OCEAN CITY, Md. - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, will begin removing roughly 5,000 cubic yards of material from the Ocean City Inlet on Thursday, Nov. 20.
The dredge MURDEN will start in Priority Area No. 1, which includes the entrance to the Sinapuxent Channel, and continue through Nov. 25. The project aims to complete clearing the entrance to West Ocean City Harbor, work that began earlier this year.
“There’s sandbars all over the place,” said local fisherman Robert Craig Cropper, better known as Big Bird Cropper. “I know the water, but people that come down here from Pennsylvania and stuff, they're going to hit a sandbar probably.”
Business owners say the dredging is essential. Brendan Hanley, owner of Pure Lure in West Ocean City, said the inlet’s shifting sand has continued to disrupt boaters.
“We've seen boats get hung up there,” Hanley said. “So I think it's important.”
In July, the Corps dispatched the dredge MERRITT for an emergency project before the White Marlin Open.
In July, the Corps dispatched the dredge MERRITT for an emergency project before the White Marlin Open, removing nearly 8,000 cubic yards of material from the same area. Officials say the new phase of dredging will add another 5,000 cubic yards to that total.
Still, Cropper believes the fix won’t last long.
“We're the ones that live here. We're the ones that got to deal with it,” he said. “We're the ones watching it fill in. And that's literally what it's doing, because Assateague’s washing away.”
The MURDEN is expected to finish dredging before the Thanksgiving holiday. If work cannot be completed by Nov. 25, operations will resume on Nov. 29 and continue until the area reaches the proper depth for vessel traffic.
Tune in to CoastTV a 5 and 6 p.m. for further developments.