Posted on September 12, 2025
The Gibbstown, N.J., port project that has created a swirl of legal action and opposition from environmental groups won a five-year extension on Wednesday from the Delaware River Basin Commission.
The DRBC’s original approval of the so-called Dock 2 project at the Gibbstown Logistics Center included dredging of the river and the construction of a two-berth dock in the Delaware River. That approval lapsed and was extended to June 2025, and then was carried forwarded to the DRBC meeting on Wednesday. The new extension will expire on June 12, 2030.
In the DRBC’s docket, the purpose of Dock 2 is not specified but it is one leg of a longstanding three-legged project to process liquefied natural gas from the Marcellus shale region of Pennsylvania and then ship it overseas.
However, that plan has had two legs knocked out — the critical loss of the ability to ship LNG by rail (though the Trump administration could well reverse that reversal), and what seems to be the abandonment of a site in Wyalusing, Pa., to process LNG.
All four basin states and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the federal presence on the DRBC) voted to approve. Here is the link to the lengthy resolution that offers the commission’s reasoning for the approval, with the project sponsor, Delaware River Partners, countering objections raised by more than 900 commentators, including individuals and organizations. Here is a link to the Comments and Response document, which provides a brief overview of the docket’s procedural history and includes a summary of the comments offered and DRBC’s responses.
Catch up with the plan’s tumultuous history by checking out our collection of stories about the Gibbstown LNG project, which date back a number of years. The first of those stories is from June 2019, and this is what the DRBC said in its briefing about the project (from that story):
Delaware River Partners, LLC (NJ) Gibbstown Logistics Center Dock 2, D-2017-009-2. An application for a new dredging project at the Delaware River Partners (DRP) Gibbstown Logistics Center, a multi-use deep-water seaport and international logistics center currently under development, located at River Mile 86.5 of the Delaware River in Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey. The new project consists of the construction of an additional dock/wharf containing two deep-water berths, which will include the dredging of approximately 665,000 cubic yards of sediment from the Delaware River to a depth of 43 feet below mean lower low water (MLLW) elevation. View draft docket (pdf 244 KB).
There’s no mention of its intended use for LNG, though it’s fair to say that the DRBC has no authority over what is carried on the river’s waters. LNG is explosive, and the building of this project shares that fate.
Representatives from two environmental groups spoke on Wednesday at the public comment session after the meeting, as did several residents who live near the site. Also, via the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, a slew of environmental groups also expressed their opposition to the project and their disappointment that the DRBC had, in their opinion, “caved” to industry pressure and political expediency.
Several added they were especially disappointed that Steve Domber, the New Jersey representative on the DRBC (who represents Gov. Phil Murphy), voted to approve the extension, since the project, opponents said, presents an enormous environmental risk for residents of South Jersey, all for no benefit to those residents.
The groups who voiced opposition include the Delaware Riverkeeper Network as well as Delaware Riverkeeper Maya van Rossum; Food and Water Watch; Damacus Citizens for Sustainability; Catskill Mountainkeeper; League of Women Voters of Delaware; Berks Gas Truth; Natural Resources Defense Council; and Physicians for Social Responsibility, Pennsylvania.
Jeanne Jordan, from nearby Deptford, N.J., said: “The vote today is a complete disgrace. I live three miles from the site and I’m worried about the catastrophic impact of any accident at the site.”
Sue Dru, who also lives near the site, said, “I cannot believe the New Jersey representative voted to approve this frightening situation.”
