01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, June 1, 2006

BY KATIE MULVANEY
Journal Staff Writer

SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- A federal spending package approved by the House this week includes money to dredge Point Judith harbor and place the sand off the battered Matunuck coast. It still needs approval in the Senate.

The bill would provide $2.2 million for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to clear the navigational channel in the Point Judith Harbor of Refuge and dump the dredged sand off the Matunuck coast, U.S. Rep. James Langevin said in a statement.

"I am proud to support two local projects that will benefit Rhode Islanders when they are at work or play," Langevin said. "The dredging will ensure safe, unfettered passage for cruising vessels and trawlers alike, while helping to restore the Matunuck shoreline."

In April, the Corps announced its intention to dredge the channel and place the sand near a stretch of coastline hard hit by a series of storms last fall. Prior plans had involved disposing the material at East Matunuck State Beach, but those were scrapped out of concern that the replenished beach would attract piping plovers, an endangered shore bird.

The shift in locations followed a letter-writing campaign by homeowners at Roy Carpenter's Beach, which lost a seaside store and great chunks of the bluffs to pounding waves. A wooden boardwalk at the Town Beach had to be demolished after being undermined by the storms.

The Corps plans to dredge about 115,000 cubic yards of sand from the harbor channels and anchorage areas in Point Judith Pond. The material, which has tested as clean, would then be dropped in 15 to 18 feet of water offshore.

The Corps pinpointed two disposal sites with the help of University of Rhode Island geology Prof. Jon Boothroyd: off Roy Carpenter's Beach and adjacent to Trustom Pond, said Michael Walsh, project manager for the Army Corps.

Though the town and the beach association back the latest plans, the Rhode Island Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation has raised concerns that disposal plans could affect surfing conditions, Walsh said. Deep Hole, a prime and popular surf spot, is just west of the proposed dumping areas.

The Corps met with foundation members May 11 and plans to address those issues in an environmental assessment expected to be completed by mid-July, Walsh said. The corps will substantiate in the report that the disposal "won't cause adverse effects," he said.

The Corps does not plan to hold a public hearing on the project, he said.

Members of the foundation had not returned phone calls and e-mails by press time last night.

The House appropriated $30 billion in spending in the bill, $5 billion of which is headed to the Army Corps of Engineers. Of the $2.2 million for the Point Judith work, $334,000 is earmarked for the disposal, Langevin's office said.

The bill must be reconciled with a Senate version, expected to be considered later this year.

"I am hopeful that the final conference report, like the House bill, will recognize the importance of this project to ensure safe navigational passage and restore our natural resources," Langevin said.

The Corps aims to award a contract in October and begin work in mid-November at the earliest, Walsh said.