Small Town News

Corps to begin dredging

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Injunction permits deepening part of Delaware River

A federal judge last week ruled the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can dredge one part of the Delaware River as litigation over the issue moves forward, not granting Delaware's request to prevent all dredging of the river without environmental permits.

The ruling brought immediate fire from Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) Secretary Collin O'Mara.

"I am disappointed by the court's ruling today. When I became the secretary of DNREC, we promptly took up this issue, determined that the corps' 2001 application was outdated, incomplete, and insufficient to issue permits and asked the corps to reapply, all in three months."

O'Mara also said, "Had the corps reapplied, potential environmental and economic impacts could have been analyzed, and the permitting process would largely be complete by now - and this lawsuit could have been avoided."

District Court Judge Sue Robinson's ruling allows the corps to deepen to 45 feet part of the river from the north end of Delaware to the east end of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, said corps spokesman Edward Voigt. That section of the river is known as Reach C.

The corps is already doing maintenance dredging in that stretch of the river, Voight said. However, the contract for that project includes an option for deepening, which would expire Feb.ll.

Voight said with the judge's ruling, the corps will exercise that option, but no start date for deepening has yet been set

Voigt said deepening Reach C is all the corps would have done now regardless of the court case; deepening of other sections would not begin until at least December 2010, he said.

O'Mara said he intends to sit down with the Attorney General's Office to evaluate the state's options.

Meanwhile, Maya van Rossum, head of the Delaware Riverkeep-er Network a plaintiff in the suit, said the judge's ruling prevents dredging other parts of the river and indicates the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their case. She said environmental groups argued the project was a violation of state and federal law.

She said her group is disappointed the corps, supported by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, will be "able to deepen one inch of the river in violation of their obligation to serve the public good."

"That the Army Corps has so vigorously pursued an exception to the state of Delaware's oversight - stripping the states of their sovereign and legal authorities - should outrage every state in the union and the Obama administration," van Rossum said.

Van Rossum said the environmental plaintiffs have repeatedly provided information showing that deepening the river will not pay off economically.

Dennis Rochford, president of the Maritime Exchange for Delaware, disagrees; he says dredging the river is "a critical next step to keep existing business and attract new business" for ports in Wilmington and Philadelphia.

Supporters of deepening the shipping channel say that when the Panama Canal expansion is complete in 2014, world shipping will turn to larger ships that require deeper channels.

Stuart Griffin, a Delaware River Pilot and Lewes resident, said, "The deepening project is crucial to the future economic viability of the Delaware River Region, and Judge Robinson's ruling allows the project to finally move forward in a way that balances environmental concerns with the economic interests of the state of Delaware."

Delaware, New Jersey and five environmental groups sued the corps after it announced late last year that it would proceed with deepening the river's shipping channel despite having been denied environmental permits to





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