• All other East coast ports have deepened their channels to at least 42 feet in anticipation of the growth in commercial shipping activities and size of ships, with three ports (including Baltimore) having at least a 50 foot depth – if we fail to follow this trend, container lines have threatened to move their business to competitor ports
  
  
• Port expansion plans for South Jersey and Pennsylvania, such as the Paulsboro facility, South Port, North Port, and the BP LNG facility will need deeper water to ensure their long-term economic viability in a growing global market
  
  
• Deepening will reduce operation costs for ships by doing away with the need for “lightering” vessels, and will save $400 million over the life of the project – by reducing ship operation costs, consumer costs will be significantly reduced for oil, steel, imports, scrap steel exports, and cement aggregates
  
  
• The Ports of Philadelphia and Camden provide over 75,000 direct and indirect jobs, with 3100 direct jobs at Camden – deepening could add over 3900 jobs to the Port of Camden over the next ten years
  
  
• There is potential for over $1 billion in revenue over the life of the project, with $600 million in personal income over the next ten years
  
  
• This generation of additional personal income is estimated to cause a corresponding increase in related economic activity of an additional $220 million

National Security

• The Port of Philadelphia was designated a National Model Strategic Seaport by the Department of Defense in 2003. In order to handle the largest vessels currently being used, 42 feet is required by the Army
  
  
• More than 40% of forces deployed are National Guard and Reserve troops, with many coming from Ft. Dix in New Jersey, and Ft. Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania
  
  
• Both Ft. Dix, New Jersey and the seaport in Philadelphia are being developed as a rapid deployment hub to support evolving military strategies and the warfighter, which has developed a successful partnership between our region and the Department of Defense
  
  
• Major distributors are moving from the West coast to the East coast in terms of operations, making our region a prime competitor for new commercial and military opportunities
  
  
• Since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we need efficient refining capacity to support increased energy needs – by not deepening the channel, we reduce the capacity of providing vital energy resources while increasing consumer costs
  
  
• Oil Industry: over 75% of the refined product for the Northeast and 25% for the nation is produced from the refineries along the Delaware River – increasing the reliability of this product and reducing the cost will have wide-scale benefits
  

Environment

• 16.5 million cubic yards would be dredged over the life of the project, which could be used in wetland restoration and beach nourishment that are ongoing throughout the Delaware Bay Area
  
  
• Sediment materials can also be put to use on beach reclamation and restoration projects throughout the Delaware Valley Region and in the creation of construction materials such as bricks, landfill-cap material, and for publics works projects such as runway lengthening
  
  
• There are potential new commercial and residential developments along the Delaware River in New Jersey that could benefit from the use of sediment material as a result of deepening
  
  
• Our region is one of the most critical refining centers in the United States - by enabling more efficient movement of crude oil to terminals, it will create both economic and environmental benefits by cutting down on the need for “lightering” vessels that increase operating costs and the potential for oil spills
  
  
• Dredged sediment could be used for mine reclamation throughout Pennsylvania in order to prevent abandoned mines from collapsing, from people falling into abandoned mines, and can prevent water contamination caused by acidic runoff from the mines