Specter pushes for Delaware River dredging

Specter pushes for Delaware River dredging Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., visited the Packer Marine Terminal in Philadelphia this week to endorse deepening the main channel in the Delaware River to 45 feet from 40 feet.
   “I’m here today to tell you that I’m still going to be doing my part to get this project done,” Specter told a group of longshoremen and other workers who gathered at the terminal to rally support for the project.
   Port officials say the deeper channel would result in more than 100,000 new jobs in the port.
   Specter praised Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell for his hardball tactics with New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine to force the project forward despite opposition from New Jersey politicians.
   “Pennsylvania went head to head with its critics in New Jersey, and Pennsylvania won. And I’m here today to tell you that I’m still going to be doing my part to get this project done,” Specter said.
   Rendell, who is chairman of the bi-state Delaware River Port Authority, had kept the board of that agency from meeting for nearly a year and a half by preventing the Pennsylvania delegation from attending its meeting.
   A timetable for the dredging project has not yet been released and Congress has not yet fully funded the project.