The US Army Corps of Engineers has proposed dredging a 6,000 foot navigational channel near Athens, New York. The dredge spoils from the project would be disposed of on Houghtaling Island, an island in the middle of the Hudson. The project appears to be without a clear purpose; only one industrial business ships from this area and would benefit from the project, and even the Army Corps itself admitted that the project “is not economically justified.” Environmentally, the dredging would negatively impact fish spawning and nursery habitat for American shad, blueback herring, and alewife and would resuspend contaminants in the area.
Riverkeeper strongly opposes the current, unneccesary Athens navigational dredging proposal.