Commission flags water-quality grant opportunity and warns dredging could threaten local oyster nursery

The commission discussed two interrelated environmental items: a potential Long Island Sound Futures Fund grant to finance eDNA analysis of Mill River pollution sources, and a large U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredging project for Bridgeport and Black Rock Harbors that commissioners fear could produce silt and confined aquatic disposal (CAD) impacts on nearby nursery oyster islands.

Chair members said the Futures Fund grants begin at $50,000 and require a 50% match; the commission lacks the matching funds and therefore proposed Save the Sound act as lead applicant because of the organization’s grant-writing capacity. The eDNA work would aim to identify whether contamination at Southport Beach originates from human sources, dogs, birds or other inputs.

Separately, commissioners reviewed Corps plans to dredge roughly 2.2 million cubic yards across two harbors over multiple years; staff described confined aquatic disposal techniques (digging cells, depositing contaminated material, then capping with clean material) and said that silt and handling approaches could temporarily bury or smother Ash Creek oyster islands if not managed carefully. The commission noted an April 16 public comment Zoom on the Corps project and encouraged interested members to review the 450‑page project package and submit comments.