No taxpayer dollars are planned to be used in a project initiated by Congressman Scott Rigell to help ease erosion on Tangier Island.In a conference call on Monday morning, Rigell said that as of now no taxpayer dollars will be spent. Rigell, along with Ron Mills of Bay Bridge Enterprises, Mayor James Eskridge of Tangier, and Town Council Member laid out the plan to sink barges on the Islands east side.
Mills said the barges that will be used are seaworthy, will have never been used to transport oil or other substances that could harm the environment, but can no longer be used for commercial undertakings.
The barges will be placed in strategic locations, sunk and then anchored. In the fall, the Army Corps of Engineers will conduct a dredging operation near Tangier Island. Mills said hopefully those involved in this project will be able to convince the Army Corps of Engineers to dump the spoils on and around the sunken barges.
Bay Bridge Enterprises will work in cooperation with the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Environmental Quality, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation will also be involved.
Rigell said this project will be complimentary with already existing projects to help erosion and it will help protect the jobs and livelihood of the watermen on Tangier.
Source; shoredailynews.com
2 comments:
I am glad that someone has decided to step up and help out, lets hope they won't have too much red tape to deal with.
I hope they don't have alot of red tape to deal with either. The citizens of Tangier Island are trying desparately to save their island and have worked so hard to make it a nice place to visit.....or live, I guess.
Hoping to visit there this summer.
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