Army Corps of Engineers issues permit for Mobile terminal

Army Corps of Engineers issues permit for Mobile terminal    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit to construct a wharf, container terminal and an intermodal rail yard for the proposed Choctaw Point Terminal in Mobile, Ala. The Corps also authorized dredging and landfill operations to serve the facility, located on the Mobile River.
   'Construction will begin immediately,' said Judith Adams, a spokesperson for the Alabama State Port Authority. The Choctaw Point Terminal, which will have a capacity of 600,000 TEUs per year, is expected to open in the first quarter of 2007.
   The issuing of the permit closed out a three-year-plus environmental study conducted by Volkert & Associates Inc., of Mobile for the Alabama State Port Authority. The new container facility and the intermodal rail yard will impact about 25 acres of wetlands.