New York-New Jersey port, Corps of Engineers begin dredging

New York-New Jersey port, Corps of Engineers begin dredging    The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have signed an agreement launching a $1.6-billion project to deepen channels in the port of New York and New Jersey to 50 feet.
   The port authority will contribute nearly $1 billion to the overall program, with the federal government paying for the rest.
   As planned, the project won’t be completed until 2014, although the Corps and the port authority said they could accelerate that timetable.
   “The material we are removing as part of this project,” more than 42 million cubic yards of sediment, “will be used to recap landfill sites, to remediate brownfield sites, and to create artificial reefs,” said Richard M. Larrabee, the port authority’s port commerce director.
   At the same time, the port will invest “in projects to build ship-to-rail facilities at our marine terminals, to strengthen wharfs and berths, and to create more terminal space,” said Joseph J. Seymour, executive director of the port authority.
   The agreement reached by the port authority and the Corps opens a period when the Corps can start awarding contracts to deepen six channels that now have depths of 30 to 45 feet. The project will ultimately include the Ambrose, Anchorage, Kill Van Kull, Newark Bay, Bay Ridge and Port Jersey shipping channels.
   Gov. James E. McGreevey of New Jersey said the new pact was “an exercise in common sense” to keep the port of New York and New Jersey competitive with the ports of    Halifax, Nova Scotia; and Norfolk, Va.