Funds found for Montauk Inlet dredging

Federal officials have found more than $1 million to cover the cost of emergency dredging of Montauk Inlet, which is so silted that commercial fishing ships cannot get through except at high tide, and even recreational boaters have trouble in high winds.

The channel, which is supposed to be 12 feet deep, is down to 7 feet in some spots, and a federal study found between 12,000 and 16,000 cubic yards of sand have filled the channel since it was last dredged in 2009.

Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton), a proponent of the emergency dredging, said Wednesday that he has secured $1,152,228 in federal funds to pay for the work, which can't begin until the fall, and local officials are seeking additional money to remove even more sand.

Any sand removed will be placed on the shoreline west of the inlet, which was badly eroded by storms in December, according to Bishop.

Bishop started working in February to get the funds for the emergency dredging work, and East Hampton Supervisor Bill Wilkinson said that without the money, access to the docks in Lake Montauk would continue to be threatened.

Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association in Montauk, said the shoaling problem is hurting her industry. At a meeting with Army Corps of Engineers and Coast Guard officials earlier this year, fishing boat owners testified that they sometimes had to stay outside the inlet at low tide, and that trying to get through the narrow inlet during high winds without scraping bottom was difficult because of an hourglass-like buildup of sand in the middle of the inlet.

Permits from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation must still be obtained for the work, which must be done later this year because of environmental concerns, according to Bishop's office.