$2.1B NY Harbor Dredging Complete

BAYONNE, N.J. (AP) -- Officials have gathered to celebrate the completion of a $2.1 billion project that started more than 25 years ago to deepen navigation channels in New York Harbor.

Lawmakers joined with officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in Bayonne on Thursday.

The project to deepen 38 miles of channels to 50 feet started in 1989. It will allow larger container ships to access Port Newark/Port Elizabeth.

Col. David Caldwell, district commander for the Corps of Engineers, says the undertaking was the most important and influential project related to modern day economics in the Northeast.

The Record reports (http://bit.ly/… ) that the Corps says it was able to use sediment contaminated by decades of industrial waste to cap 12 landfills.

(KA)