More bad news for Eastpoint dredging plans

Plans to dredge the Eastpoint Channel have hit another snag.

Dredging the channel has been a local priority for years, but the project has never happened because of funding problems and environmental concerns.

The channel hasn’t been dredged now in over 20 years and the channel is so shallow even oyster boats have a hard time using it on low tides much less larger boats like shrimp boats.

The project did almost happen in 2004 but the money for the dredging wound up being spent in New Orleans and since then the project has not been re-funded.

Earlier this year commissioners thought they had reached an agreement with the Department of Environmental Protection and the Corps of Engineers that could have had the dredging happen using a permit approved in 1983, but now it seems that plan has fallen through.

Commission Chairman Pinki Jackel said last week that the DEP has decided that the county will have to apply for a new permit to dredge, a process that can take months.

Commissioner Jackel said she is optimistic that the county will get the permit though she hopes the agency will expedite the process as much as possible.

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