To Dredge or Not to Dredge? That is the Question

A project to expand the Panama Canal is scheduled to be completed in 2014, enabling larger cargo ships (with loads two or three times those on standard freighters) to travel to the East Coast. As reported by National Public Radio (NPR), cities such as Miami, New York, and Savannah are already competing for the added business by developing plans to deepen ports and expand facilities. Currently, only two ports, Norfolk and New York, are deep enough to accommodate the larger cargo ships but a bridge over New York’s port is 64 feet too low to allow these ships through. (Raising the bridge will cost more than $1 billion and take more than five years to finish.)

These dredging plans are not without controversy, however. Opponents to dredging are concerned about environmental impacts whereas proponents believe it is beneficial for business. For example, the bottom of Miami’s Biscayne Bay is limestone, and deepening the shipping channel requires underwater blasting. Environmentalists fear that sediment from the blasting will destroy the bay’s grass beds. Similar concerns were raised in Savannah.