Port of Gulfport Officials Say Channel Deepening Project Still in the Works
Speculation that the Port of Gulfport’s project to deepen a ship channel was put on hold was cleared today.
News 25’s Laurene Callander has the story.
Port of Gulfport officials want to clear the air about the deeper ship channel project.
Jack Norris, chairman of the Mississippi State Port Authority, said, “The process is not stalled, it has not stopped, the pieces of the process may change in order of execution, but they don’t stop. So we’re 100 percent committed to the process of getting a deeper channel.”
The environmental process in the port channel has been paused due to inefficiencies. “There’s a number of regulatory issues and steps in the process to get a permit that heavily involves Congress, of getting authorizations for feasibility studies and ultimately, an authorization to deepen the channels and federal funding that will be required to be appropriated to that process,” said Norris.
The other critical part to expanding a port is transportation, but the connector road between 1-10 and the Port has been stalled as well.
Howard Page with the Steps Coalition said, “A dedicated truck road, truck route, where we knew where the trucks were going and where the trucks knew that they wouldn’t run into a lot of traffic that they can get in and out very quickly would help recruit business.”
Port officials tell News 25 litigation pushed back assessments on the truck route to the core of engineers, but the Steps Coalition wants to start from scratch in order to benefit the Port and increase jobs. “The Port should come up with a new plan that actually reflects the activities that are going to be at the Port of Gulfport and that’s really the information everyone needs to see this project go forward,” said Page.
But the Port of Gulfport is continuing their plans to deepen the channel.
News 25’s Laurene Callander has the story.
Port of Gulfport officials want to clear the air about the deeper ship channel project.
Jack Norris, chairman of the Mississippi State Port Authority, said, “The process is not stalled, it has not stopped, the pieces of the process may change in order of execution, but they don’t stop. So we’re 100 percent committed to the process of getting a deeper channel.”
The environmental process in the port channel has been paused due to inefficiencies. “There’s a number of regulatory issues and steps in the process to get a permit that heavily involves Congress, of getting authorizations for feasibility studies and ultimately, an authorization to deepen the channels and federal funding that will be required to be appropriated to that process,” said Norris.
The other critical part to expanding a port is transportation, but the connector road between 1-10 and the Port has been stalled as well.
Howard Page with the Steps Coalition said, “A dedicated truck road, truck route, where we knew where the trucks were going and where the trucks knew that they wouldn’t run into a lot of traffic that they can get in and out very quickly would help recruit business.”
Port officials tell News 25 litigation pushed back assessments on the truck route to the core of engineers, but the Steps Coalition wants to start from scratch in order to benefit the Port and increase jobs. “The Port should come up with a new plan that actually reflects the activities that are going to be at the Port of Gulfport and that’s really the information everyone needs to see this project go forward,” said Page.
But the Port of Gulfport is continuing their plans to deepen the channel.
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