NEWS FROM THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL

July 24, 2009
Vol. 39, No. 315

Contact: Melinda Carl, Public Affairs, (302) 739-9902

DNREC denies 2001 permit application to deepen
the main channel of Delaware River and Bay

DOVER – Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Collin P. O’Mara today signed an order denying the permit application from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deepen the main navigational channel of the Delaware River and Bay from 40 to 45 feet. O’Mara’s action is consistent with the recommendation of the hearing officer that presided over the hearing and development of the record – one of the largest in DNREC’s history.

“The scale of the project has changed substantially from the project envisioned in the 2001 application, and there has been a great deal of new information developed in the intervening period about the Delaware River and Bay ,” wrote O’Mara in his letter to Army Corps District Commander Thomas Tickner. “Given the hearing officer’s recommendations, the significant changes to the scale of the project, the outdated nature of the record, and the potential procedural flaws in making such an important decision based upon the existing record, I have no alternative than to deny the permits. Please note that having reviewed the record, I take this action without prejudice to any future permit application.”

The Corps’ application, submitted in 2001 and the subject of a 2003 public hearing, sought state wetlands and subaqueous lands permits to dredge the navigational channel to remove nearly nineteen million cubic yards of material from the channel that runs from the mouth of the Delaware Bay at Lewes to the Delaware-Pennsylvania border near Claymont.

Along with insufficient information about several important environmental issues in the application record, a local project sponsor, required of many Corps’ projects, was not finalized until June 2008 when the Corps signed a contractual agreement with the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority. Identification of a local sponsor is important in order to provide responsibility for environmental liabilities that may arise from the project.

DNREC has also requested that the Corps initiate a supplemental review to determine consistency with all applicable federal requirements as part of the Department’s Coastal Management Program. The program previously issued a conditional concurrence over a decade ago in a letter dated May 1, 1997. Additional review is necessary, however, because even though the project construction has not begun, substantial project modifications have occurred and new information has emerged relevant to natural resource impacts.

The Secretary’s Order, letter to Lt. Colonel Tickner, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Hearing Officer’s Report are available for review at: http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/Pages/default.aspx