Dredge, lots of it, is going to have to be dug up for Tradepoint Atlantic to build a $1 billion container terminal in Eastern Baltimore County.

The global shipping center is preparing to make the case to the public that the dredging that is needed to clear the path for the big ships will be environmentally safe.

Aaron Tomarchio, Tradepoint’s executive vice president of corporate affairs, said that will include addressing the concerns they hear most from residents such as will the dredge they stir up in the water drift to shore.

Tomarchio said, “The idea that dredge material is going to wash up on somebody’s shoreline property is completely false, scientifically impossible.”

Tomarchio said they have several places where they will store the dredge. More than half of it will be on site.

Getting public support for its plans is key. Public opposition to storing the dredge on Hart-Miller Island sank that idea last fall.

“There was a vocal minority that came out and kind of took the wind out of everybody’s sails,” Tomarchio said.

Tradepoint needs to get state and federal approval to proceed with the project. It hopes that will happen by this summer so the project can get under way, with the container terminal ready for shipping in 2028.

Tradepoint is on the site where Bethlehem Steel fouled the water for decades. Tomarchio said tests show none of the sediment is the most toxic kind, but some of the dredge is polluted and he said they have several locations where it can be stored safely.

Tradepoint wants nearby residents to back the container terminal plan as it goes after federal and state permits. The pitch: it’s ecologically and economically a good thing.

“It will create 1,100 union paying jobs right off the bat, and then another 7,000 jobs related to the port,” Tomarchio said.

Baltimore County Councilman, Republican Todd Crandell, who represents Eastern Baltimore County, said in a statement that he is all for “the opportunity for substantial quality job growth.”

Crandell’s main concern is what the container terminal may mean for increased truck traffic.

“If the collapse of the Key Bridge has proven anything, Edgemere and Dundalk were not built for such truck traffic,” Crandell said.

He has asked county and state officials to come up with a plan to ease truck traffic in Eastern Baltimore County communities.

Two public hearings are scheduled on the environmental impact of the container terminal project:

February 25 at Sollers Point Multi-Purpose Center in Dundalk, 6:00 p.m.

February 27 (virtual meeting) starting at 3:00 p.m. You can access the meeting at this link. https://bit.ly/SPCTWaterQuality

On Friday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Maryland Department of the Environment released a draft Environmental Impact Statement on the container terminal project.