'Hart Miller Island II' Dike Proposal Defeated

With a standing room-only crowd of more than 100 people, the Maryland Port Authority’s Harbor Team voted on Thursday against moving forward with a proposal for a 2,000-acre "Hart Miller Island II" dike in Middle River.

The vote pleased the crowd of residents, elected officials and community leaders who poured into the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant to voice their opposition of the plan.

The dike proposal was one of 11 the Harbor Team was considering as it seeks to recommend a location for the next harbor dredging spoils dumping site. The Harbor Team is a 29-member advisory committee the Maryland Port Authority created in 2003.

Continued dredging is necessary for the region to continue to provide easy access for the growing number of cargo and cruise ships that do business at the Port of Baltimore. The original Hart Miller Island dike closed after full capacity was reached in 2009. 

Harbor Team Facilitator Chris Correale said the team’s goal is to find a location that will hold 22 million cubic feet of spoils in a dike whose capacity will last 20 years.

“I represent a district that includes the Gunpowder, Bird River, Middle and Back River,” said County Councilwoman Cathy Bevins, who represents the sixth district. “I am absolutely opposed to the Hart Miller Island II proposal.”

Other elected officials voicing opposition to the proposal were Baltimore County Council Chairman John Olszewski Sr., along with state Sen. Norman Stone and Dels. John Olszewski Jr. and Mike Weir. All stressed in their comments that they had received numerous complaints and concerns about the Hart Miller Island proposal from their constituents.

“We strongly agree that Maryland needs a viable port. However, the Hart Miller Island II proposal is the wrong solution,” Olszewski Jr. said.

Capt. Jerry Ziemski, president of the Back River Restoration Committee, also spoke in opposition to the proposal, as did Wayne Misowitz of the Marine Trades Association.

Misowitz pointed out the detrimental impact this dike would have on the confluence of flushing activity for the area identified. He also outlined the influence of tidal erosion had on Spry Island, which resulted in the island's elimination. 

Misowitz added that there are 38 marinas and approximately 35,000 boaters that depend on this open water. Records indicate that approximately $130 million has been generated from this immediate area that has been proposed for the dike, he said.

“It will have a negative impact on flushing action as well as to reverse our progress to SAV and grasses,” said Blair Baltus, representing the Baltimore County and Maryland Waterman’s Association. “We are vehemently opposed to HMI II.  It will also negatively influence runoff from the Susquehanna.

Ron Walper, representing the Bowleys Quarter Community Association, said, "We already gave at the office—that is, we already have Hart Miller Island, which we believe is leaching from the current dike.

“After you fill this dike, will it result in a shipping and receiving depot? Will we have supertankers that will erode our main channels, requiring additional dredging and then need more dikes? We need to find a better answer to this issue.”

After dropping the Hart Miller Island proposal, the meeting proceeded with opposition presented for three other sites proposals. Also rejected by the Harbor Team were proposals for the Curtis Bay GSA Ordnance Depot, Deep Trough and Fairfield Interior sites.

One dike proposal that appeared to still be viable was the Confined Aquatic Disposal proposal. This option is being proposed for the Patapsco River. The Cox Creek Expanded proposal was also discussed with numerous unanswered questions, including the possibility of making a site visit.

There’s much more to come as this process moves forward, Harbor Team members stressed.

Along with a number of alternate sites being considered for the dike, the meeting also included a discussion regarding the long-term need for alternative use solutions as well as the need for a cleaning/reclamation center for the spoils. 

The hope, the Harbor Team expressed, is that after the current dike site is selected, it will provide time for the Maryland Port Authority to develop an ongoing long-term solution with new technology to handle the Port’s dredging spoils.

The committee next meets on May 12.