PROJECT NAME: SLNG Elba Island Turning Basin
COUNTY: Jasper County
WATERWAY & LOCATION: The proposed project is located within the Savannah River directly across from the existing Southern LNG (SLNG) facility, on the north bank of the Savannah Harbor, approximately between River miles 6.3 and 7.9, at Latitude 32.0839 and Longitude -80.9852, in Jasper County, South Carolina. Fort Pulaski Quad.
PROPOSED WORK: The proposed work consists of annual maintenance dredging of approximately 800,000 cubic yards (CYs) of accumulated sediment from an existing turning basin. The turning basin is approximately 2,300’ long and 550’ wide and would be maintained at a post dredge depth of -42 mean low water (MLW). A portion of the volume (150,000 CYs) is proposed for in-water placement within the federal navigation channel using discrete low volume agitation dredging events (approximately 15,000 to 40,000 CYs each) by one of three methods: (1) hydraulic cutterhead dredge with in-water placement at channel bottom at the northern edge of the Federal Channel at Corps designated locations where a natural scour hole is present, (2) bed-leveling to redistribute shoaled sediments to deeper areas of the Federal Channel, and (3) water injection dredging. The remainder of the dredged volume (approximately 650,000 CYs) would be allocated for hydraulic cutterhead dredge and disposed of (via pumping through a pipe) onto SLNG’s dredge material containment areas (DMCAs) located on the north end of Elba Island, in Chatham County, Georgia. The proposed maintenance dredging was previously authorized under Savannah District permit SAS-2010-00754 and Charleston District permit SAC-2010-01424. The applicant is requesting another authorization under a ten-year Department of the Army (DA) permit.