Corps Dedicates $17M More to Delaware Dredging

The Army Corps of Engineers has allocated almost $17 million in additional funding for fiscal 2012 for the deepening of the Delaware River shipping channel.

The funding for the dredging project is part of $507 million in additional funding for ongoing work that the Corps announced Wednesday as part of a $5 billion authorization for Army civil works projects approved by Congress last year.

Delaware Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons praised the funding decision, saying the deepening of the shipping channel from 40 feet to 45 feet will provide big economic benefits for Delaware.

But environmentalist and other opponents have argued that the dredging will stir up toxic sediments, and that the Corps has overstated the economic benefits of the project.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)