Richmond council approves $250,100 dredging permitting contract with requirement for community sampling meeting

The Richmond City Council on a unanimous vote approved a $250,100 contract with Haley & Aldrich Inc. to begin sampling and to pursue permits needed for maintenance dredging at Terminal 2, the Point Potrero Marine Terminal (Berths 7 and 8), the Marina Bay Yacht Harbor and other port areas, and approved a $150,350 interproject transfer in the port budget to cover the work.

The council added language directing port staff and Haley & Aldrich to hold a community meeting during development of the sampling and analysis plan so residents can offer input on where sampling should occur and which contaminants to test for. Charles Gerard, director of the Port of Richmond, told the council the contractor is agreeable and that the meeting would happen during the planning process before permits are submitted: “We can build into the plan a community meeting that will take place during the planning process, before any permits are submitted, for the dredging and the sampling.”

Why it matters: dredging in Richmond’s port and harbor channels can disturb contaminated sediments. Community members raised concerns about long‑running contamination, including DDT at the Heckethorn site in the Lauritzen Canal, and asked the city to ensure testing and disposal plans avoid further environmental harm.

Residents Deborah Baer and Sally Tobin told the council the Heckethorn area has historically been contaminated with DDT and urged care in sampling and disposal. “DDT…was dumped there…and it’s coating now the mud on the bottom of the canal, and dredging will bring that up,” Baer said. Tobin urged the city and contractor to explain how sediment would be categorized and disposed of so contaminants would not be relocated into marshes or other wildlife habitat.

Port staff clarified that the Heckethorn site is a separate physical location and is not included in this contract. Gerard said the sampling-and-permitting phase precedes any dredging procurement; a separate bidding process will choose the dredging contractor and disposal plan. He also noted that permitting and disposal steps are regulated by multiple agencies, including the Army Corps of Engineers, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), California State Lands, Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Council members asked for clarity about the scope and next steps. Vice Mayor Cepeda pressed staff about whether the contract covered actual dredging (it does not) and whether residents would be warned about loud operations; staff said the contract funds sampling and permitting only, and that construction and dredging will be a later regulated procurement.

Action taken: the council approved the contract and the interproject transfer and unanimously accepted the added direction that port staff and Haley & Aldrich hold a community meeting to inform the sampling and analysis plan. The recorded vote was: Bonner — yes; Brown — yes; Jimenez — yes; Wilson — yes; Robinson — yes; Vice Mayor Cepeda — yes; Mayor Martinez — yes.

What happens next: Port staff will incorporate the public meeting into the sampling and permitting timeline, complete sampling and submit permits, and later seek dredging contractors and disposal plans in accordance with state and federal regulatory requirements.

Community concerns and technical limits: speakers emphasized that long-standing contamination, particularly legacy DDT at Heckethorn, remains complex; the council and staff repeatedly noted that cleanup and disposal options and approvals are controlled by state and federal regulatory processes and that this contract does not authorize dredging or disposal.

Ending note: The council’s addition requiring a community meeting moves some sampling decisions from a strictly technical planning phase into a more public process; residents and environmental groups requested continued transparency as the permitting and disposal steps unfold.