Pacific Southwest, Region 9
Serving: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Pacific Islands, Tribal Nations
Dredging and Sediment Management
San Francisco Channel Bar Disposal Site (SF-8)
Click for a larger version (PDF) (1pp, 2.4M)
Site Management and Monitoring Plan
The San Francisco Bar is a large sand bar offshore of the mouth of San Francisco Bay. This sand bar would be too shallow for modern shipping to navigate safely if not for the San Francisco Main Ship Channel, a 55-foot deep dredged passage through the San Francisco Bar. The Main Ship Channel must be dredged regularly by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in order to remove accumulated sand, and that sand has historically been placed back onto the top of the San Francisco Bar just to the south of the channel at the EPA-designated San Francisco Channel Bar Site, also known as "SF-8" (see map (PDF) (1pp, 2.4M)).
Most of the area of SF-8 can be used only by the USACE, and only for sand dredged from the Main Ship Channel. However, the eastermost portion of SF-8 is within the 3-mile limit (see map (PDF) (1pp, 2.4M)). This small area is also available for the placement of clean sand from other dredging projects.
Disposal Site Information
| Location | From approximately 3-6 miles offshore of San Francisco, CA |
| Corner Coordinates | 37°44'54.75"N, 122°37'21.91"W (NAD 83) 37°45'44.75"N, 122°34'27.91"W 37°44'23.75"N, 122°37'09.92"W 37°45'14.75"N, 122°34'15.91"W |
| Water Depth | 35-45 feet (11-14 meters) |
| Size | 3,000 x 15,000 feet (914 x 4,572 meters) |
| Shape | Rectangular (see map (PDF) (1pp, 2.4M)) |
| Disposal Zone | Entire site |
| Volume Limit | No annual disposal volume limit |
Contact Information
Allan Ota (ota.allan@epa.gov) Ocean Dumping Coordinator
Dredging & Sediment Management Team (WTR-8)
US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, California 94105