Where Will the Dredged Material Go?
As plans move forward to dredge Miacomet Pond, one basic question has surfaced repeatedly:
What happens to everything that gets removed?
The answer, according to project documents, is not a single destination — but a multi-step process that has not yet been fully finalized.
First, all dredged material will be pumped via temporary pipeline to the Surfside Wastewater Treatment Plant, where it will be separated and dewatered. Sand will be removed, and the remaining organic material — often described as nutrient-rich “muck” — will be processed on site.
Only after that step will the material be tested and evaluated.
Under permit conditions, the Town is required to conduct additional sampling and submit a formal plan to state regulators before any material can leave the facility. No dredged sediment can be transported off-site without explicit approval from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
At that point, the Town has two potential paths:
-
Beneficial reuse, such as use as a soil amendment or fill material, if testing shows the material meets environmental standards
-
Disposal through an approved method, if the material is not suitable for reuse
Project documents suggest the sediment is largely organic and not heavily contaminated, which could make reuse possible. But the final determination has not yet been made.
For now, the only certainty is this: All material will go to Surfside first. What happens after that remains subject to testing — and regulatory approval.
- DC
Has This Been Done Before?
Not at this scale.
Miacomet Pond has been studied and actively managed for years — including a 2017 restoration study that identified dredging as a potential solution to ongoing water quality issues. But until now, that work has remained largely conceptual.
Management has also included more direct interventions. On multiple occasions, the pond has been artificially opened to the ocean to lower water levels and improve water quality by flushing out nutrient-rich water — a technique commonly used in coastal ponds across Nantucket, including Hummock Pond and Sesachacha Pond.
Even so, those actions were temporary and hydrologic.
The current plan is different. It would remove up to 135,000 cubic yards of bottom sediment — a level of intervention that goes beyond anything previously implemented.
Past efforts focused on influencing conditions over time.
This project involves the direct removal of the pond bottom itself — including sediments that now serve as habitat for fish, invertebrates, and species that overwinter in the mud.
This is not routine maintenance. It is a reset — and one the pond has not experienced before.
- DC