The ongoing saga of the Delaware River dredging project will continue this week as there will be a press conference tomorrow and further movement later in the week:
With a Delaware River deepening project set to start next week, some of the project's top critics -- including Gov. Chris Christie -- have scheduled a press conference on Gloucester County's waterfront on Monday.
Christie and U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews, D-Haddon Heights, are among officials expected at the 12:15 p.m. event at Red Bank Battlefield in National Park.
President Barack Obama's federal budget includes no money for the planned deepening of the Delaware Bay and River shipping channel.
U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews, D-1st, asked Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag last month that Obama seek no funding for the project, which would deepen from 40 to 45 feet the channel that runs from the Delaware Bay west of Cape May to Philadelphia. Obama included no such funding in the federal budget released Monday and also called for about a 10 percent cut to Army Corps of Engineers' discretionary budget.
No doubt Ed Rendell has already been on the phone to the White House. The Corp says that they get funding through many sources, so the lack of money in the budget isn't that big of a deal. Congressman Andrews still wants the GAO to take another look:
"What you need is a neutral, competent auditor who takes a look at this," Andrews said.
I don't know if he's going to get GAO to get a separate look. He may have better luck blocking funding to finance the project as seen with this budget. The Corps still seems confident they can work money through the system from somewhere else to complete the project.
Give up. That was the message from Delaware Judge Sue Robinson to opponents of a plan to dredge and deepened in the Delaware. First she refused to block the dredging on Wednesday:
In her decision declining their request for an injunction, Judge Robinson wrote, "The public holds a vested interest in the nation's environmental preservation efforts," but "the public holds an equally compelling stake in the continued economic vitality of the Delaware River ports." She also said, "Congress has made the determination that it is in the public interest to proceed with the deepening project."
"Just to be clear, the deepening project is one that should be completed, consistent with Congressional intent," Robinson wrote, adding that administrative obstacles do not amount to proof of insurmountable environmental risks.
That wasn't enough and the Judge went even further taking on criticisms leveled against the project directly:
"For those who oppose the project in the first instance, the time for that fight has long passed," the judge wrote. "The decision to allow deepening in Reach C, therefore, is not 'a bridge to nowhere,' it is a first step in a regulatory process that has worked in the past, and should work here, to accomplish Congress' goals without causing environmental harm as defined by statute."
New Jersey still has two lawsuits in federal court seeking to delay the dredging. But the judge seemed to make it clear that she believes the whole project should go forward, not just the section in Delaware.
A new obstacle emerged yesterday in the epic battle over whether to dredge the Delaware River shipping channel, deepening it to 45 feet from 40, even as the project seems about to begin.
Delaware environmental officials denied a permit the Army Corps of Engineers was seeking. It had applied for permission in 2001.
With the news that Delaware is planning to fight, Congressman Andrews said it's time for the NJDEP to step up as they try to slow federal funds. Here is the video:
This move should restart a long standing feud between PA and NJ. Pennsylvania Senators Arlen Specter and Bob Casey requested $3.8 million in the omnibus spending bill to dredge and deepen the Delaware River. The funding would go toward deepening the 103-mile main shipping channel by five feet between the Philadelphia Harbor and the mouth of the Delaware Bay. The move has long been fought by New Jersey and the funding request prompted this strong response from Congressman Andrews:
"Despite the fact that this $3.8 million earmark is not even 2 percent of the anticipated total cost, any money spent toward dredging the Delaware is a terrible misuse of taxpayer's money at a time when our economy cannot afford to waste," he said, pointing to a Government Accountability Office report that said deepening the river would result in a 49-cent loss for every dollar invested.
The project still hasn't received environmental permits for New Jersey or Delaware. Environmentalists have argued the project threatens aquatic life, drinking water and wetlands, without economic justification. Over the last decade, five New Jersey governors from both parties have opposed the project. The last time this issue came up, it became a sixteen month battle that involved holding up board meetings with the Delaware River Port Authority.
