Hart-Miller Island Monitoring
| contact: Stephen Van Ryswick ([email protected]) |
Hart-Miller
Island Monitoring Since 1981, the Coastal and Estuarine Geology Program has
been monitoring the sedimentary environment around the Hart-Miller Island Dredged
Material Containment Facility (HMI) in northern Chesapeake Bay. The 1100-acre
diked facility contains material dredged primarily from Baltimore Harbor and
the harbor's approach channels. Twice a year, staff collect samples of bottom
sediments around HMI and determine their grain size composition and trace metal
content. By observing trends in these parameters over time, program staff have
been able to detect changes in the sedimentary environment attributable to
construction and operation of the facility.