SupportTheDeepening - Delaware River dredge contract awarded
Delaware River dredge contract awarded
February 24th, 2010 4:00pm
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a contract to deepen part of the Delaware River channel Tuesday, bringing the controversial project one step closer to getting under way.
The Norfolk Dredging Co. of Chesapeake, Va., which already has craft in the Delaware conducting routine maintenance clearing of the river, has been tabbed by the Army Corps to conduct the sweep of "Reach C."
That extends from just below Wilmington, Del., south to Artificial Island in Lower Alloways Creek Township.
It all means that the project to deepen the main river channel by five feet could be happening sooner, rather than later.
"We have all the funding in hand which is why we can now finally award the option," Army Corps Spokesman Ed Voigt said. "The funding wasn't in doubt. You have the money to do the project before a contract can be issued."
No actual deepening of the channel from its current 40-foot depth to its proposed 45-foot mark will begin before this Friday.
Voigt noted that work won't begin until the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, the project's sponsor, purchases emission reduction credits needed to conform with the federal Clean Air Act. That's in accordance with a provision set by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
He added that should be completed by the end of the week.
"Other entities are getting credits for doing emission reductions somewhere else in other situations," Voigt said. "In the immediate, they haven't reduced pollution, but in the big picture you do."
Last week, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie chimed in with opposition to the plan.
"It is irresponsible for the Army Corps to push this dredging project forward when we know South Jersey will suffer the consequences," Christie said. "The Army Corps is using a double standard, applying tough criteria to protect the environment during the project to deepen the New York-New Jersey Harbor yet failing to provide the same protections to South Jersey's environment during the proposed deepening of the Delaware."
Leaders in South Jersey have been critical of plans as to where the muck from the bottom of the river could be dumped. Several sites have been identified in parts of Salem and Gloucester counties.
Salem County is already home to many of the Army Corps dredge spoils sites and it's feared much of what is dredged in this new project could end up in the county.
This all follows a U.S. District Court Judge's decision last month that denied injunctive relief sought by the state of Delaware to block progress on the project.
