PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 26, 2021
Regional officials will try again to get federal funding for a $30 million Portland Harbor dredging project, this time with an additional $10 million of state money waiting in the wings if the second attempt fails. Local officials and interested groups spent the past 10 years developing a plan to remove silt from between wharves and vessel berthing spaces along the harbor in Portland and South Portland. A decades-long buildup of contaminated material leaves the head of some wharves dry at low tide, cutting off more than a quarter of berthing space in some sections of the harbor and reducing their usefulness for marine businesses and transportation.