Gulfport commissioners weigh $1 billion expansion plan

Gulfport commissioners weigh $1 billion expansion plan Commissioners of the Mississippi State Port Authority may vote as soon as Friday on an ambitious plan to restore and expand the Port of Gulfport.
   The port is considering a $1 billion project that would give the port annual capacity of 2 million to 3 million TEUs, and eventually allow Gulfport to handle as many a 17 million TEUs 50 years hence — more than the 15.7 million TEUs the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handled in 2007.
   Gulfport, heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina, is expected to handle about 200,000 TEUs this year, close to the 214,000 TEUs it handled prior to the storm. Chiquita, Dole and Crowley operate container services out of the port, and large amounts of ilmenite ore is imported through the port by DuPont.
   The project planners stress the $1 billion project is a very long-term vision, but believe there will be big opportunities for Gulf of Mexico ports because of the expansion of the Panama Canal, the shift south and west of U.S. population, and increased trade opportunities with Latin America and Africa in decades to come.
   Donald R. Allee, executive director and chief executive officer of the port, said the plan, developed by the consulting firm CH2M Hill, is still in conceptual stages, and will be discussed during the second of two public hearings in Gulfport on Friday. While commissioners are to vote on the plan Friday, he said “I don’t see any reason they will not adopt it.”
   If adopted, there will still be a great deal of engineering work and permitting work to bring the project to fruition, but he said the first stage of the project might be operational in four or five years. Construction would be conducted so as not to disrupt existing operations.
   The plan being considered by the commissioners is a major revision of a 60-acre expansion that is already underway. Gulfport, prior to Katrina, had two long piers that extended southward into the Gulf, and the original plan was to expand the westward fork into a large container terminal.
   Under the revised plan, the port would be modified so that most cargo activity would take place on an offshore island that would be created out of part of the existing terminals and many acres of newly created land. The island would be built in stages, and the port would seek private sector partners. Allee said the port has already had informal conversations with companies interested in the project.
   Mississippi has committed to using $570 million from community bloc development grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded after Katrina to help fund the expansion plan. That decision caused controversy among some legislators and community activists who felt the money should be used for residential construction.
   Allee noted that restoration would raise the height of the terminal from 10 to 25 feet, which would help protect the surrounding community from storm surge and prevent equipment from being washed into the surrounding community in the event of a hurricane. The storm surge during Katrina reached 22.5 feet, he said.
   Landscaping on the offshore island would provide a visual buffer for residents of Gulfport and the port has talked about building a sunken highway and railway line to connect the port to Interstate 10, similar to the Alameda Corridor.
   The Kansas City Southern Railway extends right to the port and is the major north-south railroad out of the port, said Allee, while CSX provides east-west connections. ' Chris Dupin