Posted on September 19, 2017
By Alyssa Meyers, Boston Globe
Governor Charlie Baker and the Massachusetts Port Authority Friday afternoon kicked off a $350 million dollar project to dredge Boston Harbor, opening the port to bigger industrial ships and promising new economic opportunity.
The Republican governor joined Democratic US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey and Congressman Stephen Lynch to highlight the economic impacts of the project, which is expected to last 3½ years.
“The economics of this, the opportunity to continue to be a critical part of the East Coast economic infrastructure . . . has everything to do with why we had no trouble stepping up and supporting this,” Baker said, speaking at Conley Container Terminal in Charlestown.
The project is funded with $220 million in federal dollars and $130 million from the state, officials said.
Baker said 1,600 businesses in New England use the port to import and export goods, resulting in 7,000 local jobs and almost $5 billion in economic activity.
Currently, 12 of the world’s top 15 shipping lines use the port, compared with only five shipping lines four years ago, according to the state.
Baker said he couldn’t overemphasize the project’s importance to New England.
Businesses that rely on the port for goods and commerce include the Christmas Tree Shops, Jordan’s Furniture, L.L. Bean, and International Forest Products, which is owned by the Kraft Group, officials said.
Daniel Kraft, president and chief executive of International Forest Products, said the public investment shows a “real commitment and signal that we have partners just as dedicated to growing our regional economy as we are.”
The port’s dredging will be a boon to private businesses, officials said.
Warren noted that for every dollar spent on dredging, there will be nearly nine dollars returned to the local economy in increased activity at the port.
“A deeper harbor means more container [ship] traffic, and that means more economic growth,” Warren said.
Markey said the project will also help “modernize” and “upgrade” the harbor, thus “ensuring our industries, manufacturers, and workers are competitive in an increasingly globalized economy.”
The project will be completed in two phases.
An area to place sediment dug up from the floor of the harbor is expected to be completed by the end of this year, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
In the second phase, three shipping channels will be deepened: the Outer Harbor Channel from 40 to 51 feet, the Main Shipping Channel from 40 to 47 feet, and the Reserve Channel from 40 to 47 feet, according to the statement.
The US Army Corps of Engineers contracted with Great Lakes Dredge and Dock to complete the dredge, according to the governor’s office.
Source: Boston Globe
