The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control will extend the public comment period through Tuesday, Dec. 1 on the Diamond State Port Corporation’s proposed new container port on the Delaware River at the DSPC property at 4600 Hay Road, Edgemoor.
The port is key to expansion plans by Gulftainer, which now manages the Port of Wilmington.
The container port, which could create hundreds of good-paying blue-collar jobs, would be at the site of the now-demolished DuPont-Chemours titanium plant. The port would have a competitive advantage since it would be in a location that would shorten voyages up the river.
Diamond State, a state agency, originally acquired the Edgemoor site. The Port of Wilmington itself has limited room for expansion since it is mainly situated at the confluence of the Christiana and Delaware rivers.
DNREC held a virtual public hearing on the container port proposal Sept. 29 and the public comment period was scheduled to end Nov. 1.
Interest in the project – which will require permits from both DNREC’s Division of Water and the Division of Waste of Hazardous Substances, as well as a Federal Consistency Certification from the Delaware Coastal Management Program within DNREC’s Division of Climate, Coastal and Energy – led DNREC Secretary Shawn Garvin to extend the comment deadline 30 days.
The opposition has been largely been confined to rival ports further up the Delaware River that claim Edgemoor would have an unfair advantage, due to legislation proposed by the state’s congressional delegation.
Written comments may be submitted online, via email or mail from now until close of DNREC business, 4:30 p.m. eastern, Tuesday, Dec. 1. Written comments are made available for public viewing on the DNREC website (https://de.gov/portproject) as they are received. Instructions for submitting comments can be found at the same site/url.
All comments receive equal weight from DNREC and will be reviewed by the hearing officer as she makes her recommendations on all pending matters associated with this proposed project to Garvin, a release stated. Comments will also be reviewed by the Secretary as he makes a final decision on the applications for DNREC permits.
