Andrews told Gannett News Service he is lobbying members of the House Appropriations Committee's Energy and Water Development subcommittee which writes the bills that control the project's funding to remove the Clinton administration's $30 million request for this year.

"They're alarmed," he said of the subcommittee members. "They feel the questions that have been raised on the project on a national level are serious. The questions we've raised in the region are serious."

The Army Corps of Engineers plans to deepen the Delaware River from 40 feet to 45 feet to accommodate bigger ships. The 103-mile project would cost $311 million, paid for by the federal government, the Delaware River Port Authority, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

The plan has drawn increasing scrutiny this year. A March report from Taxpayers for Common Sense and the National Wildlife Federation labeled it one of the most wasteful and environmentally harmful Army Corps projects in the country.

Earlier this month, Andrews and three other New Jersey Congress members asked for a General Accounting Office investigation.

Few refineries and ports along the river have plans to deepen their own channels to 45 feet, which Andrews likened to "building a freeway without any exit ramps."

Environmental groups say the dredging will stir up toxic sediment on the river bottom and dump polluted dirt on land as part of the 32 million cubic yards of material that will have to be dredged up.

Environmental groups cheered Andrews' effort.

"I think this is a really important step," said Maya K. van Rossum, executive director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network.

While Congress has allotted money for the project in the last two years, she said members are learning more about potential economic and environmental problems.

"A lot of eyes that were closed are starting to open," she said.

The subcommittee won't produce the bill funding Army Corps operations until June.

Andrews faces several obstacles. Pennsylvania and its delegation generally support the project, and the state boasts two senior members on the House and Senate appropriations committees: Rep. John Murtha and Sen. Arlen Specter, respectively.

"This is a delicate negotiation," Andrews said. "There's no unanimity on either side of the river."

Sen. Robert Torricelli, who joined Andrews in seeking the GAO study, has not asked Senate appropriators to block any funding, spokeswoman Kristin Carvell said.

Delaware's lone House member, Rep. Mike Castle, said through spokeswoman Elizabeth Brealey that he might consider blocking the funding.

That will mostly depend, she said, on whether the Corps agrees to Delaware's demand that it submit the project for state environmental review a move that could stop the project or delay it for months.

The Corps had hoped to begin the project this summer. Corps spokesman Homer Perkins said Friday the Corps never comments on pending legislation.

-- LAWRENCE R. HAJNA
Courier-Post staff Staff writer Eileen Smith contributed to this report.