Freeport gets permit to widen channel

Freeport gets permit to widen channel    Port Freeport in Texas received a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to widen the offshore entrance and jetty channels to the harbor.
   The port authority said the expansion is needed to accommodate increasing vessel traffic since the opening of the Freeport LNG terminal and growth in wind turbine component, pipe and other project cargo imports. The port handled more than 29.6 million tons of cargo through its public and private docks in 2007.
   The widening of the six-mile offshore entrance and jetty channels up to 600 feet from the current 400-foot width will allow larger LNG, crude oil and other cargo vessels to access the port, the authority said. The current 45-foot depth will be maintained.
   The non-federal widening project is a public-private collaboration between Port Freeport and users of the waterway, notably Freeport LNG and ConocoPhillips. The cost of the project is expected to be about $30 million.
   'The non-federal widening effort is the initial component of a more extensive federal expansion of the navigable waterway that has been under development for more than five years,' said A.J. 'Pete' Reixach Jr., executive port director and chief executive officer, in a statement. 'The widening will facilitate additional growth in the years ahead by accommodating larger vessels.'
   Suitable dredge material will be deposited on Quintana Island to replenish the beach. The remainder will be placed in an existing offshore disposal area.
   Although other such non-federal channel enhancements have been undertaken in the United States, this project is the first to seek federal assumption of maintenance. If the Corps of Engineers grants approval, the federal government will periodically dredge the widened increment of the channel just as it does for the existing channel, the Freeport port authority said.