The government wants to spend hundreds of millions of your tax and toll dollars to dredge the Delaware River to a depth of 45 feet, stirring up toxins and dumping millions of cubic yards of river bottom muck on prime South Jersey real estate.

It wants to do this to benefit the shipping industry and five oil companies. The oil companies stand to benefit the most - an estimated $40 million in shipping cost savings - but are not contributing a nickel to the dredging project. Also, due to the near-impossibility of opening new refineries, the companies aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

The government seemingly doesn't care about decades of clean-up efforts or the vast, exciting and profitable plans to redevelop South Jersey's riverfront.

Those backing the project must slow down and reconsider.

The Courier-Post opposes the dredging project. We believe it is a waste of money and threatens the environment without providing benefits to South Jersey.

But if, as most officials seem to believe, the project is a done deal, several issues remain unresolved. For the sake of the future of South Jersey, four vitally important concerns must be addressed:

1. The Delaware River Basin Commission must conduct its own environmental study of the project. This group, held in esteem by the environmental community, can do much to allay fears about the impact on wildlife, fish and water quality.

2. If the project receives an OK from the basin commission, the Delaware River Port Authority and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must find dump sites outside South Jersey. Riverfront development that creates jobs and improves quality of life isn't going to happen on mounds of toxic muck which also will block access to the river.

3. All of the agencies so anxious to dig up the river bottom must have the same enthusiasm - and monetary support - for South Jersey riverfront projects as they do for the dredging.

4. A group must be formed to coordinate riverfront development and keep visions of a dynamic, profitable and entertaining waterfront alive.

The dredging project comes at a time of rebirth for the river.

Two hundred years ago, pollution and waste in the Delaware River killed hundreds of people every year. Now, people can't wait to get down to the river to relax beside the water.

Today, the Delaware is a river of opportunities. Imagine what the future could hold:

-- Living in an upscale home in Pennsauken with the river just outside your door.

-- Teeing off on a riverside golf course that is part of West Deptford's $100 million recreational center, or visiting a course on Burlington Island.

-- Walking or biking a 50-mile riverside trail.

-- Floating a boat out of a marina at the old Roebling steel mill site in Florence.

-- Attending a game at a minor league baseball stadium in Camden.

-- Casting a fishing line off a new pier in Gloucester City.

These ideas - and there are many others - are more than just wishful thinking. These ideas can become reality, as they have in so many other places across the nation. But this bright and exciting future is threatened by the $311 million boondoggle dredging project which apparently is only a prelude to deepening the river to 50 feet. That second dredging will cost even more public money and eat up even more prime real estate.

Over the next three days, we will publish editorials setting forth our vision for the river. Simply put, we believe the Delaware is a diamond in the rough with almost unlimited potential. We believe the big risk here is not to develop riverfront property.

South Jersey can develop a waterfront that is a driving force in terms of the economy, recreation, culture and housing.

Projects to deliver good jobs, grow tax bases and improve the quality of life should not be viewed as pie-in-the-sky thinking, but sound economic investments. Taxpayers shouldn't wonder if these projects are possible. They should demand they take place.

And the agencies so bent on dredging now should help to deliver on those investments. Make sure there are no environmental hazards. Find other dump sites. Support riverfront development. And find leaders with the necessary clout to turn the dreams of an exciting South Jersey waterfront into reality.