Commercial dredgers last year took 1.5 million tons of sand from the Kansas River.

And with dredgers now seeking 10-year permit renewals for their business enterprises built on a public resource, environmental groups are aiming to block them.

“It’s time for the sand and gravel dredgers to get off the river and find some other sites,” said Charles Benjamin, an attorney who represents the Kansas chapter of the Sierra Club. “If we are ever going to develop the Kansas River as a recreational corridor, the dredging will have to end.”

The permits for operations along the Kansas River in Douglas, Johnson, Leavenworth, Shawnee and Wyandotte counties come up for renewal every 10 years.

Dredging operations use hydraulic pumps mounted on barges to transport sand and gravel slurry for processing on the shore. The excess water is drained from the sand and gravel, then pumped back into the river.

Environmentalists say dredging destabilizes structures such as bridges and dams, blocks access to canoers and stirs up insecticide-contaminated sediment.

As dredgers seek 10-year permit renewals to remove sand from the Kansas River, pictured at left, environmentalists say it's time for them to pursue their business elsewhere and leave the river for recreational use.

But Bob Smith, special projects manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said there were restrictions on dredge operators to protect the river and its banks, and that he didn’t think the dredgers were exacerbating environmental problems.

Smith did, however, note that due to degradation of the Kansas River, 15 miles of the stream are no longer open to commercial dredging.

The corps originally was accepting public comment on the permit renewals until Sunday, but it has extended the deadline to Sept. 17.

Joshua Marx, special projects manager in charge of the renewal process, said the corps was trying to decide whether to have a public hearing.

“There have been quite a few requests for a public hearing,” Marx said.

He said after the public comment period, permit applicants would be given an opportunity to respond. He said the corps hoped to have a decision within six months.

¢ 6News video: Kansas river has new keeper¢ Legislature floats proposal to limit recreational access to Kansas rivers (3-25-03)¢Friends of the Kaw¢Kansas Paddler’s Guide¢American Rivers — Kansas Rivers