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The Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Delaware River Port Authority are proposing to deepen the Delaware River's shipping channel from 40 feet to 45 feet for 102.5 miles up to the Port of Philadelphia. In 2002, the project was proposed to cost $420 million total, $273 million of which would be paid by federal taxpayers. After a scathing General Accounting Office (GAO) report that lowered the project's benefits below costs, the Corps released a reanalysis of the project that significantly reduced the cost below predicted economic benefits. The Corps claims the project is needed to accommodate tankers and larger container ships to keep Delaware River ports competitive with other East Coast ports. The primary beneficiaries of this project are oil refineries that currently off-load portions of incoming oil onto smaller vessels before bringing extremely deep draft supertankers up river. However, this project will not obviate the need to off-load oil, and, furthermore, most of the refineries have not committed to deepening their private "approach channels," which would be necessary to accommodate the larger ships and take advantage of the deepened channel. The project threatens to damage Delaware River water quality, aquatic life, wetlands and nearby drinking water supplies. Green
Scissors Proposal Current Status Representatives Robert Andrews (D-NJ), Jim Saxton (R-NJ), and Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), and Senator Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) requested that the GAO review the costs and justification of the project. In a June 2002 analysis, the GAO found that "The Corps of Engineers' economic analysis of the Delaware River main ship channel-deepening project contains a number of material errors." The GAO also concluded that when these errors are incorporated into the Corps economic plans the actual coat benefit decreases to .49 to 1, or fifty cents to the dollar, not the 1.4 to 1, which the Corps originally claimed. The
Corps' reanalysis of the project, after the GAO study, dramatically
reduced the project cost while largely maintaining the benefits.
Reviews of this reanalysis reveal that the Corps overstated
project benefits and ignored a number of environmental costs
in order to re-justify this discredited project. In November
2002, the State of New Jersey revoked the project's construction
permit. Despite taxpayer funds, the project will not make the Port of Philadelphia more competitive. Mega-container ships require a depth of at least 50 feet and so could not be accommodated by the Delaware regardless of the proposed deepening project. Leading industry consultants attending a symposium hosted by the Ports of Philadelphia and Camden concluded that there is "no guarantee [mega] container ships will ever call here." Even deepened to 45 feet, Philadelphia will remain a shallow port in comparison to other major North Atlantic ports at New York/New Jersey, Baltimore, and Hampton Roads, Virginia. According to the Corps, more than 80 percent of the benefits of the proposed deepening project will accrue to six oil facilities. In order for the oil facilities to accommodate the larger ships, however, they would have to deepen their own private channels and berths. However, only one of the six facilities is on record saying that it supports and may take advantage of the project. Several oil refineries have stated that the current practice of off-loading oil onto smaller vessels in Delaware Bay and shipping it upriver is acceptable. Project Hurts the Environment The Corps would dredge 33 million cubic yards of sediment - enough to fill every major league baseball stadium in the U.S. Most of these spoils, some of which contain concentrations of toxic substances such as mercury, lead and PCBs, would be deposited at sites along the river. In some instances, dredge spoils will be piled 75 feet high. One site would be adjacent to Bombay Hook, a National Wildlife Refuge and a Wetland of International Importance. NOX emissions from dredging projects will emit large amounts of emissions that threaten the ozone. As required by the Clean Air Act the Army Corps is supposed to address and consider any impacts as a result of their project. So far they have failed to do so. Toxic dredged material could threaten drinking water supplies, water quality and wildlife. The project threatens recovering oyster populations and the Delaware River's blue crabs. Plans to blast a granite portion of the riverbed, a component of the river deepening, pose risks to the endangered short-nosed sturgeon and to the underlying aquifer. Additionally, there are concerns for salt-water intrusions into drinking water as the results of a rising sea level. Contacts
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