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

The judge also rejected Diamond State and Enstructure’s argument that they had to intervene because of the size of the economic investments at risk.

“It is not for us to weigh the political, economic or employment-promoting pros or cons of applying to an agency,” the judge said. “We are merely reviewing the agency’s decision-making, which we completed with the help of the committed 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 ‘review’ the permit applications as the Court has ordered so that we can move this important project forward.”

Deepening of the Delaware River Main Navigation Channel

Diamond State purchased the Edgemoor property in 2017. The land was previously a Chemours production site. Efforts to expand the port are intended to take advantage of a project approved by Congress in 1992 to deepen the riverbed of the main shipping channel.

Delaware and New Jersey opposed that dredging. Philadelphia partnered with the Corps, becoming the only non-federal sponsor and paying $140 million of the total $400 million cost. The project allowed the city’s ports to take advantage of the expansion of the Panama Canal, which allowed larger ships to reach east coast ports with more cargo.

The Edgemoor terminal would benefit from the deepening of the main channel. Delaware received permission from the Army Corps to dredge a turning channel that would connect to the main navigation channel. The upstream ports argued that the proposed new turning basin for Edgemoor would take up the entire width of the main shipping channel in that area, creating a bottleneck for ships bound for the ports of Philadelphia.