The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, has received an application for a Department of the Army (DA) permit (Corps number NAB- 2023-61200) for the Sparrows Point Container Terminal project from Tradepoint TiL Terminal, LLC, a joint venture between Tradepoint Atlantic and Terminal Investments Limited to construct a new container terminal in the Port of Baltimore.
The USACE, as the lead agency under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), has determined the proposed project may significantly affect the quality of the human environment and intends to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS). The USACE action will be to issue, issue with modifications, or deny a DA permit for the proposed project. The EIS will assess the potential social, economic, and environmental impacts of the proposed project.
The proposed project requires authorization from USACE under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) for the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403) for the construction of any structure in or over navigable waters of the United States, and Section 408 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 USC 408) for taking possession of, use of, or injury to harbor or river improvements, and Section 103 of the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act (33 USC 1413) for ocean disposal of dredged material.
PROPOSED ACTION: To discharge dredged or fill material into waters of the United States associated with the construction of a new container terminal (the terminal) in the Port of Baltimore (the Port). The proposed Sparrows Point Container Terminal (SPCT) would be located in Baltimore County, Maryland within the Tradepoint Atlantic development on a 330-acre area on the southwest peninsula of Sparrows Point known as Coke Point Peninsula (Coke Point). The proposed terminal would consist of a +/- 3,000-foot marginal wharf with up to nine ship-to-shore cranes, a container yard, gate complex, intermodal/rail yard, and various support structures. To provide vessel access to the wharf, the project would include deepening and widening of the existing Sparrows Point Channel and turning basin, which would require mechanical dredging and placement of approximately 4.2 million cubic yards (MCY) of dredged material. The maximum proposed dredging depth with -2 feet of over depth would be -52 feet at mean lower low water (-52.22 feet at mean low water). Following construction, maintenance dredging of the Sparrows Point Channel would be required. It is anticipated that maintenance dredging would be required on average once every 10 years with an additional volume of approximately 125,000 cubic yards (CY) which will be reviewed as part of the federal permit.
The proposed project would include the construction of an offshore dredged material containment facility (DMCF) on the west side of Coke Point in the existing in-water Coal Pier Channel, to provide placement capacity for a portion of the dredged material. The DMCF would be created by constructing a water-side berm across the mouth of the existing channel, to provide placement capacity for approximately 750,000 cubic yards of dredged material. The DMCF would permanently fill approximately 19.6 acres of tidal waters. Of the remaining dredge material, approximately 1.2 to 1.7 MCY would be placed on-site at the upland High Head Industrial Basin DMCF, approximately 1.25 MCY would be placed at the existing Masonville DMCF located in Baltimore City, Maryland and/or Cox Creek DMCF located in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, owned by the Maryland Port Administration, and approximately 1.5 MCY will be barged to Norfolk Ocean Disposal Site (NODS), a designated offshore disposal area located in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 17 miles from the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. The High Head Industrial Basin DMCF would involve constructing a DMCF with the capacity to hold 1.2 to 1.7 MCY of dredged material. The DMCF would have an exterior dike elevation of approximately +30 feet, in the existing High Head Industrial Basin located approximately 2.5 miles northeast of the terminal project area within the Tradepoint Atlantic property.
LOCATION: The project site is located within the Tradepoint Atlantic development on the Coke Point peninsula in the Patapsco River, Sparrows Point, Baltimore County, Maryland. [Latitude: 39.211222° and Longitude: -76.490349°]
Figure 1. Conceptual draft design of the SPCT project.