Council OKs Ventura Keys Sediment Test

Hoping to take a first step toward a joint dredging program for the Ventura Keys, the City Council approved an agreement Monday to begin sampling the sediment in the waterways.

The council authorized City Manager Donna Landeros to contract with Ventura-based Applied Engineering Technologies Inc. to begin sampling and testing. The entire process should not cost more than $33,270.

The sampling and testing will lay the groundwork for the next Ventura Keys dredging project, which city engineers anticipate will occur during the fall and winter of 1998 and 1999.

In an attempt to provide cheaper, more efficient dredging, the City Council last November approved an agreement with Richard Parsons, a former Ventura port district commissioner, to administer the Porto Bello Dredging Program. Under that agreement, Parsons must negotiate permits for the dredged sediments to be moved outside the waterways.

But before state and federal regulatory agencies will issue permits for dredging, the sediment must be tested. Seventeen samples will be taken in the Ventura Keys and additional samples will be taken at the Santa Clara River mouth, where the city plans to deposit the sediment.

The purpose of the sampling is to measure the grain size of the sediment, and to test for substances of concern to the regulatory agencies, such as toxic materials or heavy metals.

Applied Engineering will conduct sediment sampling tests for the port district at the same time. The city hopes that by using the same consultant as the port district it will be able to save money.

City officials say they hope this will be the first step leading to a cooperative dredging program between the Army Corps of Engineers, the port district and the city of Ventura.