With the dredging of Menemsha Channel still unfinished after two years, the Army Corps of Engineers has terminated its contract with J-Way Inc. of Avon, Ohio.
With the dredging of Menemsha Channel still unfinished after two years, the Army Corps of Engineers has terminated its contract with J-Way Inc. of Avon, Ohio, directing the company to remove all of its equipment and restore the site.
A notice of termination dated March 6 states that the company did not complete the project within the time frame required in the contract. It also notes a post-dredge survey in February that showed the company removed only about 4,000 cubic yards of material from the channel this season.
Altogether, the company removed about 29,000 cubic yards of material, all of it being pumped onto a section of Lobsterville Beach in Aquinnah that was damaged during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The project called for a total of about 65,000 cubic yards to be removed from the channel, which was last dredged in 1973.
Sand dredged from the Menemsha Channel is pumped to Lobsterville Beach.
Sand dredged from the Menemsha Channel is pumped to Lobsterville Beach.
The company was given until Tuesday this week to remove its equipment and other material from the area — including two bulldozers, a tractor, a hydraulic pump, three flatbed trucks, a 1.5-mile pipeline along Lobsterville Beach, and other equipment and debris. Most of the equipment was still in place as of Sunday.
Bret Stearns, director of the Wampanoag Tribe’s natural resources department, which is helping facilitate the Army Corps project, said this week that none of the equipment posed an immediate hazard. “There is nothing going on there that we’re concerned about environmentally,” he said.
But the project has left some damage in its wake. The notice of termination includes a list of 11 incidents that require repairs. The list includes shoaling in the West Basin, three damaged pilings, the breaching of a sand dune and other disturbances. Mr. Stearns said most of the damage occurred in the normal course of work, and the tribe had already anticipated needing to rebuild the dunes along Lobsterville Road.
J-Way arrived on the Island in October 2015 but failed to meet a Jan. 31 deadline that marks the spawning of winter flounder. The Army Corps reportedly fired the company after it failed to remove its equipment that spring, but later signed an agreement to proceed with J-Way in the fall. The company encountered a number of setbacks this season, including a blown bearing and a problem with the shaft on the dredge.
According to the notice of termination, J-Way provided a new schedule of work, as the Army Corps had requested in December, but still fell behind. The Army Corps later requested a formal explanation for why the project had not been completed by the deadline, but the notice states that J-Way offered no new information.
“J-Way’s failure to meet its contract obligations is not excusable,” the notice states, officially terminating the contract “in its entirety.”
J-Way may still appeal the decision.
Mr. Stearns said the Army Corps has assured him there would be no local cost for repairs, since the company’s bonding agency would be taking over the claim. He said there was little he could do but wait for the next contractor to be chosen, and then offer the same level of support that he offered J-Way. The project has also involved coordination among town departments in Chilmark and Aquinnah.
“We have extended ourselves as best we can to try to work things out locally so that this project can get done,” Mr. Stearns said. “And we’ll be working with the next contractor to help them as much as possible.”
Comments
I truly hope this is not the
Concerned CitizenI truly hope this is not the matter our government decides to play fast and loose with. When it came time to relocate the Gay Head lighthouse, nothing but the best was employed for the situation. With rising sea levels and rapid land degradation on all coastlines, this should be a matter that is dealt with intently and not haphazardly.
Another perfect example of
Mike North CarolinaAnother perfect example of what happens when you pick the lowest bidder..
What you say is very possibly
John Aldeborgh Edgartown, MAWhat you say is very possibly correct but the obvious unanswered question is, who was accountable for the success of this project? There is obviously a complete lack of accountability for this project, the contractor missed the goal line by a mile and this was not new news, people have known for a long time. This is not acceptable. Who is going to be fired, in the government, for totally mismanaging this project, while wasting our tax payer money yet again. In the private sector, if you mismanaged a project this badly you would be out of a job, and rightly so.
Total boondoggle.
Summer resident MenemshaTotal boondoggle.
Dredging was not necessary- and certainly did not have anything to do with Hurricane Sandy- the channel has been shallow at the red buoy since the 1980s and will shoal up there again as soon as the project is finished.
Rotten outcome and hopefully
J ChilmarkRotten outcome and hopefully the third year will be the charm. Can anyone explain why beach nourishment can't be done at the south shore beaches like Lucy, which were much more severely damaged in Sandy?
J,
Bret Stearns Wampanoag Tribe Natural Resoruces DepartmentJ,
During this project, the Town of Chilmark requested 2,000 cubic yards of material from the dredging project be set aside specifically for the Squibnocket project. This request was brought to the Army Corps of Engineers and they approved the request, as long as there was no disruption to the contractor. The Tribe and Town of Aquinnah signed documents to allow the sand to be removed from the project outlay, but the Army Corps. required this sand be taken at the end of the project, not the beginning. The contractor, JWay, Inc. agreed to move the sand to the edge of the roadway so a separate contractor could take the sand without hesitation. Unfortunately, the project never made it to the point in which it could be removed with approval.
Throwing good money after bad
Adelaide Kent New York CityThrowing good money after bad. Why would anyone think these guys would deliver after the last time around?
With the project abandoned, I
Dick AquinnahWith the project abandoned, I am sure the (very few) flounder are resting peaceably.
My late Mother worked for the
Christine Powers Waltham, MAMy late Mother worked for the Army Corps of Engineers in the Rivers and Harbors division. I wish that she were still around to offer an opinion.
Yep.. as expected, only a
Menemsha Observer Red HillAs expected, only a fraction of the remaining work completed this year. The equipment deployed could not possibly move this much material. That was obvious from the start, or rather from the beginning of J-Way's first engagement last fall. This winter, their barge sat aimlessly flooding menemsha with light all night for a couple months, and hardly anything was accomplished. But at least it didn't sound like a jet airplane 24/7! Nice work, Army Corps, very impressive.
I feel for the local government folks who have done their best to represent all of our best interests - no doubt things would be even worse without their efforts. I wish them the best dealing with the next low-bidding-sippy-straw the Army Corp selects.
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