Posted on January 23, 2026
SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — The harbor deepening project in the Cape Fear River has been put on hold until further notice, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers takes stock of public and state concerns.
The project has raised issues by municipalities and the public, including further exacerbating already existing PFAS contamination in the Cape Fear, flooding, rising mercury levels, eroding shorelines and its impact on marine life habitats.
The Wilmington Harbor 403 project is being studied to widen and deepen navigable waters leading to the Port of Wilmington. The port has requested the project to bring in larger vessels, alleging economic benefit to the port and city.
The $1.35-billion unfunded project is set to augment the river from 42 feet deep to around 47 feet. The dredging would begin 16 miles offshore and is expected to extend 38 miles to the Port of Wilmington.
It’s the USACE’s job to do the actual dredging, but before physical work in the river begins, the federal department has to conduct reviews and studies to ensure the proposal is consistent with preserving the coastal environment and informing the public. USACE published its environmental draft impact statement last fall, but the state also has to oversee consistency.
USACE requested on Jan. 16 the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management temporarily stop its consistency review after receiving comments from both the public and DCM. The review request was first submitted to DCM in October, and the state division will have to evaluate if the project falls in line with coastal management program laws.
The federal consistency review is a requirement under the Coastal Zone Management Act, meant to balance environmental preservation with real estate and business developments. The USACE must meet the enforceable coastal management program policies — like properly preventing further contamination of waters and ensuring fish habitats are maintained — to the best of its ability.
Already, six municipalities have passed resolutions expressing concerns with the harbor deepening, including Southport, Kure Beach, Bald Head Island, Caswell Beach, Leland, and Sunset Beach. On its agenda this week, the City of Wilmington was supposed to take a vote on a resolution requesting the state and USACE further review the project. It was pulled during the Jan. 20 meeting to understand and consider the new information due to the pause and will be taken up Feb. 3 instead.
USACE decided to rescind its review submission in order to revisit the project plans and proposal to address comments it received. The USACE’s public comment period ended in November and the DCM’s ended in December. It is unclear when the pause will be lifted, but once the process resumes, the DCM can either agree or object to the project based on its findings.
Anyone interested in reading about the project can access the USACE’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement here.
