Page 16 - Port of Baltimore - Issue 2 2024

PORT ECOPORT
Technical Advisors Support MPA 20-Year Plan for Dredged Material Management
More than 30 attendees joined a kick-off meeting to relaunch the Maryland Bay Enhancement Working Group (BEWG) in January. BEWG, composed of scientific, regulatory and environmental interest groups, is a long-standing part of the Dredged Material Management Program (DMMP). Members serve
as technical advisors for MPA’s 20-year plan for the development and implementation of dredging and dredged material management.
In 2011, the BEWG recommended Confined Aquatic Disposal (CAD) as an option for dredged material management, and a pilot project was completed in 2016. In 2024, BEWG will be focusing on the progress of the recommendations to date with an emphasis on the CAD program as a second pilot program is considered. 
The Maryland BEWG member organization was convened after a long hiatus to review progress on BEWG recommendations dating back to 2001 on Maryland dredged material management, bringing expertise from both new and seasoned members dedicated to the Maryland DMMP.
DREDGED MATERIAL MANAGEMENT:
New Online Resources Available
terminology in Maryland law, replacing the word “spoils” with “material,”
and outlined its major potential to
be used innovatively and beneficially rather than treated as a waste product. Ever since, the Maryland Port Administration (MPA) has hosted a robust program to develop innovative ways to manage this resource, with innovative reuse identified as the top priority in the act for the mandated 20-year plan for maintenance of dredged material management.
Innovative Solutions, a new section of the Dredged Material Management Program (DMMP) website, contains user-friendly and engaging information as well as fact sheets about the exciting and innovative approaches in development and explains how people can get involved and stay in the know. 
Dredged material for federal navigation channels must be managed by the State of Maryland, and management needs have evolved over time. For decades, the characteristics of the maintenance sediment, monitored rigorously as part
of the program, no longer fit the legal definition of “spoils” and the sediment has been embraced by the industry as a resource rather than waste.
The Dredged Material Management Act of 2001 officially changed the
LEARN MORE about studies, pilot programs and habitat-restoration projects incorporating
dredged material by visiting maryland-dmmp.com/ innovative-solutions.
[14] The Port of Baltimore ■ ISSUE 2 / 2024