ROCKLAND — After an extra large quantity of sediment from Lindsey Brook entered Rockland Harbor following the drainage of a particular quarry, the amount of debris at the terminus became so high, the schooner Stephen Taber currently has to raise it’s centerboard higher than expected, according to Port District member Jim Kalloch.

Ten years after the Port District Authority last performed maintenance dredging at that site, the District is preparing for more flow maintenance dredging this February, five to ten years sooner than initially anticipated.

Recent sediment testing has determined that the dredge waste is not toxic, and therefore can be allowed in Rockland’s landfill, according to Kalloch.

Landfill permits and dredging permits have been obtained, leaving City Council to officially vote on whether to allow a relatively small portion of the landfill’s remaining space to be filled by dredge, and simultaneously, to allow the regular $100 per cubic yard dumping fee to be reduced to $40 per cubic yard for the PDA.

Monday, Dec. 9, City Council will vote on the resolve at it’s regularly scheduled meeting. According to Rockland City Manager Tom Luttrell, during the December 2 agenda-setting meeting, the landfill currently has an estimated 12,500 tons of space left. The dredging accumulation is estimated at approximately 1,000 tons. 2008, the City authorized dredging in the same area prior to construction of a Historic Schooner Pier.

In 2016, the City authorized the drainage and cleaning of the Cedar Street Quarry, “which at 5 acres, contained a great amount of water,” according to the District in a recent letter to Council.

“This quarry draining was allowed to flow into the top of Lindsey Brook. Consequently, this greatly increased flow and carried a large amount of mud and debris through the brook and out the discharge into Lermond Cove, filling in under the schooner pier,” said the District.

Five schooners are moored at the cove, located between the ferry terminal and the Wastewater Treatment Facility. The vessels require a deep draft in order to operate. The mud and deposit buildup have now made the vessels tide-bound, thereby requiring dredging 10 years sooner than expected.

According to Councilor Ed Glaser, there are three different levels of dredge spoils.

“One is, you can take it, it’s clean, you can dump it back out into the sea – off of Penobscot Bay there’s the dumping grounds; we can dump it there,” said Glaser.

“The third one is highly toxic and it has to be dumped in a special dumping grounds (or more recently, according to Kalloch, the special dumping grounds now remediate the waste, ‘they cook it now.’)

“And then there is this sort of middling ground which isn’t pure, but it’s not that bad.”

This level can go in the landfill.

The initial, 2009, waste was also put into the landfill, and the District paid the same $40 per yard fee. 

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com