Crenshaw Secures Necessary Language to Extend St. John's River Channel Deepening Project
Crenshaw Secures Necessary Language to Extend St. John's River Channel Deepening Project
2005-11-10
(WASHINGTON) - Congressman Ander Crenshaw (R-FL), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, announced the inclusion of necessary authorization language, vital to continuing the deepening of the St. John's River shipping channel to the Talleyrand Terminal, in the Fiscal Year 2006 Energy & Water Appropriations Act.
"To remain competitive, Jacksonville's port must be on equal footing with other ports on the east coast. Today we took an important step forward in our effort to deepen the St. John's River and provide our port with the competitive edge they need," Crenshaw said. "JAXPORT is already expanding and positioning itself to be one of our region's most important economic drivers. By deepening the channel, the Port will be poised to attract even more private investment and jobs in the future."
Jacksonville's main shipping channel is a 23-mile stretch of the St. Johns River extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Talleyrand Marine Terminal just north of downtown Jacksonville. Extending the shipping channel depth to 40 feet from Dames Point Marine Terminal to Talleyrand Terminal would allow the port to accommodate bigger freight ships. The port accounts for about 45,000 jobs and a $2.6 billion economic impact to the region.
The deepening of the St. John's river channel is a multi-phased project. Phase one was originally authorized in the 1999 Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA). That phase brought the shipping channel depth to 40 feet from the mouth of the St. John's River to the Dames Point Marine Terminal and was finally completed in 2004. After the completion of phase one, construction on the second phase could not begin until Congress provided the necessary authorization, which happened today.
"That left a portion of the shipping channel with a depth of only 38 feet, preventing larger cargo ships from continuing through to the Talleyrand Terminal. This creates inefficiency and puts JAXPORT at a disadvantage when competing for new businesses.
"Without this needed language, I was precluded from securing any further funding for this vital project," Crenshaw said. "While the future of WRDA remains uncertain, JAXPORT's future is bright - and it is time to move this project forward."
Since arriving in Congress in 2001, Crenshaw has obtained over $15 million in funding for the channel deepening, but progress was stalled as legislative roadblocks prevented authorization for the project's continuation. Although typically accomplished through WRDA, Crenshaw successfully pushed to have the necessary authorization language included in the Energy and Water Appropriations Act because there has been a deadlock on getting WRDA passed into law. WRDA is supposed to be reauthorized every two years, but has not been reauthorized since 2000.
http://crenshaw.house.gov/crenshaw-web/proc/?pa=universal&sa=showPr&itemId=277