Philadelphia seeks to intervene in dredging suit

Philadelphia seeks to intervene in dredging suit    The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA) said Friday it is seeking to intervene in a lawsuit the State of Delaware has filed to block a project to deepen the main shipping channel on the Delaware River.
   Delaware filed a lawsuit Oct. 30 to block the deepening just days after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced it would move forward on the project, which was first authorized by Congress in 1991. The suit has been filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.
   Should the court grant the motion, the PRPA would become a party in the lawsuit along with the current defendant, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The PRPA, which is the local sponsor of the Delaware River Main Channel Deepening Project, said it would be represented in court by Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett. In its papers, the PRPA argued that it should become a party because of the significant economic development interests of the Port of Philadelphia at stake in the lawsuit, as well as PRPA's required financial investment as the local sponsor of the project.
   'We are taking this action today both because of how important it is to the people and businesses of Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, and because it is critical that this regional project not be further delayed while other East Coast ports, like the Port of New York-New Jersey, dredge to prepare for larger vessels,' said John H. Estey, PRPA chairman. 'Deepening will not only make passage safer, but ensure continued economic growth of the tri-state economy. There have been dozens of environmental and economic studies conducted consisting of over 12,000 pages of research and analysis. The science shows that this is an environmentally safe and responsible project.'
   On Oct. 24, the Corps announced it would deepen the Delaware River to 45 feet from 40 feet.
   There is already a contract in place to begin maintenance dredging of the river that can be expanded to include the deepening early next year.    Additional deepening is not expected in Delaware waters until 2011.    Maintenance dredging of the channel is conducted every year to maintain the current depth of 40 feet.
   The $311 million project would deepen the main shipping channel five feet from the Beckett Street Terminal in Camden, N.J., to the mouth of the Delaware Bay.
   The PRPA said without deeper drafts, larger modern shipping vessels will not have access to ports located along the river. It noted Pennsylvania has committed $30 million to begin the project.