PORT OF LOS ANGELES : County Would Pay for Dredging Damage
Los Angeles County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have agreed to compensate the port for any damages if the corps goes ahead with a plan to place contaminated landfill in port waters.
The Army Corps proposes dredging 132,000 cubic yards of sediment and debris from the entrance channel to Marina del Rey and storing it on the ocean floor as part of the port’s Pier 300/400 expansion project. The plan was rejected by the California Coastal Commission last week.
But Army Corps spokesman Fred-Otto Egeler said he expects the corps to resubmit the proposal and start work on a long-term solution for buildup of debris in the navigation channel at the marina. The commission may approve the project if a long-term plan is developed.
The port, which initially expressed concern about the corps plan, now has “a responsibility to respond to the project,” Dwayne Lee, the port’s deputy executive director for development, told harbor commissioners at a meeting last week.
The Harbor Commission agreed to go along with the county’s proposal to pay for damages if the corps’ operations interrupt work on the pier expansion, which began Sept. 6.
Lee said the Harbor Commission needed to act on the agreement because Mayor Richard Riordan supports the dredging and disposal plan.
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