Why Should Delaware Care?
The Port of Wilmington is one of the last anchors of good-paying, blue-collar jobs in Delaware. But its expansion has sparked years of pushback from residents who say a new port terminal could damage their environment and health without bringing as many new jobs as promised.
Delaware’s top officials gathered Monday to celebrate construction finally starting on the long-planned expansion of the Port of Wilmington.
Meanwhile, just outside the gates, about two dozen protesters gathered, carrying signs and wearing red shirts that said “Stop the Edgemoor Container Port.” Some passersby honked in support, others yelled out their windows.
But the dignitaries celebrating inside did not appear to acknowledge them. Representatives from both the Department of State and Enstructure, the port’s operating company, both said in emailed comments after the event that they plan to continue working with the neighbors.
The groundbreaking ceremony marked a turning point in Delaware’s yearslong effort to transform the former DuPont chemical plant in Edgemoor into a container shipping terminal. State officials say the “Delaware Container Terminal,” which is expected to cost some $669 million including more than $110 million in Delaware taxpayer funding, could bring thousands of new jobs to the Wilmington area.
Yet Edgemoor remains one of the state’s most politically fraught infrastructure projects. It has drawn stiff opposition and legal action both from nearby residents and competing ports in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Several lawsuits are still pending.
Sen. David Wilson (R-Lincoln) recently filed a motion to join one of the lawsuits alleging the Diamond State Port Corporation — the state-owned entity that oversees the port facility — broadly failed in its oversight of the Port of Wilmington.
Nearby resident Rachel Curtis said she and others organized the protest outside Monday’s groundbreaking event to show officials that area neighbors still have concerns about the environmental and health impacts of the project.
“It seems like this is just getting ushered along without any really difficult questions being asked for the most part,” Curtis said.
According to a press release, Gov. Matt Meyer and all three of Delaware’s Congressional representatives spoke in favor of the project at the event. About 200 people attended, a spokesman for the Department of State said.
“This private and public investment will create thousands of good middle class union jobs, expand opportunity for Delaware workers and businesses, and establish Wilmington as a leading port on the global stage,” Meyer said at the event, according to the release.
Not celebrated by all
For a decade, the port expansion has been a goal of state officials who said a new container facility could bring in thousands of new jobs to the Wilmington area.
For nearly as long, some neighbors have raised alarms about potential environmental and health impacts it could bring.
Simeon Hahn, a Bellefonte-area resident who attended the protest, has been lobbying against the port construction plans for years.
As a retired environmental scientist, he said he worries the dredging process needed to allow bigger ships to reach the port will harm aquatic habitats and the Atlantic sturgeon population.
Curtis, one of the protest organizers, said she does not think the port expansion will bring as many jobs as promised, since other ports use automation and robots to speed up operations.
“For them to sit there and promise these people jobs, long-term jobs, it’s just pie in the sky,” Curtis said.
Others said they fear the tractor trailers transporting the goods out of the port will cause traffic congestion and pollute the air.
The press release about the groundbreaking said that Enstructure and the Diamond State Port Corporation have participated in over 30 community meetings and worked with local organizations to share information and get feedback.
A representative with Enstructure said the company is “invested and committed to being good operators and neighbors in perpetuity.”
