Judge rejects Delaware’s argument to join lawsuit blocking key port permits

The judge also dismissed the argument Diamond State and Enstructure made that they should be allowed to intervene because of the amount of economic investment at risk.

“It is not for us to weigh the political, economic, or job-promoting merits or demerits of an application to an agency,” the judge’s decision said. “We only review the agency’s decision making, which we completed with the assistance of the diligent parties before us.”

Gov. John Carney’s office declined to comment. A spokesperson for Leo Holt, CEO of Holt Logistics, said he had no comment.

In a statement, Wali Rushdan, an attorney representing Diamond State and Enstructure, said, “We respect the Court’s decision and fully intend to work with the Corps ‘to re-review’ the permit applications as the Court directed, so we can move this important project forward.”

Delaware River Main Navigational Channel Deepening

Diamond State purchased the Edgemoor property in 2017. The land was formerly a Chemours manufacturing site. Efforts to expand the port aim to take advantage of a project authorized by Congress in 1992 to deepen the riverbed of the main navigational channel.

Delaware and New Jersey opposed that dredging. Philadelphia partnered with the Corps, became the sole non-federal sponsor and paid $140 million of the total $400 million cost. The project allowed the city’s ports to capitalize on the expansion of the Panama Canal, which allowed bigger ships to reach East Coast ports and with more cargo.

The Edgemoor terminal would take advantage of the main channel deepening. Delaware obtained approval from the Army Corps to dredge a turning channel that would connect to the main navigational channel. The upriver ports argued the proposed new turning basin in front of Edgemoor would consume the entire breadth of the main navigational channel in that area, creating a bottleneck for ships heading to Philadelphia ports.

Judge Kearney faulted the Army Corps for allowing Diamond State to submit a permit application that included a study that failed to look at how the turning basin might impact traffic in the channel. He also ruled the federal agency should have required Delaware’s Diamond State to obtain a “Statement of No Objection” from PhilaPort as it is the non-federal sponsor of the main channel deepening project, which the Corps argued was a “harmless error.”