The Delaware Riverkeeper Network has been working since 1998 to protect and restore the Delaware River, its tributaries and habitats. The Corps' deepening proposal would have devastating impacts on water quality in the Delaware River, threaten sensitive aquatic species, and impact the communities which live along and rely upon the river. The projected economic benefits of the project are speculative at best, and cannot justify the devastating environmental impact. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has proposed deepening the existing channel from its current depth of 40 feet to a new depth of 45 feet. While proponents of the project, including the Delaware River Port Authority, assert the tri-state region will benefit economically, the Corps of Engineers' own documents conclude that the channel deepening project will not result in any increase in shipping tonnage.
Independent analyses show the project is likely to have a negative benefit-cost ratio.
First, deepening the channel will bring to the surface pollutants and toxins long buried in the riverbed. And deepening has the potential to greatly harm fish, plant and bird life in the river and bay. According to the ecologist of Delaware Wild Lands, Inc., Peter Martin, the groups are united in opposition to the channel deepening project for other reasons too. Yet some oil companies will contribute nothing to the costs of the deepening, and in fact, have stated they have no intention to spend the hundreds of thousands of dollars necessary to deepen their private channels and berths, or re-engineer their docks to take advantage of the deepening. And finally, it is a myth that the deepened channel will bring larger ships.