BARRINGTON - For 16 years, Michael Keyworth has seen the water around Cove Haven Marina slowly choke with loose, black, stifling muck.

He's seen boats left high and dry at low tide, seen boaters turn away because they can no longer make it to the marina without hitting bottom. He's navigated his way through a confusing, labyrinthine state bureaucracy, trying to get permission to dredge the river bottom below his marina, and waited.

The wait is nearly over.

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and Coastal Resources Management Council will soon vote on Cove Haven's request to dredge up to 53,000 cubic yards of sediment from the site and dispose of it in specially built "cells" off the East Providence shoreline.

Though he said he's not counting his chickens before they hatch, Mr. Keyworth, the manager of Cove Haven Marina, said he hopes everything is in order and the $1.2 million project will be approved.

"This has only taken me 15 or 16 years," he said sarcastically. "I can't believe I had the staying power to see this through."

Apart from some minor dredging done to install a boat lift, Cove Haven was last dredged in 1962. In the 41 years since, the area around the marina has shoaled up as sediments entering the water from runoff and decay added up relentlessly. These days, the water around the marina's piers can be as shallow as several feet during low tide, much too low to allow many large boats, and even some smaller ones, to pass.

He guesses the situation has cost Cove Haven thousands of dollars over the years. Dredging the channel will raise the average water depth to between five and 11 feet, he said. Such depths will make the yard competitive again with other yards already able to handle larger boats.

Cove Haven officials have not always been optimistic that the state would approve their dredge plans. But a fortuitous break came in the form of the massive Providence River maintenance dredging project, currently being carried out by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and several state agencies.

Under that project, some of the most contaminated sediments dredged are being disposed of in CAD, or Confined Aquatic Disposal, cells, giant concrete structures off East Providence. If Cove Haven's plan is approved by the state, the marina's dredge spoils will also be dropped in the CAD cells.

It's a fortuitous break, even though Mr. Keyworth said it will cost him $11.65 for each cubic yard of spoils he dumps in the CAD cells. It also presents a narrow window to complete the dredging, because the CAD cells will be sealed after December.

"That leaves us with a dredge window of Nov. 1 to Dec. 31," said Mr. Keyworth.

Residents who have reviewed Cove Haven's plans still have the right to request a hearing on the subject. However, if now one objects — the cutoff date is Friday, Oct. 10 — the departments will vote on whether to approve the project soon after.

Note: Project plans are available at both Cove Haven Marina and the Coastal Resources Management Office in Wakefield.

By Ted Hayes

thayes@eastbaynewspapers.com