Seattle port settles dredging violation
The Port of Seattle has paid $10,000 to a Puget Sound environmental-restoration group as part of settlement with the Army Corps of Engineers over a port dredging error earlier this year.
While not technically a fine, according to the Corps of Engineers, the payment to the People for Puget Sound group was included as a condition of settling the federal permit violation created by the port's dredging error.
In March, port officials informed the Corps that dredging contractor General Construction had removed more sediment than allowed under a federal permit obtained for a project to allow the relocation of cruise ships from an area south of downtown Seattle to Terminal 91.
A Corps investigation found that the port went beyond their permitted removal volume by nearly 1,400 cubic yards, enough to cover a professional basketball court eight feet deep or a typical tennis court to 20 feet. The Corps said the material was deposited in other parts of the bay, as allowed under the permit.