Mission accomplished? Hardly.

All signs indicate the goal is a 50-foot channel. But the cost of that project, coupled with the trouble of finding more space (in South Jersey, no doubt) to dump the muck, makes a 10-foot drop impractical. Not right now, anyway, but there's no doubt a 50-foot channel is in the works.

So let's cut through the pretense. If it costs $311 million now, an additional 5-foot drop could be expected to at least cost about the same or a little more later, right? Let's settle on a nice, round, ultraconservative figure of $700 million for the whole 50-foot-deep channel project.

Here's what we get for $700 million with dredging: Oil companies, who aren't going anywhere, aren't kicking in a nickel and might not even use the deeper channel, get to save $40 million on shipping costs.

OK, fine. But the dredging project isn't the only potential investment. Let's explore other ideas about how $700 million can be invested. Let's start with some projects that already have price tags:

-- $100 million to West Deptford for a recreational complex including a golf course, conference center and fishing piers.

-- $27 million for a high-wire tram from the Camden Waterfront to Penn's Landing.

-- $8 million for a sound-and-light show on the river.

-- $19 million for a minor league baseball stadium in Camden.

-- $5 million for an attraction at the New Jersey State Aquarium that simulates an underwater experience in a submarine.

-- $12 million to help develop the battleship New Jersey attraction.

Now let's offer guesses on other projects still in the idea stage:

-- Pennsauken wants to convert about 700 acres into residential, retail and recreational space. $50 million.

-- Paulsboro wants to redevelop an oil terminal and plant site, possibly for commercial use. $10 million.

-- Gloucester City wants a marina, boat launch and fishing pier. Another $10 million.

-- Burlington City plans to develop 420-acres on Burlington Island into a golf course. $25 million.

-- Florence wants to redevelop the Roebling Steel Mill site into a marina and retail complex or upriver commercial port. $10 million as seed money, possibly more.

-- Various and sundry projects along the Camden Waterfront, such as the Museum of Recorded Sound, special events programming and a retail and entertainment complex. $100 million.

Total so far: $376 million, or just over half of the $700 million cost of lowering the channel to 50 feet.

So, kill the dredging project. Fund all of those projects we mentioned and you will do a thousand times more for economic development in Pennsylvania and South Jersey than all the muck in the Delaware River. At least, give these projects equal priority.