New Jersey Files For Federal Appeal Of Delaware River Dredging
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - New Jersey has taken its fight over dredging the Delaware River to a federal appeals court in Philadelphia.
The State of Delaware tried to stop the project, and failed. Then, last year, the US Army Corps of Engineers began deepening a 12-mile stretch of the river south of Wilmington, Del. from 40 to 45 feet.
Now, the State of New Jersey is making much the same argument, although Larry Hajna, spokesman for New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection, says this case deals more with the longterm effects on the river rather than the procedure, as had been the case in Delaware.
"We want the Army Corps to perform a more thorough analysis of the dredging project on the resources of the Delaware River," Hajna tells KYW Newsradio.
The agency contends the Army is using data that's more than a decade old and only minimally updated.
After getting turned down by federal judges in Trenton and Wilmington, New Jersey has now gone to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals hoping to block the project, which seeks to deepen the shipping channel up to Philadelphia.
The Army Corps of Engineers declined comment on the latest action.
Reported by David Madden, KYW Newsradio 1060
