Dredging approved for Yarmouth's Royal River
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved funding to dredge the Royal River in Yarmouth, clearing a channel for commercial and recreational vessels.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said in a statement that the Army Corps plans to allocate $3 million to the project in the next fiscal year to complete the dredging.
The Portland Press Herald reported that town officials said the project is desperately needed, providing access to three private marinas that together contribute an estimated $25 million to the local economy. The Army Corps typically hires a contractor to dredge the channel every 10 years but the recession and reduced federal budgets have kept the Corps from returning to the Royal River since 1997. Deborah Delp, who owns Yankee Marina, told the newspaper that in recent years boats have been stranded in the mud and commercial fishermen have been unable to leave the harbor at low tide. Army Corps staff said the dredging of 60,000 cubic yards of sand and silt from the river could begin as early as October.
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