The Miss Katie dredge owned by EJE Dredging Service, LLC, began work following Dare County-specific legislation included in the 2018 state budget and a June 2019 agreement between the county and the newly formed dredging company. (Photo courtesy Dare County)
By Corinne Saunders
WILMINGTON — Dare County representatives met with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Wilmington District officials in Wilmington on Wednesday to discuss a route leading to the reinstatement of the county’s dredging permits that the USACE suspended Sept. 17 after a third documented instance of noncompliance.
Dare County Manager Bobby Outten, Dare County Commissioner Steve House, who is chairman of the Oregon Inlet Task Force, and the county’s consulting engineers met with USACE representatives “to discuss how to ensure that future dredging by the county’s contractor is in compliance with dredging permits,” according to a county press release sent just after 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
The county’s contractor is EJE Dredging Service, LLC, owned by James Jordan Hennessy of Manteo.
The USACE suspended the county’s dredging permits that authorized “work in federal and non-federal channels in Oregon and Hatteras Inlet complexes due to a third recorded instance of noncompliance,” according to a Sept. 18 USACE press release.