The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the the Philadelphia
Regional Port Authority is moving forward with a plan to seek developers for
Southport, a block of land south of the Walt Whitman Bridge near the Navy Yard.
They're hoping that everyone from automobile
manufacturers to energy companies offer ideas on the space. One company already
spoke to the authority at its Tuesday meeting:
Among those
interested is Philadelphia Energy Solutions, which operates the former Sunoco
Inc. refinery. Chief executive officer Philip L. Rinaldi spoke to the PRPA
board Tuesday. He did not provide specifics, but said an energy port would have
a "huge wharf" to handle large oil tankers.
He said all 200 acres may not be needed. "I
certainly believe there will be plenty of room left for other things for the
port," Rinaldi said. "You've got an opportunity to have energy
underwriting a lot of the cost of development of that site on which other
things could piggyback."
The deadline for development plans is in November.
The Delaware River shipping channel has already been
deepened, from 40 to 45 feet, to allow larger ships with far more carrying
capacity. To capitalize on changes in the shipping industry, the Southport
Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia is planned at a cost of $300 million. It
will consist of shipping piers, storage areas, rail yards and easy access to
nearby I-95 and I-76. While parts of the 275-acre facility are already
receiving shipments of ethanol and other products, most of it won’t come online
for another two to three years.
It could more than triple the number of jobs at
Philadelphia Regional Port Authority facilities from 5,000 to as many as
17,000. It is the first major expansion of the port in more than 50 years.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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