Mud and sand have to go

Morrissey announces basin dredging for two West Prince ports; Seacow Pond also getting structural upgrades

Robert McHugh grabs a steel rod and plunges it down beside his fishing boat.

It looks like there is lots of water depth in Seacow Pond Harbour, but when the vice-chairman of the harbour authority pulls the rod up, more than a metre at the bottom is coated with stinking, black muck.

McHugh said that he fell in one time and his boots got stuck. If it were not for grabbing onto a tire, he said he might’ve stayed there.

McHugh’s demonstration helped drive home the need for the funding for harbour dredging that Egmont MP Bobby Morrissey announced on Thursday.

The harbour improvements announced for Seacow Pond also include replacing the wharf structure alongside the main driveway to the wharf and reinforcing the north block.

In addition, Morrissey announced a complete harbour basin dredging project for Miminegash. Both the Miminegash and the Seacow Pond projects are expected to commence this fall. Miminegash’s work is expected to be completed by winter while the final phase of the Seacow Pond project likely won’t be completed until next fall.

No one knew the age of the section of wharf that will be replaced at Seacow Pond, but McHugh offered a hint: “Let’s put it this way, they were using buttermilk to take the tar off their hands.”

The segment needs replacement, fishermen insist. Ricky Brennan reported that a backhoe toppled into the harbour when a section of deck gave way back in the spring.

Brennan said the dredging is needed just as badly.

“There’s only about three feet of water here and the rest is mud,” he said.

The harbour authority is losing revenue he said, because some fishermen have moved their boats elsewhere rather than risk damage.

The dredging at Miminegash is much more extensive as the port covers more area. The port chairman said reinforcing the sand dunes is critical because if the dunes were ever breached the pond behind them would drain and the harbour would lose its natural flushing ability.

The total cost of the projects was not disclosed.

Robert McHugh brings up more than a metre of mud after plunging a rod over the side of his boat at Seacow Pond on Thursday. He was demonstrating the type of bottom fishing boats are on top of while in port. Dredging and port upgrades were announced by MP Bobby Morrissey on Thursday.