Wheatley Harbour Maintenance Dredging – 2020-2021– Public Comments Invited

September 10, 2020 – Fisheries and Oceans Canada must determine whether the proposed Wheatley Harbour Dredging Project – Fall 2019 located in Wheatley, ON is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

To help inform this determination, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is inviting comments from the public respecting that determination. All comments received will be considered public and may be posted online. For more information, individuals should consult the Privacy Notice <https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/protection> on the Registry website.

Written comments must be submitted by October 10, 2020 to:

Ryan Schertzing

867 Lakeshore Rd, Burlington, ON, L7S1A1

905-320-5355

ryan.schertzing@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

 

The Proposed Project

Wheatley Harbour is located at the west end of Lake Erie, approximately 15 km east of Leamington, Ontario. The harbour is an active commercial fishing facility under the administration of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Small Craft Harbours Branch (SCH). Active littoral transport occurs from the north-east to the south-west along the shoreline and has resulted in sedimentation against the east side of the east pier, within the lee of the detached breakwater, and within the harbour entrance and approach channel, impacting access to and from the harbour. Dredging has frequently been required to maintain a functioning harbour.

Accordingly, SCH is planning to undertake a large, land-based maintenance dredging project in Wheatley Harbour to maintain the navigability of the channel and provide continued safe ingress and egress to Lake Erie for small craft and commercial vessels. Dredging this material will initially reduce the frequency of reactive dredging operations and provide a more reliably open and safe navigation channel. The duration of the benefits of a large dredge could be extended through a regular maintenance dredging program where accumulated sediment on the east beach would be regularly removed.

Up to 20,000 m³ of dredged medium-to-coarse sand will be dredged from the harbour approach area, and deposited at designated sites downdrift in Lake Erie to allow natural dispersion towards Point Pelee through ongoing, natural lake processes.