Dredging of North Entrance to Channel Nearly Done

Dredging of the north entrance to the Marina del Rey channel, which had been piled with storm-borne sediment, should be completed by Friday, officials said.

But the problem of how to dispose of hazardous material is likely to postpone dredging of the nearly unnavigable south entrance.

Removal of 93,000 cubic meters of sediment from the north entrance began March 13, said Stan Wisniewski, director of the county Department of Beaches and Harbors. The south entrance is 85% full of sediment and almost impassable to boats, including emergency-response vessels, he said.

The pesticide chlordane is contaminating sediment at the south entrance to the channel, said Steve Dwyer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for maintaining access to the channel.

The contaminant has been present for several years, Dwyer said, but never at the high levels detected in the past month.

Wisniewski said that removal of about 20,000 cubic meters of sediment from the 600-foot-wide south entrance would bring it to 50% of its intended depth, where it has been for the past few years.