Corps of Engineers: No threat from Delaware dredging

Corps of Engineers: No threat from Delaware dredging    The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority said the Army Corps of Engineers has found 'no significant adverse environmental effects' of a proposed deepening of the Delaware River, according to a newly released environmental assessment.
   The port said the report paves the way for the start of deepening the 102-mile Delaware River main channel to 45 feet, from the Beckett Street Terminal in Camden, N.J., to the mouth of the Delaware Bay.
   The deepening is considered essential if the port is to increase container traffic. Pennsylvania is reviewing proposals to develop a major new container terminal in Philadelphia.
   The assessment examined 10 years of data and proposed changes to the project and concluded “any changes to the project or changes to the physical conditions where the project will be constructed would have no significant, adverse effects on the human environment, over and above the potential environmental effects already addressed.”
   The assessment can be found here.
   Last June, the port authority and Army Corps signed a project partnership agreement, at an estimated cost of about $277 million, which will take five to seven years to complete.