Waukegan Harbor dredging funds approved

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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced an additional $788,040 has been designated for removing excess sediment from Waukegan Harbor’s approach channel. | Sun-Times Media file

Updated: March 11, 2012 8:37AM

WAUKEGAN — Concerns that Waukegan Harbor might not re-open to commercial shipping this year due to tight dredging budget at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were addressed Wednesday when the Corps announced an additional $788,040 has been designated for removing excess sediment from the harbor’s approach channel.

The funds, part of a $5 billion Army Civil Works program for the 2012 fiscal year, will “help ensure a more effective maintenance dredge than the dredge in 2011,” according to U.S. Rep. Robert Dold, R-Kennilworth.

“I am pleased that the Army Corps of Engineers has recognized the importance of Waukegan Harbor for our local communities and for the Great Lakes Navigational System,” Dold said. “The Army Corps Division Office in Cincinnati and the District Office in Chicago stepped up for Waukegan Harbor.”

Waukegan Port District Executive Director Duncan Henderson confirmed last month the harbor has been closed since last summer when windstorms affected sand-migration patterns and overloaded the entrance channel. Henderson reported that at least one 400-plus-foot barge that was headed for St. Mary’s Cement became stuck in the lake bottom prior to the closure.

Henderson also reported the Army Corps has already scheduled a dredge for this spring.

According to Dold, the Corps designated $590,000 during the 2011 fiscal year for Waukegan Harbor maintenance, and the amount announced Wednesday will augment that work.

“The local economy and several dozens of jobs depend on this harbor, and with continued improvements new opportunities will be created right here in Waukegan,” Dold said. “This is in addition to the environmental cleanup in the harbor that I anticipate will begin this July.

“We have a lot more work to do to ensure that Waukegan Harbor remains open in the years to come, but these recent developments are proof that the Army Corps and the Environmental Protection Agency are taking notice that local stakeholders are serious about improving Waukegan Harbor.”

Dold added that discussions between local officials and the Army Corps will continue to seek a long-term solution to dredging issues.

Mayor Robert Sabonjian told the City Council last month that if federal funds aren’t secured beyond 2012, maintenance of the harbor would become the responsibility of the city and the Port District.