The current depth of the Delaware River is 40 feet, which was authorized during World War II to accommodate military ships being built in Philadelphia at that time. !n 1992, Congress approved the project that would deepen the Delaware River to 45 feet, and appropriated funds for the endeavor in their Energy and Water Development appropriations bill. This project was seen as a means of increasing the competitiveness at the Ports of Philadelphia and Camden by attracting larger cargo ships.

The project would include dredging along 103 miles of the Delaware River shipping channel, from the mouth of the Delaware Bay to the Beckett Street terminal in Camden. Five to seven years is the estimated time frame for completion of the project.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers estimates a cost of $246 million, although current estimates claim it would be $377 million. The Corps also believes that if the dredged material were to be used for various public works projects instead of dumping, this would add $190 million to the overall cost.

When the project was first proposed and approved, it was established that two-thirds of the cost would be paid by the Federal Government, with the other third being paid by the three states (PA, NJ and DE) and the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA).

More specifically, the Federal Government has authorized $200 million in funding over the life of the project and has already appropriated $53 million in funding since 1999. DRPA has set aside $50 million since 1999 and has spent $10 million. In 1991, $1.3 billion in bonds was authorized by Congress to fund DRPA. From that, $40 million was for the Delaware River Deepening Project. Pennsylvania has promised $15 million in funding over the life of the project. New Jersey has promised $8 million in funding over the life of the project. And Delaware has promised $2 million in funding over the life of the project.

Initially, the Army Corps of Engineers claimed a $1.40 return for every dollar spent on this project. With the release of their new analysis report in 2010, the Corps now states a $1.35 return per dollar spent. Additionally, over $40 million annually will be save in transportation, or “lightering”, costs that takes place outside the channel for ships with a draft in excess of 40 feet.

An external and independent review was conducted by a panel of three navigation economic engineers, including professors from Washington State and George Mason Universities, as well as a private industry navigation expert. They agreed with and approved all aspects of the Corp’s economic analysis.

A total of 16.5 Million cubic yards of dredged spoil would be removed from the Delaware River shipping channel. Pennsylvania Governor Rendell has pledged to place 75 % of the spoil in Pennsylvania; spoil that was originally destined for Salem and Gloucester Counties. The material could be used for mine reclamation in Northeastern Pennsylvania, wetland/beach restoration throughout the Delaware Bay, and has already been used in public works projects such as the runway lengthening project at Philadelphia International Airport.

“The dredging delays are increasing business costs by, among other things, reducing capacity of some ships that come here. Others are forced to dock only at high tide and unload quickly before the water gets too low. Ships could soon be diverted to other ports and that would have a serious ripple effect through the local economy hurting terminal and tugboat operators, longshoremen, and others.” Dennis Rochford, President of the Maritime Exchange for the Delaware River and Bay

A new generation of cargo ships is being introduced around the world, especially on the East coast. This new generation consists of more budget-minded carriers who wish to load their ships to capacity rather than use money to employ “lightering” vessels just so they can make it up the channel to Philadelphia and Camden. A river depth of 40 feet will not accommodate this generations navigation needs, and will soon make the Delaware Shipping channel obsolete.

The Port of Philadelphia was designated a National Model Strategic Seaport in 2003, and must live up to the requirements of the Army and its military cargo ships which require a depth of at least 42 feet, with 45 feet allowing a more efficient and safe passage for military personnel and their cargo.

The Ports of Philadelphia and Camden currently support over 75,000 employees both directly and indirectly. 9200 are jobs directly on the waterfront, with 3100 workers living in New Jersey. The dredging of the Delaware would initially create 1600 new union jobs, and could add over 3900 jobs to the Port of Camden over the next ten years. This increase in jobs would generate over $200 million in additional wages and $600 million in personal income over the next ten years.

“One million gallons of oil are delivered to the Sunoco refinery in Philadelphia, but the cost to the military and local economy is high because the channel is not deep enough.” Ed Hazzouri, Sunoco

The Sunoco facilities use Suez-class tankers that have a capacity of 1 million barrels a day with a 55 foot draft; they must utilize lightering barges at Big Stone Anchorage in order to make the trip up the channel. The VLCC’s (Very Large Crude Carriers) have a capacity of 2 million barrels and need to be “lightered” by 55% to make it up the channel. This substantially raises costs for consumers due to excess costs to the cargo liners. The use of “lightering” barges also creates environmental concerns as it increases the potential for an oil spill.

The use of dredged material could be used for mine reclamation and refilling, not only saving peoples lives from accidents at abandoned mines, but also preventing acidic runoff of the mines from entering drinking water reserves. Dredged material can be used for beach nourishment and wetland restoration projects throughout the Delaware Valley and Bay area. These sediments have already been employed in public works projects such as the lengthening of the runway at the Philadelphia International Airport and as land-fill cap material. There are many environmentally friendly procedures to remove the PCB materials from the sediment so that it can be employed as a useful resource. [see Secretary Kathleen McGinty testimony]

• Insure Competitiveness. The modernization of the Delaware River Channel will ensure the future competitiveness of the existing facilities and proposed new facilities, such as Paulsboro, SouthPort etc., by:

1. Providing sufficient depth to allow the most cost effective vessels to bring their cargoes without delay to the facilities along the River.
2. Enhancing safety and security by modifying existing bends in the channel to safely accommodate larger vessels.
3. Allowing the facilities along the River to sustain and to grow the niches that they currently occupy by reducing the costs to ship.
4. Encouraging future public-private investment in facilities along the River.
5. Reducing operating costs of vessels calling on the Ports by about $1.2 billion over the life of the project.
6. Several of the critical cargoes, such as containers, oil, steel imports, scrap steel exports and cement aggregates would substantially benefit from deeper water.

• Sustain and Increase Employment.

1. The ports of Philadelphia and Camden provide over 75,000 direct and indirect jobs to the region. They generate about $ 900,000,000 in business revenues.
2. Sustain and grow the volume of containers handled at the Ports. The ships that are now being used on the container trade routes are 42’ draft vessels. Without a deeper channel the lines calling on the River have indicated they will seek other, deeper ports.
3. The 45’ project will also add new jobs as the future commodity mix changes. In New Jersey, for example, approximately 3900 direct jobs could be added to the South Jersey economy over the next ten years.
4. It will allow the facilities on the River to sustain their current tonnage in the face of deeper channels everywhere and compete for the increased trade volume and deeper vessels.
5. It will help keep the cargo and the jobs in the region. The projected vessel traffic for the Port of New York and New Jersey has the potential for creating a situation similar to what is happening on the West Coast at the Port of Los Angeles. Because of the waiting times to get to the dock container lines are diverting vessels to other ports in other States. Modernizing the Delaware River will ensure that cargoes diverted will be handled at facilities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

• Revenues.

1. Potential to increase existing port generated revenues by approximately $1.0 billion over the life of the project.
2. The total personal income would increase by over $600 million over the next 10 years.
3. The generation of this additional personal income, in this 10-year period, is estimated to cause a corresponding increase in related economic activity of about an additional $700 million.
4. The port activities resulting from the deepening will generate about $300 million in state and local taxes over the same 10-year period.

The importance of the oil industry to the nation – over 75% of the refined product fro the northeast and 25% for the nation is produced from the refineries on the Delaware River; increasing the reliability and reducing the cost of this industry will have wide scale (national and global) benefits.

Strategic Military Port – recent designation of Port of Philadelphia in 2003 means they need to be able to handle the largest vessels currently being used (at least 42 feet of water required by the Army); the Department of Defense if the largest shipper in the world, and to increase the presence of their business at the Port is both vital to the region’s economy and national security.

40 % of the current deployed forces are National Guard and Reserve troops. Both Ft. Dix in NJ and the seaport in Philly are being uniquely developed as rapid deployment hubs to support new military strategies that will enable the US to rapidly project power to war theaters around the world. Troops and equipment move quickly to Ft. Dix for training, then troops fly out of McGuire while their equipment is quickly moved to Philly for rapid movement to war theaters. This is the only region in the US that has been growing and developing these new military strategies and as DOD goes to war and sustains the war fighters on commercial ships, we must recognize it is these same ships that require the deeper ship channel to move goods between global trading partners around the world.

Recent investments of over $500 million to create the successfully operating Kaeverner shipyard; has the only large dry dock in the U.S. and is currently building vessels whose drafts will exceed the channel’s depth this constraining it from competing for larger vessels without a deeper channel.

New commercial and residential developments along the Delaware River in New Jersey could benefit from the fill (dredge) material as a result of the deepening.

(For the complete, up-to-date list see Supporters).

• The International Longshoremen’s Association – Local 1291
• Local and state trade unions – AFL-CIO
• South Jersey Port Corp
• Pennsylvania House of Representatives
• Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell
• The Pennsylvania DRPA commissioners
• Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA)

“I have no reason to believe anything we’re doing is inappropriate. The DRPA has always been involved with dredging projects on both sides of the river. We want to be players. If we don’t do 45, we’ll never do 50.” DRPA Chairman Manuel Stamatakis.