Tradepoint Atlantic is just months away from starting construction on a new container terminal.Supporters said it’ll solidify the Port of Baltimore as a top-tier port on the East Coast. However, some residents who live near the Sparrow Point site are concerned about the process.Mary Taylor has spent her whole life in the Essex area, growing up along the waterways. For the past 50 years, she has been one of many working to restore the Patapsco River and the Upper Chesapeake Bay.Taylor is now part of a small group of people who live near the site and are questioning the container terminal project that they believe could hinder their progress.”It’s going to destroy this community. It’s going to destroy our Chesapeake Bay,” Taylor said.The state-of-the-art terminal will be built in Sparrows Point. People who live nearby are concerned about the dredging technique, and they feel no one is listening to them.The 330-acre redevelopment project will bring thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in new investment to Baltimore.A license was issued earlier in September, but the group is worried about old steelmaking industrial waste that sits underneath the surface. Some residents suggest using a hydraulic dredging technique instead.”A toxic grenade. That’s what’s going to happen. You talk about the fish kill at the Inner Harbor, no,” said Keith Taylor, president of the Sparrows Point North Point Historical Society.Agencies involved said that is not the case, though. Before dredging begins, there have been years of scientific studies, public meetings, site visits and engineering plans.The Maryland Department of the Environment already stated that “hydraulic dredging is not proposed for the project” in response to a question during a May public comment period.The work was also assessed in the Army Corps of Engineers’ final environmental impact statement.Still, community members stand firm. They claim to have their own independent sample findings that underscore the risk.”You can’t say, ‘Oops,’ because once they do it the wrong way, you can’t back up. And then 54 years of work would be lost,” said Russell Donnelly, a Southeast Communities Against Pollution member.In a statement to 11 News, Tradepoint Atlantic said:”The Sparrows Point Container Terminal project has been thoroughly studied under a two-year extensive public federal and state multi-agency review and permitting process. Project plans and required studies were conducted and published and stakeholder input was solicited, received, and responded to resulting in a final report (Final Environmental Impact Statement) that has been published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We have been extremely transparent and communicative since we announced this project and have worked diligently with stakeholders to address all issues and questions that were received. This process has yielded a project that safeguards our waterways and environment using established, and approved dredging practices within the Baltimore Harbor. We remain fully committed to being good stewards of the community and environment as we have been for the last decade as we continue our work to clean up and transform Sparrows Point.” The team said construction should begin by the end of the year, with dredging continuing over a three-year period.In a statement to 11 News, Don Mohler, with the Sparrows Point Alliance, said: “As former county executive and chair of the Sparrows Point Alliance, I can say without hesitation that Tradepoint has delivered on every single promise from day one and will do so again. I can’t wait to bring 1,100 new jobs to Sparrows Point.”In a statement, a spokesperson for MDE said:”Public participation is a key part of our review process. We held a public hearing on the proposal for the Sparrows Point Container Terminal, and we carefully considered the comments received and conducted extensive scientific evaluations. Mechanical dredging with the use of an environmental bucket has shown to be effective for controlling turbidity and is commonly used within the dredging industry in areas with known contaminants. The license issued by the Maryland Board of Public Works includes more than 20 special conditions to protect the environment and public health as this important project for jobs and economic development moves forward.”