The 37-mile-long Wilmington Harbor shipping channel connects the Atlantic Ocean with port facilities along the Cape Fear River in Brunswick and New Hanover counties, North Carolina. ANAMAR was contracted by USACE Wilmington District to perform sampling, testing, reporting, and evaluation of maintenance and new work dredged material in accordance with MPRSA §103 and in support of the congressionally authorized Wilmington Harbor 96 Act project. The project is designed to maintain navigation efficiency and safety within the Wilmington Harbor shipping channels. ANAMAR provided all necessary information to determine the suitability of dredged material for ocean disposal at the New Wilmington Harbor ODMDS.
Areas to be dredged were divided into eight project-specific dredging units, representing defined associated channel reaches or ranges from the upper harbor through the entrance channel, based on expected sediment characteristics. Field sampling was conducted in June 2016 and involved collection of vibracore and grab sediment samples and site water. ANAMAR coordinated and directed field operations and worked closely with USACE and EPA to design sampling and analysis schemes, perform sample collection, subcontract coring services, and laboratory analyses. ANAMAR reviewed all data and produced a report summarizing the results of the physical, chemical, toxicological, and bioaccumulation analysis of samples, along with a sediment evaluation report for use by USACE in obtaining concurrence from EPA.