By DON STINE
A temporary dewatering site for dredge material will be created at the very eastern edge of Deal Lake in Asbury Park to implement an important lake dredging project.
The Deal Lake Commission has received $1 million from the federal National Resources Conservation Services to dredge about 12,000 cubic yards of sediment from the eastern end of the lake. Much of it was deposited during Superstorm Sandy.
The project, which will have a 90- to 100-day completion contract, will begin after October 1.
“We know you don’t want dredge spoils there in the middle of the summer,” said DEP representative Erick Doyle, who is the project manager for the dredging project.
A presentation about the project was made at this week’s Asbury Park City Council workshop.
The $1 million in grant money was scheduled to be forfeited by the end of July if not used but it has been extended to the end of this year.
About 10,000 to 12,000 cubic yards of dredge material is expected to be removed. Two adjacent dewatering sites will be temporarily built at the very eastern edge of the lake, just south of the flume gate building.
The site will slant toward the lake and be made from Jersey barriers surrounded by bales of hay. The dredge material will be stored there until dry enough to transport.
Doyle said about 1,000 to 1,200 cubic yards of material can be removed in one week and that a coagulant will be placed in the spoils to help prevent any odors.
Hauling trucks will head from the site to Main Street and then to Route 33 in Neptune to dispose of the spoils, possibly at the county landfill in Tinton Falls.
“If we don’t do anything we blow a million dollars,” Mayor John Moor said.
Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn suggested organizers of canoe races and stand-up paddle-boat operators on the lake be notified about the project.
Commission Chairman Don Brockel said it was hoped that 38,000 cubic yards could be dredged but that the $1 million grant will not fund the whole project, which extends from the Norwood Avenue Bridge to Ocean Avenue and to areas near the Asbury Park High School.
About half of the very eastern portion of the lake, east of the Norwood Avenue Bridge, will be dredged. It is estimated it will cost about $38 million to totally dredge Deal Lake.