| Portfields Pilot Port: New Bedford, MA |
| Description Maps Port Statistics Portfield Projects and Status Partners For More Information |
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The City of New Bedford, located in the lower Acushnet River watershed, is the most densely urbanized area on Buzzards Bay in southeastern Massachusetts. Home to the Port of New Bedford, a state designated port area (DPA) protects marine industrial uses in the lower harbor. The DPA includes portions of the harbor in New Bedford, located on the west bank, and in the Town of Fairhaven on the east bank. The Port of New Bedford, with authorized channel depths of 30 feet, offers deepwater access for maritime vessels. The harbor features a hurricane barrier with a 150-foot opening that is closed during hurricane conditions and coastal storms. As a result, the harbor is one of the safest havens on the eastern seaboard. 
The port has a history of seafaring traditions that continue today with one of the largest active fishing fleets on the east coast, freight ferry service, and cruise ship docking. The port is supported by the city’s outstanding, multi-ethnic work force and international distribution services, which include an adjacent airport as well as rail and interstate highway connections. With over 950 recreational boat slips, New Bedford Harbor is also an important center for recreational boating on Buzzards Bay.
Contamination Issues
New Bedford Harbor is contaminated with metals and organic compounds, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Because of the high concentrations of PCBs in the sediment, New Bedford 
Harbor was listed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a Superfund site in 1982 and cleanup is underway. In addition to contaminated harbor sediments, numerous brownfield properties are located in proximity to the port, especially on the New Bedford side. Using the portfields designation to maintain momentum, New Bedford and Fairhaven seek to implement additional components of the state-approved New Bedford/Fairhaven Harbor Plan for the DPA. Priority projects identified by the regional portfields steering committee include navigational dredging of sediments contaminated below Superfund levels; waterside brownfields remediation and reuse; pier and bulkhead enhancements; and the creation of public access points on the harbor. The committee also seeks to identify suitable sites for habitat restoration to offset impacts from port infrastructure development projects.
- Web site address: http://www.ci.new-bedford.ma.us/portofnewbedford.htm
National Locator Map |
Regional Map (click image to see larger size) |
Port Specific Site Map (click concept above to see larger)
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Aerial View (click image to see larger size) |
- Tidal Area: 13.2 square miles
- Depth of channel: 30 feet
- Principle activities and primary users: active fishing fleet, seafood processing, freight and passenger ferry service, cruise ship docking, recreational boating
- Cargo activity (type, volume): 818,000 short tons in 2001
- Maritime Infrastructure: Deepwater port with federal navigation channels and turning basins authorized to 30 ft.; huricane Barrier that provides safe harbor during hurricanes and coastal storms; freight and passenger ferry facilities for service to Martha's Vineyard; regional airport; easy access to I-195 and the I-95 corridor; breakbulk marine terminals; seafood processing; commercial fishing berths; recreational marina berths; and ship and boat repair and maintenance services.
- Download New Bedford Project Factsheet, March 2004 (pdf, 2 pages, 368 KB)
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Navigational Dredging Update. Navigational dredging of New Bedford Harbor began earlier this year. New Bedford is applying the state enhanced remedy under the Superfund cleanup program to streamline the dredging process by linking cleanup of the Superfund site to navigational dredging. New Bedford, Town of Fairhaven, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management, EPA, USACE, and NOAA have been working closing on the implementation of the state enhanced remedy. In January 2005, approximately 12,500 cubic yards of material with debris was removed near Fish Island/Norpel Terminal. The dredging of Fish Island will increase New Bedford’s export capacity, resulting in a boost to the local economy. New Bedford is conducting a feasibility analysis and working with the EPA on determining a beneficial use of the (clean) material from the Transitional CAD Cell as capping material outside of the hurricane gate. If this material is found to suitable, it will represent significant savings to the city dredge project, the EPA Superfund project and the federal Navigational Dredging Project
- Hicks Logan Sawyer Update. Hicks Logan Sawyer is a 130-acre waterfront neighborhood, that includes many brownfields. The City of New Bedford seeks to revitalize the neighborhood into a mixed-use area that will create housing, job opportunities, open space, and waterfront access. New Bedford received a grant from the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs for $22,500, and applied for a $60,000 grant from the Economic Development Administration. These resources will be used for a “visions project”, which will consist of a number of workshops and meetings with city officials and local community to develop detailed visions of redevelopment for the Hicks Logan Sawyer district.
- General Portfields Information. Under its designation as a Portfields pilot, New Bedford and the Town of Fairhaven seek assistance from federal and state partners in the implementation of high priority projects identified in the New Bedford-Fairhaven Harbor Plan, a comprehensive plan for the New Bedford Harbor Designated Port Area. To facilitate timely progress, to ensure that development proceeds in an environmentally sensitive fashion, and to promote synergistic opportunities, the port interests have also identified several significant restoration projects. The goal is to, at a minimum, compensate for lost functions and values from port projects. The hope is to improve the overall health of the harbor environment and the publics’ ability to use the resource while facilitating economic revitalization.
The Portfields steering committee and technical advisory group will apply the "state-enhanced 
remedy" provision of the New Bedford Harbor Superfund site Record of Decision as the procedural mechanism for streamlined processing of navigational dredging projects. This provision petitions for the inclusion of navigational dredging in New Bedford Harbor as an enhancement of the EPA remedy and would link, as appropriate, the dredging and disposal of sediments dredged from the harbor’s navigational channels with statutory authorities (e.g., CERCLA) and the Superfund program. In the Record of Decision, EPA contends that the primary benefits of linking remedial and navigational dredging projects, while not sacrificing the normal regulatory review process for federal navigational projects, will include the following:
- Streamlined permitting process for on-site navigational disposal facilities;
- Coordinated rather than separate environmental monitoring programs (where feasible); and
- Increased overall coordination between the two dredging projects.
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Federal Portfields Partners:
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NOAA Contact:
Port Contact:
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