Monday meeting looks at sand-disposal options Representatives...

Monday meeting looks at sand-disposal options

Representatives from Orange County, Newport Beach and the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers met Monday in Santa Ana to look at

sand-disposal options as part of a flood-control project.

The corps is set to dredge 400,000 cubic yards of sediment from

the Santa Ana River channel and drop it in West Newport.

The meeting gave participants a chance to explore options for sand

disposal, both technically and financially, since the City Council

last week approved issuing a permit to the corps prohibiting it from

spreading sand directly on the beach.

Some options include depositing it near the shore or bringing it

to the river mouth to see if the ocean will take it to the beach

between 32nd and 56th streets, where it needs to go. The corps’

position is that it won’t place any sand on the beach because it did

not get a permit for that, Project Manager Ken Morris said. The corps

can’t start Sept. 8 because it needs more time to get a contractor’s

bid, Morris added.