet. The plan would require the Army Corps to dredge more than four million cubic yards of silt from the channel.
Some of the dredged material could be used to make shellfish habitat, and to create a new salt marsh nearby. Connecticut environmental groups generally support dredging and the dumping of dredged materials in sites in Long Island Sound. Suffolk County environmentalists don’t like when the materials are dumped in Long Island Sound.
New Haven Harbor is New England’s second largest port, ranking behind only Boston. Petroleum is the most common cargo for ships sailing into the port.
