Harwich Haven Authority (HHA) is seeking to have a new dredged material disposal site designated. Some of the dredged material is used in beneficial reuse schemes with the remainder disposed of at a licensed offshore disposal ground called Inner Gabbard located about 30km east of Harwich. HHA believe that a disposal site closer to shore would help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, steaming time and fuel.
The MMO has granted Harwich Haven Authority a marine licence that permits 2 trial disposals of 500,000 cubic metres of dredged material arising from maintenance dredging at Harwich and Felixstowe Harbour. The trial disposal site is referred to as the Harwich Haven disposal site (Cefas Site Code: TH027).
A condition of this licence is that monitoring data is collected during the course of the two trial disposal campaigns and a Monitoring Report is submitted to the MMO within four months of completion of the two trial campaigns. This Monitoring Report can be viewed on this page.
The monitoring report aims to provide the information necessary to inform the MMO’s assessment of the suitability of the proposed new site for designation to receive future dredged material.
The MMO is not obliged by statute to consult publically on this issue but the MMO has always been of the view that the general public and not just known stakeholders should have the opportunity to make representations.
If you would like to make a representation please make sure that you do so in writing using the contact details on this page. Representations should quote reference L/2013/00392.
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