Hilton Head Island Packet Logo

Don't risk Harbour Town for other dredging work | Hilton Head Island Packet

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Archives
    • Contact Us
    • eEdition
    • Newsletters
    • Subscribe
    • Contests
    • About Us
    • Sponsorships
    • News
    • Beaufort Gazette
    • Bluffton Packet
    • Special Reports
    • Databases
    • Local
    • South Carolina
    • Traffic
    • Crime & Public Safety
    • Business
    • Politics & Elections
    • Military
    • Nation & World
    • Professional Opinion
    • Lottery Results
    • Blog: Untamed Lowcountry
    • Sports
    • College
    • Golf
    • RBC Heritage
    • Recreation
    • High School
    • MLB
    • NFL
    • NBA
    • Outdoors
    • Columnists
    • Jeff Shain
    • Cast & Blast
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • Business
    • Real Estate
    • Technology
    • Full Stock Listings
    • Market Summaries
    • Mutual Funds
    • Treasury Rates
    • New Employee/Promotion Form
    • New Business Owner Form
    • Living
    • Celebrations
    • Religion
    • Food & Drink
    • Family
    • Outdoors
    • Holidays
    • Columnists
    • Lowcountry Gardening
    • Made With Love
    • Faith in Action
    • Entertainment
    • Arts & Culture
    • Local Events
    • Holidays & Seasonal
    • Horoscopes
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Columnists
    • Mindy Lucas
    • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Other Views
    • Readers Opinion
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Submit a Letter
    • National Voices
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Columnists
    • David Lauderdale
    • Liz Farrell
  • Obituaries

    • Classifieds
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Sections
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Place An Ad
  • Mobile & Apps

Editorials

Don't risk Harbour Town for other dredging work

IslandPacket - info@islandpacket.com

    ORDER REPRINT →

October 02, 2011 12:01 AM

Calibogue Cay property owners' decision to say no to Harbour Town property owners expanding their dredge disposal site to accommodate spoil from the marina is troubling for two reasons:

  • It could delay dredging Hilton Head Island's signature marina for several years.
  • The Harbour Town marina's fate remains linked to other less critical waterways in Sea Pines and sets up using Harbour Town as political leverage to gain approval for dumping dredge spoil into Calibogue Sound.
  • Uncoupling the Harbour Town project from the community's other waterways in need of dredging takes away a singular negotiating tool for those seeking inshore disposal. South Island Dredging Association officials have shown they can get attention for their issues if they talk about Harbour Town and its place in our tourism-oriented economy. Upstate lawmakers who in 2003 pushed for special legislation to remove Sea Pines' dredging projects from state oversight consistently pointed to Harbour Town and its economic impact as their reason for doing so.

    SIGN UP

    Sign Up and Save

    Get six months of free digital access to The Island Packet

    SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

    #ReadLocal

    Under the one-time proposal to use the Calibogue Cay site, Harbour Town property owners would have paid to raise the site's dike walls six feet using the existing spoil, allowing most of the yacht basin to be dredged. Once that material dried, the site could hold spoil from one or two more rounds of dredging by Calibogue Cay, according to an engineering survey.

    After homeowners objected to raising the dike, the Calibogue Cay board proposed that the site be used as is. But boat slip owners in Harbour Town said no because the amount dredged would be less and the cost to haul it away would be more, said Stu Rodman, a Beaufort County Council member and boat slip owner.

    Sea Pines and dredging association officials say they've looked at other options and concluded the costs were prohibitive.

    But open water disposal should be the last resort because of its potential risk to the environment. State regulators say they have approved open-water disposal only when land disposal options aren't available.

    The question is what makes land disposal not an option. Is it the cost? Is it not workable because trucks would travel through Sea Pines to haul away the muck dredged from the waterways?

    We urge Sea Pines officials to readdress the Harbour Town project in light of the Calibogue Cay decision and to separate the project from the other waterways.

    It represents about 20 percent of the estimated 350,000 cubic yards of spoil to be removed, according to a 2008 survey. In years past, dredging there has been done in two stages: first the channel, then the basin. That might reduce the acreage needed for upland disposal and removal. Areas of the Sea Pines Forest Preserve have been looked at for the entire project; they should be looked at again with just Harbour Town in mind.

    Most importantly, science must not take second place to finances. Any open-water disposal must meet environmental regulations and pass muster with the likes of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Natural Resources.

    Regulators are concerned that material dumped in the sound could cover marine life on the bottom of the sound or drift elsewhere, harming water quality and marine life. It also could be contaminated with heavy metals and other toxins from boat engines and other activity.

    Sea Pines officials say the material to be dredged meets regulators' standards. They can make their case, and they should do it based on sound science.

    Calibogue Sound is an important public resource and should not be compromised by the financial interests of private parties.

      Comments  

    Videos

    NC State’s Wes Moore talks about the Wolfpack’s loss to Notre Dame

    UNC’s Roy Williams reacts to rumor that former President Obama might attend Duke-Carolina game

    View More Video

    Trending Stories

    Marine Corps hero you never heard of sets history straight on Hilton Head

    February 18, 2019 07:28 AM

    Brace yourself: Beaufort Co. is close to the country’s second-highest ‘pollen hot spot’

    February 18, 2019 09:42 AM

    3 men facing charges in Hilton Head Shelter Cove ATM armed robbery, report says.

    February 18, 2019 03:53 PM

    Man stole 32 shirts from Tanger 1 store, report says. Here’s how much they were worth

    February 18, 2019 02:48 PM

    Ohio man thought he booked 1-week stay in Sea Pines. Turns out it was a scam, report says

    February 18, 2019 04:33 PM

    Read Next

    Principal sex-in-school case demands Beaufort County School District to come clean, now

    Editorials

    Principal sex-in-school case demands Beaufort County School District to come clean, now

    The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette Editorial Board

      ORDER REPRINT →

    February 06, 2019 01:40 PM

    Public trust in Beaufort County School District and the school board is the key issue in the case of Hilton Head high school principal accused of having sex in the building with on-duty sheriff’s officer. The school district needs to come clean.

    KEEP READING

    Sign Up and Save

    #ReadLocal

    Get six months of free digital access to The Island Packet

    SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

    MORE EDITORIALS

    Hilton Head principal sex-in-the-school case demands clarity from superintendent

    Editorials

    Hilton Head principal sex-in-the-school case demands clarity from superintendent

    January 13, 2019 08:06 AM
    Reopen investigation of Hilton Head Island High principal on sex in the school

    Editorials

    Reopen investigation of Hilton Head Island High principal on sex in the school

    January 07, 2019 05:43 PM
    Keep saying no: Beaufort County school board right to deny money for Moss in FBI probe

    Editorials

    Keep saying no: Beaufort County school board right to deny money for Moss in FBI probe

    December 11, 2018 07:39 AM
    Beaufort County Sheriff vs. Town of Hilton Head Island: A fight we should not be having

    Editorials

    Beaufort County Sheriff vs. Town of Hilton Head Island: A fight we should not be having

    November 10, 2018 07:22 AM
    5 things we learned from Tuesday election results in Beaufort County

    Elections

    5 things we learned from Tuesday election results in Beaufort County

    November 07, 2018 10:01 AM
    Hilton Head Island mayoral race: Style, substance and the peoples’ right to know

    Editorials

    Hilton Head Island mayoral race: Style, substance and the peoples’ right to know

    November 02, 2018 09:22 AM
    Take Us With You

    Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

    Icon for mobile apps

    Hilton Head Island Packet App

    View Newsletters

    Subscriptions
    • Start a Subscription
    • Customer Service
    • eEdition
    • Vacation Hold
    • Pay Your Bill
    • Rewards
    Learn More
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Newsletters
    • News in Education
    • Photo Store
    • Archives
    Advertising
    • Information
    • Place a Classified
    • Local Deals
    • Special Sections
    • Place an Obituary
    • Today's Circulars
    Copyright
    Privacy Policy
    Terms of Service


    Back to Story