Hart-Miller Island Monitoring

Hart-Miller Island Monitoring Since 1981, the Coastal and Estuarine Geology Program has been monitoring the sedimentary environment around the Hart-Miller Island Dredged Material Containment Facility (HMI) in northern Chesapeake Bay. The 1100-acre diked facility contains material dredged primarily from Baltimore Harbor and the harbor's approach channels. Twice a year, staff collect samples of bottom sediments around HMI and determine their grain size composition and trace metal content. By observing trends in these parameters over time, program staff have been able to detect changes in the sedimentary environment attributable to construction and operation of the facility.