Coinciding with recent rallies by the Port of Philadelphia’s labor force in December 2005, Brian Preski, Esq., Chairman of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, recently reiterated his own pledge to deepen the main channel of the Delaware River to 45 feet, and asked for the support of the Philadelphia maritime community to finally bring this critical project to fruition.

“I am here to tell you that the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority is going to start an effort on this project like you’ve never seen,” said Chairman Preski in a recent statement to the Philadelphia maritime community. “We talk about dredging all the time, but now is the time to get this project underway, and I need your help. I need to know that everywhere I go and everything I do with regard to this project, I can say that the Philadelphia maritime community is behind me.”

The Delaware River Main Channel Deepening Project was authorized by Congress and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1991. It calls for deepening the existing 40-foot main shipping channel to 45 feet. The Delaware River’s main channel extends 102.5 miles from the mouth of the Delaware River to the Port of Philadelphia.

As described by Chairman Preski, shipping channels all over the world are being deepened to accommodate today’s new vessels that require deeper drafts. The Delaware River project is estimated to cost $264 and should take about five years to complete. The cost and project duration are extremely modest compared to deepening projects in other ports, where costs can exceed $1 billion and completion time can be more than a decade. Though the Delaware River’s main channel is regularly dredged to maintain its 40-foot depth, the last time the river was deepened was 1942. Without dredging, the natural depth of the Delaware River is 17 feet.

Chairman Preski often speaks to business groups, telling them about the Port of Philadelphia and its major areas of business. He also emphasizes the significance of the Port’s designation as a Strategic Military Seaport by the Department of Defense in October 2002. Strategic Military Seaport designation is assigned to those U.S. seaports that the Department of Defense intends to utilize for the rapid movement of military equipment and personnel overseas in times of crisis and for military exercises.

“We are one of only 14 ports in the nation to earn this prestigious designation,” he said. “And, of course, it takes on a very special significance considering the conflict in Iraq. Dredging the Delaware River to 45 feet will go a long way in keeping the Delaware river a viable artery for the military cargoes that now move along the river as a result of PRPA’s Strategic Military Port designation.”

In addition to attracting shipping lines that require deeper drafts for their vessels, dredging the Delaware River to 45 feet would also aid commercial development along the river. For example, it would integral to the development of PRPA’s proposed Southport terminal, which aims to be the first major expansion of Pennsylvania’s international seaport facilities in 35 years. The Southport Project would develop for maritime-industrial purposes a 87-acre area directly south of the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal and Walt Whitman Bridge.

How would dredging help the SouthPort project? Here’s how: millions of cubic yards of the materials collected during the channel deepening project would directly aid the Southport effort by filling in the areas between Piers 122 & 124, as well as a parcel at the east end of the Philadelphia Naval shipyard. These are areas that need to be filled in to create the necessary acreage for this state-of-the-art project.

“Southport is a perfect example of how we’re attempting to deal with the issue of dredged material,” said Chairman Preski. “For years, New Jersey has told us that it doesn’t want to be our dumping ground. Now we’re able to handle our fair share of the dredged materials from the channel deepening project.”

Furthermore, current plans call for nearly seven million cubic yards of sand dredged from the Delaware River to be used to restore beaches in New Jersey and Delaware, thus saving millions of dollars in restoration fees.

“That’s an interesting fact about the Delaware River that I never knew,” Chairman Preski said recently. “The Delaware River is not a mud-bottom river; there’s sand under there. So when you dig up that material, the Army Corps tells us that it’s good enough to replenish the beaches, and it’s good enough for mine reclamation.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection recently concluded that filling abandoned mines with materials gathered from the deepening project would prevent accidents and halt the discharge of acidic water that has spoiled more than 2000 miles of streams in the state.

Furthermore, the Environmental Impact Statement associated with the project has been approved at both the federal and state levels, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware all agreeing that the project can be safely undertaken.

Most importantly, says Chairman Preski, the project has been repeatedly proven economically viable. Recently, an independent review authorized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers identified $24.2 million in annual benefits for the region once the channel is deepened.

“Once we get down to 45 feet,” he said, we’ll see an increase of 2.5 million tons of cargo and 1,300 more jobs. And these are not low-paying jobs. The Port of Philadelphia employs 51,000 people in good, family-sustaining jobs, with an average salary of $43,000.”

As often reported by Chairman Preski, the nearby Port of New York & New Jersey is aggressively moving ahead to deepen its own channel to 50 feet. “That’s another reason why we have to get this river dredged,” he said. “We have tremendous competition from both the north and south of us. They’re not resting on their laurels and we can’t afford to, either.”

Chairman Preski is gratified that the Port’s labor force has come out strongly for the dredging initiative, as has Senator Arlen Specter, Senator Rick Santorum, Congressman Robert Brady, and a host of Pennsylvania state senators and state representatives. “I thank all of our allies for standing with us. You know, there’s not a port authority in the country that’s not fighting tooth and nail to dredge its river or waterway. So you have to wonder why our distinguished sister agency, the Delaware River Port Authority, isn’t doing the same. It makes me doubt its mission to facilitate trade along the Delaware River. Well, if the DRPA isn’t going to fight for dredging, then the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority will. Dredging equals jobs, economic growth, and is our only hope to remain competitive in the intensely competitive maritime industry.”

“The time for politics and small-minded bickering is over,” said Chairman Preski. “We need to dredge now.”

Check out this web site “news” section for more information about the ongoing fight to dredge the Delaware river’s main channel to 45 feet. Also, check back at our home screen for future updates on the issue.

PHILADELPHIA REGIONAL PORT AUTHORITY ANNOUNCES START OF 45-FOOT CHANNEL-DEEPENING PROJECT 
$300 MILLION PORT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM ALSO ANNOUNCED IN JOINT NEWS CONFERENCE BY GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA AND PRPA

PHILADELPHIA, May 17, 2007…  Amid much fanfare, a day sought after by the Philadelphia regional maritime industry for more than two decades finally arrived today when Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell announced that conflicts with New Jersey related to the Delaware River Channel Deepening Project have been resolved and that the plan to deepen the river’s channel from 40 to 45 feet will now move forward, with the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA) now being the project’s local sponsor.

Governor Rendell made his announcement during a news conference at the New Jersey headquarters of the Delaware River Port Authority, the project’s previous local sponsor, then crossed the Delaware River to make the same announcement in front of the headquarters of PRPA.  At that second news conference, Governor Rendell not only announced that the channel-deepening project was now moving forward, but also his endorsement of a comprehensive and aggressive $300 million capital improvement program that will modernize and expand the Port of Philadelphia’s facilities and infrastructure.

Speaking of both the channel-deepening project and the state’s capital investment program, Governor Rendell said, “With our agreement to move forward with dredging, Pennsylvania- through the PRPA- is now prepared to begin an aggressive program of investment in the Port of Philadelphia.  We will partner with PRPA and its terminal operators to upgrade and expand existing facilities while also working to attract longterm private investment from international shipping lines and terminal operators to develop our port and allow us to compete on the world stage.”

During the past year, PRPA has been in communication with steamship lines, terminal operating companies, and several non-traditional port investors to discuss possible investment in the Port of Philadelphia, especially PRPA’s proposed Southport project, which will significantly expand the Port’s reach south of the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal.  In all cases, serious interest was expressed, but contingent on one thing happening: commencement of the Delaware River Channel Deepening Project.  Now, with the announcement of not only the start of that project, but a $300 million state bond issue for port improvement, port officials here are extremely optimistic about the Port’s future.

“This is truly a great day, probably the greatest day we’ve had in the past ten years,” said PRPA Chairman Brian Preski, Esq., who participated in Governor Rendell’s news conference at PRPA headquarters.  “Issues in New Jersey that held up dredging have been resolved, and our own state has stepped up to the plate in a huge way to help us modernize this port.  Between deeper water and significantly improved, expanded facilities, nothing will stop us.  We’ll be able to fulfill our mission of job creation, economic development, and logistics efficiency as never before.”

The channel deepening project had been held up for the past several years because the project’s original local sponsor, the bi-state Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) began raising objections about the project’s merits.  More specifically, the New Jersey commissioners of the DRPA, at the behest of a handful of New Jersey politicians, raised those objections.  This prompted the Pennsylvania commissioners of  DRPA, at the request of Governor Rendell- who is also Chairman of the DRPA- to boycott DRPA board meetings for the past 16 months, stopping virtually all business at the agency.

 The dredging issue was resolved when DRPA agreed to relinquish its role as the local sponsor of the project and, just as importantly,  to facilitate all legal requirements to make PRPA the local sponsor.  Following Governor Rendell’s news conference at DRPA (held an hour before his announcement at PRPA), the Delaware River Port Authority held its first board meeting in more than a year and a half.

In the coming days and weeks, PRPA will release additional information about the timetable for dredging and for the state capital improvements.  For now, the capital initiative will include, but not be limited to, improvements to Pier 82, Tioga Marine Terminal, Packer Avenue Marine Terminal, and the Port’s Forest Products Center.  It also includes additional land purchases outside currently active port areas for the establishment of  new maritime operations.

But, during the course of both news conferences by Governor Rendell, everything came back to the 45-Foot Channel Deepening Project.  “I want to reiterate,” said Governor Rendell, “that none of this state investment would be cost effective, and that we would not have the private investment interest in this region that we now see, if we were not moving forward with the Delaware River dredging project.”

Governor Rendell Highlights Positive Impacts of Delaware River Dredging, Ports Development

Philadelphia, May 17, 2007- Governor Edward G. Rendell today highlighted the significant benefits of an agreement that will allow dredging of the main channel of the Delaware River to proceed under the direction of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, or PRPA.

“With our agreement to move forward with dredging, Pennsylvania -- through the PRPA -- is now prepared to begin an aggressive program of investment in our ports,” said Governor Rendell. “We will partner with ports to upgrade and expand existing facilities while also working to attract long-term private investment from international shipping lines and operators to develop our port and allow us to compete on the world stage.”/p>

Governor Rendell said several international shipping companies and terminal operators recently expressed interest about private investment in the expansion of our port facilities, but only if the dredging project was allowed to move forward. The dredging will deepen the river channel from 40 to 45 feet, allowing larger modern shipping vessels to access ports located along the river.

“In the coming weeks, I intend to personally meet with representatives of these lines to secure private investment for the development of our port, including, particularly, the Southport project,” the Governor said. “Given that we have one commodity that other ports do not share – the availability of contiguous land – I am optimistic that we can and will attract substantial investment and through expansion we will add jobs to the region.”

Governor Rendell said Pennsylvania intends to move forward with a planned financing at the PRPA to raise over $300 million in investment for immediate port development. The bond issue will be supported by the state and by the private beneficiaries of the funds and will support a number of projects:

• Pier 82 upgrades – Upgrades to Pier 82 infrastructure to increase competitiveness in attracting a 52-ship-per-year account to this facility;
• Tioga Marine Terminal – Extend the crane rail for the container cranes and build a 100,000-square-foot warehouse for the Chilean fruit business;
• Pier 74 Annex Warehouse – Develop 200,000-square-foot warehouse for paper products;
• Astro Holdings/Packer Avenue Marine Terminal – Construct two gantry cranes, crane rail extension, crane electrification and expansion of a refrigerated warehouse;
• Penn City/Brown – Demolition and construction of a new warehouse on Pier 80;
• Dependable Distribution – Construction of a 100,000-square-foot, on-site warehouse for additional storage of cocoa beans;
• Camden Iron & Metal – Support the purchase of Schuylkill Pier 3, located at Girard Point, and build a facility for scrap metal and other potential bulk cargo; and
• Emerson Landfill/Victory Gardens – Support the purchase of land to relocate an existing tenant from Pier 3, so to enhance a marketable bulk terminal facility there

Governor Rendell said the bond financing also will support the Food Distribution Center project. Cost and environmental concerns will prevent the center from being located at the Navy Yard. Officials are working with the FDC merchants to develop alternatives, including a proposal to renovate and upgrade their existing facilities in South Philadelphia.

“I want to reiterate that none of this investment would be cost effective, and that we would not have the investment interest in the region that we now see, if we were not moving forward with the Delaware River dredging project,” Governor Rendell added.

STACK CALLS ON NJ GOVERNOR TO BREAK DREDGING DEADLOCK

SENATOR MICHAEL J. STACK
PHONE: (717) 787-9608
www.senatorstack.com

CONTACT: KIRSTIN ALVANITAKIS
PHONE: (717) 787-3613
kalvanitakis@pasenate.com

HARRISBURG, July 5, 2006 – State Sen. Michael J. Stack sent a letter to New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine on the issue of Delaware River dredging and urged him to support the initiative.

“The ports along the Delaware River desperately need the dredging,” said Stack (D-Philadelphia). “Dredging to 45 feet will allow the ports to accommodate larger ships and compete with ports in other sections of the United States.

“Failure to dredge will force companies to move their businesses to other ports. This will result in the loss of thousands of jobs, millions of dollars in tax revenue, and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity. The dredging debate has gone on far too long. Now is the time to act.” As a state legislator representing Tioga Marine Terminal, Stack offered to assist in bringing both sides to an agreement on the issue.