newjerseynewsroom.com

BY JOE TYRRELL

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Gov. Chris Christie has vowed to continue the state's fight against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to deepen the Delaware River shipping channel from Philadelphia south.

"It is irresponsible for the Army Corps to push this dredging project when we know South Jersey will suffer the consequences," Christie said in a joint statement with Bob Martin, acting commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The Governor accused the Army engineers of relying on outdated data and taking inadequate steps to prevent pollution. But the announcement followed setbacks in a battle initiated by an environmental coalition.

On Feb. 17, Delaware officials said their state now takes "no position" on the project after previously refusing to issue a permit. In January, a federal judge in Wilmington ruled the $300 million project could proceed anyway.

A spokesman for the Corps' regional office in Philadelphia said the project, which will deepen the channel by five feet, has been significantly scaled back over the years. In addition to removing less spoil from the river, the Corps will not need new disposal sites in South Jersey, said spokesman Ed Voight.

"These sites are all federal property, the same ones that we have been using since 1941 without any fuss or fanfare," he said.

In the river, "the survey technology has improved," Voight said. "We have a lot better idea of what's down and can do less dredging."

"We have very deep concerns about the old scientific data the Army Corps has been using to push this project ahead," Martin said, questioning whether the work will be "as ecologically benign as the Army Corps purports it to be."

Christie accused the agency of employing "a double standard, applying tough criteria to protect the environment during the project to deepen the New York-New Jersey harbor yet failing to provide the same protections to South Jersey's environment."

"There's no double standard, it's the same Army Corps with the same standards," Voight said. "They had contaminated material in New York/North Jersey and had to treat it accordingly.

"We don't have that problem," he said. "It's different material, not different standards."

He also disputed statements that the Corps has refused to update environmental data, pointing to an environmental assessment last year. Among other things, the engineers revised some plans to protect a sturgeon migration route, he said.

Martin said New Jersey also objects to the Corps' plan to take advantage of air credits to offset smog-causing pollutants emitted by its boats and equipment. For the New York/North Jersey dredging, the Port Authority purchased low-polluting engines for the boats.

"We don't want paper credits that don't actually eliminate any pollution," Martin said.

"It's a sort of mini-cap-and-trade system, which I guess some people don't think is the best way," Voight said. "But it's been approved by EPA, which administers the Clean Air Act, and we're operating within the law and the standards of the three states."

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