Robert Menendez

Senators Menendez, Lautenberg Announce $18 Million in Recovery Act Funding for NY/NJ Harbor Expansion Project

August 26, 2010

Washington – Today, US Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) announced that the US Army Corps of Engineers has granted the NY District $17,943,400 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding to support continuing efforts to deepen the New York-New Jersey Harbor’s main navigation channels.  The project seeks to expand the port’s capacity to provide water access for deep draft container ships entering its four major terminals.

“Expanding the capacity of our port is critical to economic growth and to local businesses owners that need to move goods and stay competitive in the global economy,” said Menendez. “This major Recovery Act investment will put people to work on this project and will contribute to our state’s economic growth to help create and sustain local jobs for our families. Having a port with the capacity to handle larger ships will allow our state to take greater advantage of international and regional commercial opportunities, which will translate into greater economic activity and jobs in both the short and long term.”
 
“This Recovery Act funding will help create job opportunities and improve commerce at the port by opening the harbor to bigger ships that hold more cargo,” said Lautenberg, who as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee helped write the Recovery Act.  “The project will put New Jerseyans to work deepening the harbor, expand work opportunities at the port and benefit businesses across the state and region.”  

The ARRA funding announced today will specifically go toward the deepening of the Anchorage channel’s segment between the Kill van Kull and Pt. Jersey Channel. This channel is critical in providing deep draft ship access to the Global Marine Terminal in Jersey City.
The original contract for this portion of the project was financed by civil works appropriations in the Energy and Water Development Act 2010. These ARRA funds will allow for the continuation and completion of the project by September 2011.
 
The Port of New York and New Jersey is the largest port on the East Coast and it generates an estimated $20 billion in economic activity and more than 230,000 in direct and indirect jobs for the states of New Jersey and New York. Its four major terminals transport cargo to and from all parts of the United States and the rest of the world. It is connected to rail, truck, and inland waterway routes that connect to the northeast and midwestern states and serves as a connection to the Far East, the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Persian Gulf. Deeper navigation channels will allow the harbor to accommodate larger ships and have a greater economic impact in the region.
 

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