SEATTLE— The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will place about 30,000 cubic yards of sand at the Grays Harbor south jetty breach fill in Westhaven State Park near Westport, Wash., beginning Oct. 22.
The sand placement is intended to protect against continuing erosion and the risk of a breach forming which could threaten the stability of the south jetty and federal navigation channel.
The Environmental Assessment for this work is available online at: http://bit.ly/2012EnviroDoc.
The Corps contracted Northwest Rock Inc., Aberdeen, Wash., to perform the work. The sand must meet Corps gradation and marine sediment quality standards to nourish the threatened breach fill area. The contractor will build a temporary access road and is required to remove materials used to create the access road once the sand haul is complete.
Areas where the Corps has planted native dune grass will be avoided and a small area of vegetation may be covered with mats for temporary equipment. No long-term impacts are expected because vegetation is dormant this time of year
Construction is planned during daylight hours, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday and is expected to be finished by mid-December. Access to Westhaven State Park will be restricted during those hours. Trucks will run along the State Park Access Road and the public parking overlook area near the U.S. Coast Guard storm warning flag tower.
This action is being undertaken as an intermediate measure pending implementation of an operations and maintenance Long Term Management Strategy currently under review.
Release no. 12-035