A Prince George's County project to clear sediment and vegetation from the upper of the two Laurel Lakes has begun several months later than expected, due to permitting delays.
Dredging at the lake started in early December, according to Joanna Smith, a project engineer with the Prince George's County Department of the Environment. Recent photos from the site, located near Oxford Street, show the lake fenced off and drained of water.
County officials had initially hoped to launch the project, which nearby residents say is long overdue, in July of last year. But longer-than-average permit approvals put the process on hold. According to Smith, permit applications to both the Maryland Department of the Environment at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were submitted in November 2013, but the county didn't receive the go-ahead from the state until July of last year. The county's four-month bidding process pushed the project's start date to December.
Now that work is underway, Smith said the project will likely be finished in late fall of this year. Work will take between six and nine months, but will be put on pause between March 1 and June 15 due to a state restriction on in-stream construction activities during fish spawning and migration periods.
Now that the water has been drained, workers will remove sediment from the lake bed and dispose of it offsite. At the end of the project, crews will restabilize disturbed slope areas, rebuild an asphalt path near the lake and landscape the area, according to a county presentation. In all, Smith estimated that some 16,000 cubic yards of sediment will be excavated.
Both of the Laurel lakes were dug in 1986 when housing was first built in the area to capture stormwater runoff. Over time, eroding stream banks, sediment-filled pipes and inadequate buffering have led to the accumulation of a thick layer of muck and shrubbery in the upper lake, which was positioned to trap dirt and debris before it could head downstream. The lake has only been dredged once before – nearly two decades ago, in 1996.
This time, Prince George's County officials estimate the total cost of the project, including design and construction, at $1.7 million to $2.2 million.