Sat Feb 20, 2010 at 11:05:56 AM EST
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The new Governor is weighing in on the long standing battle over efforts by the Army Corps of Engineer to push forward with the dredging of the Delaware River despite objections:Gov. Chris Christie on Friday blasted a plan to deepen the Delaware River's main shipping channel, saying South Jersey's environment will "suffer the consequences" if the project is not delayed.
"It is irresponsible for the Army Corps (of Engineers) to push this dredging project forward," Christie said. Among other demands, he called on the Corps to provide alternatives to dumping dredge spoils in South Jersey and to update its environmental studies for the project. We wrote a few weeks ago about a ruling by a Judge in Delaware calling for the project to move forward and opposition to end. While Delaware seemed to roll after after the decision, changing their stance to having no position, Governor Christie has taken a more confrontational stand:"We have very deep concerns about the old scientific data the Army Corps has been using to push this project ahead," Martin said, questioning whether the work will be "as ecologically benign as the Army Corps purports it to be."
Christie accused the agency of employing "a double standard, applying tough criteria to protect the environment during the project to deepen the New York-New Jersey harbor yet failing to provide the same protections to South Jersey's environment." Responding to those charges, the Corps said the material in NY was contaminated and needed to be treated as such. They also say they did an environmental assessment last year, but the DEP in its release pointed to specific areas not looked at. The Christie administration is taking action along with the tough talk:New Jersey earlier this week joined an environmental coalition's attempt to block any startup of the more than $300 million project to deepen the channel five feet, to a controlling depth of 45 feet, without more studies, pending an appeals court ruling on a challenge originally filed by Delaware and on the outcomes of two other federal lawsuits. The Corps was supposed to start their work this Tuesday, but will hold off until Friday at the earliest in order to give the court time to rule on the injunction. This dispute has spanned administrations and even caused a stalemate at the Delaware River Port Authority at one point along the way. This project is very much supported by Pennsylvania because of the potential economic benefits they would realize. With Delaware not opposing anymore, NJ is the last state standing in fighting the project along side the environmental groups. |
| Jason Springer :: Christie Admin calls out Army Corps on Delaware Dredging |
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