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New Jersey moves to block Delaware River channel deepening
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New Jersey moved Monday to stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from deepening the Delaware River shipping channel after a top Army official gave the go-ahead for work to start as soon as December.
Gov. Jon S. Corzine authorized Attorney General Anne Milgram to take legal action to stop the project, which would deepen the shipping channel from west of Cape May in the Delaware Bay north to Philadelphia. Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden said he is ready take similar action if the Army Corps begins work without environmental permits Delaware rejected in July.
Corzine's move was set in motion Friday when Jo-Ellen Darcy, the newly appointed assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, upheld an April decision by predecessor John Paul Woodley to invoke a little-used federal power to deepen the channel without Delaware's approval despite operating in that state's waters.
"They're invoking an interstate commerce priority to allow us to proceed anyway," Army Corps spokesman Ed Voigt said.
Army Corps officials insist they have all the required approvals they need, although they recognize Delaware's permit rejection and plan to continue working with state regulators to gain their approval.
Corzine has questioned that assertion and said Monday he wanted an environmental review process to be completed. New Jersey regulators granted water-quality certification for the project in 1997 but revoked it five years later because of economic and environmental concerns.
Another sticking point is the Army Corps' plan to deposit the dredge spoils at federal sites in southwestern New Jersey and Delaware. Corzine agreed in May 2007 to cede New Jersey's end of the project sponsorship to a Pennsylvania agency, the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, if Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell agreed to have Pennsylvania take the dredge spoils. Then in June 2008, the PRPA and Army Corps said they would ignore the agreement because they were not part of it.
"Gov. Rendell has given me personal assurance, and public assurance, that any spoils from the dredging will be taken by Pennsylvania," Corzine said. "Until the Army Corps has participated in New Jersey's environmental review process, however, I must take action to ensure that the people of our state are fully protected and these spoils are not dumped on South Jersey."
Many shipping businesses and trade unions support the plan, saying it will create thousands of new jobs by allowing larger ships with more cargo to traverse the river. Rendell backs the plan as well, and he praised the Army's move to progress.
Many environmentalists oppose it, saying it is ecologically unsound because it may stir up toxic sediment, as well as financially imprudent. A U.S. Government Accountability Office study found in 2002 that the deepening would return only about 50 cents on every dollar invested, although a subsequent re-evaluation by the Army Corps found it would bring $1.15 for every dollar invested.
"By advancing their efforts to dredge the Delaware despite failing to abide by mandatory environmental regulations, the Army Corps has carelessly placed the health and well-being of our residents at stake," said U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews, D-1st, a longtime critic of the project.
Voigt said the Army Corps is working with the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure its plan meets environmental standards. The agency has retained Norfolk Dredging of Virginia to handle maintenance dredging on the southern end of the shipping channel, and Norfolk's contract includes a clause allowing that to be expanded to cover parts of the deepening project as well. The Army Corps will advertise for bids for other contractors as well.
Contact Daniel Walsh:
856-649-2074
Posted in Breaking, New_jersey on Monday, October 26, 2009 3:00 pm Updated: 12:02 am.
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