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Preventing 'an abysmal use of land' (cont.)
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TINA MARKOE/Courier-Post
Anthony DePasquale of the Army Corps of Engineers, raises his hand about five feet from a boat deck to show how much deeper the Delaware channel will be after dredging.
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Eight sites are owned by the federal government and have been used for maintenance dredge materials, otherwise known as spoils.
DePasquale says opposition to the federal sites has been minimal. Not so with the three privately owned ones that have not been used for dredge materials since the 1960s. Environmental groups have been relentless in their opposition to the following sites:
•352 acres that span Salem and Gloucester counties and are owned by Sunoco Inc. of Philadelphia. Known as the Oldmans Creek site, near Pedricktown, the site is bound by the creek to the north and Route 130 to the south.
•437 acres in Logan Township owned by 36 individual owners.
•524 acres on Raccoon Island near the Commodore Barry Bridge in Logan Township, owned by Weeks Marine Inc., the only dredging company on the river. It is bound by Route 130 to the south, the Delaware River to the north, Raccoon Creek to the west and private property to the east.
The deepening will probably take another 250 acres from Weeks on Raccoon Island to replace a 224-acre site that had been targeted by the Corps, but which was purchased by West Deptford Township from Tenneco Inc.
Purchasing the sites at an estimated $30 million is the responsibility of the Delaware River Port Authority, the dredging project's local sponsor.
According to a number of South Jersey stakeholders, it will not be a quick sale.
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