• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Corps Panel OKs Plans to Develop Craney Island

Posted on: Thursday, 6 April 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Gregory Richards, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Apr. 6--The Virginia Port Authority's plans to develop Craney Island in Portsmouth into a massive marine cargo terminal by 2017 took a major step forward this week with the approval of a key Army Corps of Engineers panel.

With the unanimous backing of the corps' Washington-based Civil Works Review Board, the 600-acre project's Environmental Impact Statement will be released for a final 30-day review by local, state and federal agencies and organizations, according to the corps. The five-member board reviews projects for compliance with federal policies.

The project's feasibility study, which encompasses environmental and economic impact, may also be released for review, according to the Port Authority.

Once that comment period is over -- no start date has been set -- the corps' Norfolk office and the Port Authority will address any concerns, and the corps' top commander will prepare his final report, said Nancy Allen, a spokeswoman for the corps in Norfolk. That report will be sent to the assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, who will review it and forward it to Congress.

"We're coming into the home stretch," Allen said. "This is a significant step for us, for the project, but there are still several steps that need to be taken."

Among the groups that will be reviewing the latest documents are the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Elizabeth River Project, a Portsmouth-based environmental group.

Those groups have commented on the project's plans, so "we don't anticipate any major concerns," said J.J. "Jeff" Keever, the Port Authority's deputy executive director.

Also, the final reports are not significantly different from the draft versions, and the board did not recommend any major changes when it made its decision Tuesday, Allen said.

In a presentation to the board, Col. Yvonne J. Prettyman-Beck, commander of the corps' Norfolk District, made the case that the expansion is in the nation's best interest because it would save $6 billion over 50 years, according to a copy of the presentation.

That savings represents the estimated increased transportation costs that would be incurred because increasing cargo volumes will fill Hampton Roads' existing marine terminals by 2011. Goods moving through the port -- many of which wind up in the Midwest -- would then have to flow through other, more distant ports, such as Savannah, Ga.

Also, $3 million a year in additional dredging costs would be incurred should Craney Island not be expanded. The Port Authority wants to build the terminal atop a new storage cell for dredged materials at Craney Island, which has long served the port's dredging disposal area.

Craney Island won't be able to accept more dredged materials after 2025 unless it is expanded, according to Prettyman-Beck's presentation .

The draft versions of the project's feasibility study and Environmental Impact Statement were completed by the corps in October.

They officially reversed an earlier corps opinion in 2003, when Col. David Hansen, then head of the Norfolk District, decided to halt the review process. Hansen said he no longer saw a reason to continue the work because the environmental costs were too high.

Even if it gains regulatory approval to build on Craney Island, the Port Authority still has to find money for the project, which is estimated to cost $2 billion when adjusted for inflation.

In the short term, the authority is counting on the state's General Assembly to include $28.5 million in the budget now under discussion to pay for preliminary design work, Keever said. It is also hoping the corps might split the $600 million cost of building levies and dikes on Craney Island. However, the corps is far from that number now, offering only $24.6 million.

To pay for the rest of the project, all options are being considered, he said, including state-issued bonds and public-private partnerships.

Reach Gregory Richards at (757) 446-2599 or gregory.richards@pilotonline.com.

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Virginian-Pilot

More News in this Category