![]() If a beneficial use plan exceeds that cost, someone other than the NOD is expected to either pay the entire added expense, or at least share in paying the cost. The federal standard is most simply defined as the least costly, engineeringly feasible alternative method of disposing of the dredged material. Other impediments to the “beneficial” use of spoil include the presence of oyster leases or infrastructure (levees, highways, etc.) between the dredging area and desired disposal areas, and a term called the federal standard. In the dredging of the Mississippi River, the NOD often uses hopper dredges or dustpan dredges that deposit the spoil in those portions of the river that tend to maintain their depth naturally. Unfortunately, most of the dredged material can’t feasibly be used for marsh creation purposes. Since we are currently losing about 24 square miles of marsh yearly (15,360 acres), such a use of dredged material could be a huge part of our wetland restoration toolbox. Seventy-seven million cubic yards of dredged material, if placed in shallow water and stacked to create wetland elevations, could create 10,000 to 15,000 acres of marsh every year. It would be great if all that dredged material could be used beneficially to create marsh. Most of that dredging was needed to maintain Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River and various deep-draft crossings on the river. In 2003, the NOD anticipated having the need to dredge more than 77 million cubic yards of sediment from various navigation channels. Army Corps of Engineers oversees the largest dredging program in the United States. The New Orleans District (NOD) of the U.S. ![]()
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