Oyster operator has concerns with Cedar Island Project

My name is Phillip Valliant. I have a career in oyster farming and seafood covered in the Washington Post, New York Times, Forbes and recently the Michelin Guide described my work as “a veritable fish whisperer..his oysters supply some of the top restaurants on the East Coast”.

My livelihood depends on the health of marine ecosystems and the protection of our barrier islands. Since learning of a $5 million grant for the Cedar Island resiliency project, I have read all the permitting material, and visited the sites of the proposed work.

The Cedar Island Resiliency Project is proposed by Dr. Christopher Hein of the Virginia Insitute of Marine Science, and Stantec, a Canadian based environmental engineering firm. They propose to dredge 90 acres in the Wachapreague inlet, and spraying the sand slurry on the backside of Cedar island at a site that breached in 1993 and closed naturally in 2006. Dr. Hein proposes adding dredge material to gain elevation of a backbarrier salt marsh, and planting with grasses.

The dredge site is referred to as a flood tide delta, a massive sand bar just inside of the southern tip of Cedar island. They are proposing to dredge 2-3 feet of material. This area acts as a breakwater, absorbing wave energy, and directing water into existing channels. During incoming tides, this breakwater protects the marsh from erosion. These marshes are what separates Wachapreague from the wave energy of the Atlantic. During outgoing tides, it protects the tip of Cedar Island.

Removing this massive amount of material will alter water flow, and velocity and create erosive forces of a massive scale, as millions of gallons a day hit landforms in new, unnatural directions. The National Park Service States “ Dredge “borrow sites” located too close to the shoreline may increase rates of erosion or alter wave patterns at adjacent beaches, further driving geomorphic change of native habitat”. Simply put, this will create a hole, where there previously was none, the tip of cedar will likely fall into this whole.

This impact is not discussed in the project plans. Furthermore, Stantec has proposed no “compensatory mitigation for permanent loss of subaqueous material”. It is likely that this will doom the southern tip of Cedar, and cause permanent irreversible damage to the marshes. The marsh will be covered in sediment, that would previously be directed by the sand bar into existing channels.

Disturbing this amount of sediment will impact aquaculture operations in the area, likely killing their crops as clam and oysters will choke in water loaded with sediment. The dredge site covers a private aquaculture lease, and dozens more are in the surrounding vicinity. This is not discussed in the project plans, and I do not believe any aquaculture operators have been consulted in the creation of this project.

Fish like the endangered Sturgeon use these deltas to hunt for prey. I have found several sturgeon washed up on shore in the immediate area of the dredge site in the past year. They use the shallow water to ambush crabs and fish. Dredging will increase the depth of this area and make it more difficult for them to eat.

With this 90,000 cubic yards of dredge material, Dr. Hein advocates for elevating the marsh behind cedar island and planting roughly 100,000 low marsh Spartina Antiflora and 500,000 high marsh Spartina Patens 45 centimeters apart. This involves spraying the sand slurry onto the island, and using an excavator to spread the material. Planting may take up to a year after the material is added. During this year, loose material could be entirely lost in a hurricane wash over. This could cover existing marsh and seagrasses with an unnatural amount of material. Stantec has stated that they will not have the funds to clean up this sort of incident, and is seeking immunity from “acts of god” such as a hurricane. This marsh building is an experiment, not a time tested solution.

Details of the plan to excavate and plant the area are not available yet because those will be determined “by the contractor” which has not been named.

Upon inspecting the site with a drone yesterday, I saw a marsh nothing like the area described in his study. Millions of millions of Spartina grasses, on dry hard ground sloped into high marsh vegetation, and ultimately upland vegetation like prickly pear cactus. This project is wholly unnecessary because natural forces have already surpassed the goals of the marsh building and vegetation. I urge Dr. Hein to reevaluate the state of the backbarrier marsh today. The barren, eroded conditions he described in 2019 do not accurately describe what I witnessed. Stantec’s vegetation assessment is wholly inaccurate.

This money would be better spent helping populated areas like Chincoteague or Tangier Island. Cedar island is healing itself naturally. Man made intervention will slow or ultimately harm this process.

Most troubling is Stantec’s repeated refusal to be accountable for these potentially destructive outcomes. They are proposing to merely “monitor” the site for a few years after the experiment. If the dredging destroys marsh or the tip of Cedar island, there will be no cleanup efforts. If the sand slurry is washed over the existing marsh in a hurricane, there will be no efforts to repair. The potential losses of marine life are massive.

Stantec settled with the US Justice Department in July of this year for $4 million over claims it violated the “False Claims Act”.

I intend to continue researching and monitoring the development of this project and those interested in being kept up to speed are encouraged to email me:
-Phillip Valliant
[email protected]