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Eel Grass in the Oakland Harbor?
The Port of Oakland is looking for a way to divvy up the spoils from its planned 50-foot dredging project. And it thinks it may have found a perfect disposal site, right in its own back yard.
The Port proposes employing approximately 7 million cubic yards of the dredged materials to establish an eelgrass strewn, shallow water habitat in a portion of the middle harbor formerly used by the Navy. If the project gets the go ahead, the Port would not only create a feeding and roosting area for birds such as the endangered California least tern, it would also save millions of dollars in disposal costs.
The Navy dredged the 190-acre basin to a depth of up to forty feet, and built three finger piers for loading and unloading its supply ships. According to the Port's Jody Zaitlin, however, the basin lacks the space necessary to accommodate modern container ships. "It's not going to be very useful to us."
But then again it might be. The Port will have to dispose of 12-15 million cubic yards of material to construct the 50-foot-deep channels it so badly wants. Using the middle harbor site would cost an estimated $7 per cubic yard. Dumping it in deep ocean waters would cost $17/cy, and barging it to a wetlands restoration project at the former Hamilton Air Force Base would be $20/cy, says Zaitlin, adding that those are "very preliminary estimates." It would take an additional $4 million to turn the basin into habitat, but that's still far cheaper than the other options.
Zaitlin says the Port is taking advantage of a rare opportunity to establish a badly needed habitat in the heart of the industrialized Bay. Most of the basin would still be underwater, even at low tide, but the depth would be reduced to 2-10 feet, making it much more productive as a habitat for plants and fish. In addition, the Port will build a salt marsh and several artificial bird roosting islands along the shoreline. The project will accommodate humans as well. People in non-motorized boats will be able to cruise the waters and there will be a fishing pier, trail and waterfront park where visitors will be able to observe the avian activity.
Most of the dredge spoils will be relatively clean Merritt sand, but the Port will have to do more than just dump it in the basin, Zaitlin adds. It will build a jetty across the entrance to deflect the wake of passing shops, along with a berm and channels to help keep the sediment in place. A few eelgrass plants will be put in place by divers, and will hopefully spread throughout the basin.
The Bay Plan will have to be amended for the project to move forward. One major issue is whether it's classified as a "dredge disposal site" or "habitat restoration," notes the S.F. Bay Commission's Eric Larson. "There are a lot of other restoration sites the fill could be used for," he says. The agency also has questions about the viability of the eelgrass plantings and the possibility of the dredge spoils drifting back into the Bay.
David Nesmith of the Sierra Club's Bay Chapter says his group is "cautiously supportive" of the restoration project. He credits the Port with "hiring the best people in the business" to design the habitat (Keith Merkel &Associates), but he says the "larger question" is whether or not the fifty foot dredging is worth the potential environmental risk.
Zaitlin is confident any obstacles can be overcome, and says the Port hopes to start dredging in May of 1999. It will take several years to complete the restoration, and to the casual human observer, the subtidal areas won't appear to be all that different. But, she says, "To the birds and fish, things are going to look much better."
Contact: Jody Zaitlin (510)272-1100
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