The Harbor Supervisor, acting through the Office of the Chief of Engineers (of the U.S. The Office of Supervisor of New York Harbor was established by an act of Congress in 1888 to address the increasing need for disposal of the assorted waste materials from the harbor. As the material accumulated at these locations, the sites were relocated farther seaward where increased water depths alleviated concerns of potential navigation threats posed by accumulation of materials. Records indicate that approximately six locations were selected to receive this wide range of materials. Since the mid-1800s materials including garbage, city refuse, cellar dirt (natural rock and soil excavated during building construction), floatable materials, and sediments derived from dredging during the maintenance, deepening and construction of new navigation channels in New York Harbor, were dumped at specific locations in the New York Bight Apex. Placement of this material at the HARS is remediating the site by reducing impacts from earlier disposal events to acceptable levels thereby improving habitat conditions for bottom dwelling organisms. Bottom sediments at the HARS which have the potential to cause adverse effects are capped with cleaner Harbor dredged sediments that meet the criteria of the Ocean Dumping Act and will not cause adverse effects. Using dredged material from the Harbor to cover existing sediments at the Historic Area Remediation Site (HARS) represents an environmentally beneficial use of this resource. If the viability of the Port is to continue, existing navigation channels, berthing areas and anchorages must be maintained to ensure safe clearance depths, and deeper navigation channels must be excavated to accommodate modern cargo ships. Dredging is required to remove shoals that interfere with safe navigation due to the settlement and accumulation of fine-grained sediments that are transported to the estuaries by rivers. The success of ocean commerce within the Port of New York and New Jersey depends on a regular and predictable program of maintenance and new work dredging.
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