First, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced during the first week of February that its FY 2012 Work Plan will include $16.9 million that will be exclusively reserved for the deepening project. These dollars, accessible immediately, will allow the Army Corps to deepen two additional sections, or “reaches”, of the project, totaling about 15 miles. Labeled Reaches A and AA, these areas are located in the portion of the Delaware River’s main channel that extends from Philadelphia’s Center City/South Philadelphia area south to Essington, Pennsylvania, a very busy section of the river. With the availability of these new funds, the deepening of these reaches is scheduled to begin in early August.
Secondly, shortly following the above announcement, the Obama administration revealed on February 13 that it will include $31 million in the President’s Budget for the deepening project. These funds, designated for the fiscal year starting October 1, are scheduled to be used to remove rock along the river bottom in the area of Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania.
These combined funds will go a long way to complete the project to deepen the 102-mile Delaware River shipping channel from 40 feet, its depth since World War II, to 45 feet. Already two reaches of the river channel, in the state of Delaware, have been completed using funds released by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through its independent state agency the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA). PRPA is the local matching organization for the project, with the federal government providing the rest of the funds. These two recent announcements mark the first major release of funds from the federal government for the project.
“These two announcements are wonderful news for the Port of Philadelphia and the thousands of men and women who make their living on our working waterfront,” said Chairman Kopp. “If cargo ships can’t get here because our water isn’t deep enough, this port- traditionally one of the busiest in the nation- simply won’t be able to survive, let alone thrive. It’s gratifying that the administration in Washington recognizes that fact, and showed its commitment to this region with the release of these funds.”
PRPA Executive Director James T. McDermott, Jr. acknowledged the invaluable assistance of many public officials to bring about the two funding announcements. “We have countless people to thank for their diligent efforts to bring about this great news. I must take a moment to acknowledge in particular Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett; Senator Robert Casey; Senator Pat Toomey; Congressman Robert Brady; Pennsylvania State Representative Bill Keller; State Senators Larry Farnese and Mike Stack; and our terrific Chairman, Charles Kopp, who in less than a year on the job has helped bring about such major progress on this project. I also acknowledge the many public officials from out of state, especially in Delaware, who came forward to help with this project, as well as a large coalition of business and labor leaders in the tri-state area.”
