The GIS is going to make us look at a bigger area. It forces us to look at a more holistic, watershed view. And that is where the port's problem comes in. Historically, the port administration has kept shipping channels open through dredging. But because of decades of pollution in Baltimore Harbor, all sediments dredged out of it and the adjacent Patapsco River are considered to be contaminated.
State law requires that they be disposed of in a confined area.
That disposal site is Hart-Miller Island in the upper Bay. Sediment dredged from the harbor are blown into the diked containment are a through 36-inch pipes. Hart-Miller, though, will be filled by the end of the decade. With the help of the GIS and a Patapsco watershed model, MDE officials hope to look beyond the harbor and into the watershed to determine how much sediment is washing off the land and where it is coming from. Then it's obviously important to prevent that load from coming in.