HOUSTON, Nov. 15, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Through strong support of the Houston congressional delegation, the Port of Houston Authority (PHA), as the local government sponsor of the Houston-Galveston Navigational Ship Channel, has achieved nearly $45 million in federal funding for the waterway for fiscal year 2006. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Galveston District will receive $26.8 million for general construction and $17.936 million for operations and maintenance.
"The announcement of this funding is great news not only for the Port of Houston Authority but the entire Houston region," stated Jim Edmonds, PHA Chairman. "Over the past 90 years, the Houston Ship Channel has become one of the nation's busiest waterways, providing a powerful regional and national economic engine, exquisite environmental resource, and vital trade link between the world and Houston. The port authority is fortunate to have friends like our Texas delegation on Capitol Hill - including U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, U.S. Representative Tom DeLay, U.S. Representative Gene Green, and U.S. Representative Chet Edwards. I commend our congressional leaders for their outstanding efforts in charting and maintaining the course for the economic, environmental and industrial progress of this vast and marvelous navigational waterway."
Earlier this year, the project to widen the Houston Ship Channel to 530 feet (from 400 feet) and deepen it to 45 feet (from 40 feet) was completed. Initiated more than 30 years ago, the project reduces collision and oil-spill risks in the channel. Greater capacity was also provided by the addition of barge lanes constructed on either side of the channel to a depth of 12 feet to allow slower barge traffic to navigate the channel.
In addition to enhancing safety and increasing capacity, the HSC deepening and widening project also helps protect water and air quality. By reusing materials dredged from the channel in Galveston Bay, the PHA and the corps of engineers have taken a precedent-setting role in improving water and air quality.
The creation of more than 4,250 acres of marshland using dredged materials from the channel is managed under a plan created by the Beneficial Uses Group (BUG), a coalition of local, state, and federal government agencies formed in 1990. The largest wetland creation effort of its kind in the nation, the BUG Plan is also one of the most successful. Members of the BUG include representatives of the PHA, corps of engineers, National Marine Fisheries Service, Texas General Land Office, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service.
While on-going channel maintenance is financed entirely by the federal government, channel deepening projects are cost-shared between local sponsors and the federal government. The total federal and non-federal cost of this project is $639 million. The PHA, as the local sponsor, is contributing its share of the non-federal cost from bonds approved by Harris County voters in 1989 by a margin of nearly two to one.
The Port of Houston Authority
The Port of Houston Authority owns and operates the public facilities located along the Port of Houston, the 25-mile long complex of diversified public and private facilities designed for handling general cargo, containers, grain and other dry bulk materials, project and heavy lift cargo, and other types of cargo. Each year, more than 6,600 vessels call at the port, which ranks first in the U.S. in foreign waterborne tonnage, second in overall total tonnage, and sixth largest in the world. The Port Authority plays a vital role in ensuring navigational safety along the Houston Ship Channel, which has been instrumental in Houston's development as a center of international trade. The Barbours Cut Container Terminal and Central Maintenance Facility are the first of any U.S. port facilities to develop and implement an innovative Environmental Management System that meets the rigorous standards of ISO 14001. Additionally, the port is an approved delivery point for Coffee "C" futures contracts traded on the New York Board of Trade's Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange. For more information, please visit www.portofhouston.com
To access the port's website photo gallery, please visit http://www.portofhouston.com/publicrelations/publicrelations.html and click the link for PHA Photo Gallery.