TINA MARKOE/Courier-Post An aerial veiw of the Delaware from above the Riverton Yacht Club.

TINA MARKOE/Courier-Post An aerial veiw of the Delaware from above Burlington Island in Burlington City.

TINA MARKOE/Courier-Post An aerial veiw of the Delaware from above the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge.

Once a cesspool of sewage and factory waste, the Delaware River has made one of the nation's most remarkable ecological comebacks.

The cleaner river, now teeming with fish and boaters, has led South Jerseyans to dream of creating recreational wonderlands along its banks with golf courses, marinas and luxurious homes that provide stunning views of Philadelphia's skyline.

"The river is undergoing a renaissance right now," says Bill Mantulewicz, a Delanco resident working to build a biking trail along the Delaware. "Towns along the river are starting to realize what a gem in the rough they have."

From Logan to Florence, residents who've long had their backs to the river are now looking to it as an oasis for recreation, tourism and jobs.

But some environmentalists, development advocates and government officials fear the Delaware's rebirth might be threatened by a $311 million project to deepen the river's navigational channel by five feet.

The dredging...funded primarily by the federal government...would save five oil companies $40 million a year by allowing them to transport heavier loads of crude upriver to their six refineries. The deeper river would help other shipping companies as well, but opponents are angry that the oil companies aren't helping to pay for the dredging.

They also worry that dredging will stir up long-dormant toxins, contaminate drinking water and harm aquatic life. Those fears are groundless, according to a U.S. Geological Survey and two local water providers that use the Delaware, New Jersey-American Water Co. in Haddon Heights and the Philadelphia Water Department.

Given competing demands and plans for the Delaware, the river's renaissance has reached a critical juncture: Can recreation and industry co-exist?

In West Deptford, Mayor David Shields envisions a $100 million recreational complex where residents can swim, fish and golf.

In Pennsauken, Town Administrator Kenneth Carruth dreams of a riverfront marina, upscale homes and an entertainment center.

In Burlington City, Mantulewicz stands on the promenade overlooking the Delaware and imagines a 50-mile biking and walking trail along its banks.

In Greenwich Township, Darryl Harris wants to see the river deepened from 40 feet to 45 feet so tankers can carry more crude oil per ship to six refineries.

Harris, general manager of Valero Refining Co., believes the dredging project is critical to keeping the river competitive as a watery highway that transports a million barrels of crude oil a day.

"We estimate five feet more water would allow us to double our import capacity and save us about $6 million a year," he says.

In Camden, Joseph Balzano wants the river dredged to protect an estimated 30,000 jobs generated by the maritime industry.

"Unless we dredge, we could lose those jobs," says Balzano, executive director of the South Jersey Port Corp., which operates Camden's Beckett Street and Broadway shipping terminals.

"One thing about ships, they're very portable. If they don't like what we have here, they'll just go someplace else."

To help chart the river's future and craft a unified plan for its development, a governors' summit on the Delaware will be held Sept. 29 at the New Jersey State Aquarium in Camden. Gov. Christie Whitman and the governors of Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York are expected to attend.
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