TINA MARKOE/Courier-Post Joseph Balzano, executive director of the South Jersey Port Corp. in Camden, believes dredging is necessary to protect 30,000 maritime jobs on the Delaware.

"Based on what the Army Corps presented to us in November, there was a high probability that the impact on water quality would have exceeded our standards," Fikslin says. "We were uncomfortable and communication (between the commission and the corps) was poor.

"Now DRBC has become the prime coordinator. After our meeting with the corps in May, I believe the dredging and disposal will have minimal impact on water quality if properly managed and we are assured of oversight. There's no question from an environmental perspective the project will move forward. And at this point we think we can manage the impact."

The commission could eventually delay, restrict or bury the project. The Delaware River Port Authority has similar power from a financial perspective as the project's local sponsor. The bi-state authority expects to give its approval by the end of the year, and Chairman Manuel Stamatakis predicts he can keep the local share under $70 million.

Another roadblock to dredging is litigation, a tactic that delayed dredging in New York harbor five years ago. Opponents of the Delaware are mum about a court battle. So far, the deepening project has approvals from the federal Environmental Protection Agency and state-wide equivalents in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, which proponents say is good enough for them. Delaware has approved it conditionally.

Clearly, the rationale for the deepening has mutated since the port community asked Congress to consider it in 1982.

Gone are the promises of new jobs. Instead, Joseph Balzano, executive director of the South Jersey Port Corporation, which operates two Camden terminals, says deepening the river will allow the region to only maintain existing jobs.

"Ships are getting bigger and crews are getting smaller because of technology," he says. "There are so many factors it's hard to predict the employment picture." Another little-known fact is that the major beneficiaries are contributing nothing. Five oil companies--which account for about one third of all ships on the river--will be able to move more product per ship. with the deepening.

Publicly, the oil companies are relatively neutral about the project. Privately, port watchers say oil is the major catalyst, but the industry is choosing a low profile.

That 45 feet is a prelude to 50 feet also was made clear recently by a roomful of pro-dredging legislators and maritime leaders at an East Brunswick conference.

"Let's hope in eight years we'll be at 50 feet in North and South Jersey," said Assembly Majority Leader Paul DiGaetano, R-Bergen, the conference moderator.

Fifty feet is becoming a national goal for competitive ports simply because ships are getting bigger. One of the largest ships already in service is the Regina Maersk, which at 1,043 feet is longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall. When fully loaded, it needs 52 feet of water.

While it might seem more logical to dredge 10 feet instead of five, Stan Lulewicz, manager of the Delaware deepening project for the Philadelphia district of the Army Corps of Engineers, says it's impractical.

"It's typically done in five-feet intervals," he explains. "You could never get money for 10 at one time, nor could you handle double the volume of dredge materials."
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