New Jersey Joins Delaware’s Opposition of River Deepening

ATTORNEY GENERAL PRESS RELEASE:
New Jersey seeks to intervene in Delaware’s lawsuit to block planned deepening of Delaware River navigation channel
NJ files in Delaware federal court to support the State of Delaware’s case against the Army Corps of Engineers
TRENTON — The State of New Jersey today (Tuesday, Nov. 10) moved to intervene in U.S. District Court in Delaware in support of Delaware’s suit to prevent the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from proceeding to dredge and deepen a 102-mile Delaware Bay and River navigation channel from Cape May to Philadelphia.
Delaware’s suit closely mirrors the lawsuit New Jersey filed on its own in U.S. District Court in Trenton on Monday to block the planned dredging on grounds the project violates environmental laws. Intervening in Delaware to support that state’s suit against the Army Corps of Engineers further protects New Jersey’s interests in the case.
New Jersey’s support of Delaware’s request for an injunction to halt the project declares that it is in the Garden State’s interest to intervene in Delaware to protect its own natural resources, surface and ground waters, and air quality. “The health of New Jersey’s residents will be directly affected by the disposition of Delaware’s claims for relief,” the request to intervene states. “While Delaware shares with New Jersey an interest in ensuring that the Army Corps meets pertinent environmental standards, Delaware cannot be expected to protect New Jersey’s interest to the fullest extent.”
New Jersey argues that the Army Corps of Engineers has never comprehensively sampled the millions of cubic yards of sentiment it proposes to dredge and then dispose of in New Jersey and Delaware. The Army Corps has also not analyzed the impact the project will have on surface water and groundwater quality, or the impact the project will have on the states’ ability to meet federal Clean Air Act standards.
In its motion in support of Delaware’s suit, New Jersey says that the Army Corps is relying on outdated information, and the project could “nullify recent environmental improvements in the project area.”
The project will deepen the main navigation channel of the Delaware from 40 feet to 45 feet and generate an estimated 16.3 million cubic yards of dredged material that is likely contaminated, the suit states.
The states say the Army Corps has failed to obtain approvals as required by the federal Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act and other environmental laws.
Deputy Attorneys General Rachel Horowitz, Eileen Kelly, Kristen Heinzerling and Lauren Trasferini, assigned to the Division of Law’s Environmental Permitting and Counseling section, handled the motion to intervene on behalf of the state.