Pennsylvania elected officials gathered Wednesday to
celebrate the $300 million capital investment announced a month ago by Gov.
Wolf for the Philadelphia port, expected to double container cargo capacity and
create about 2,000 more direct port jobs.
The $300 million will mark the first major investment in
Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia and Tioga Marine Terminal
in Port Richmond since the terminals were built in the late 1960s. And it will
be funded by a bond issued through the state's General Services capital
improvement program.
The port's cash flow will pay off the bond. "This is
not coming from the taxpayers," Wolf said.
As officials stepped up to laud the port improvements,
U.S. Rep. Robert Brady, a Democrat whose district includes much of the
riverfront in Philadelphia and Delaware County, said for him the $300 million
announcement was "bittersweet."
Brady said he was "a little disturbed" to learn
recently that 23 employees at the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA)
were losing their jobs. "You can call it layoff, buyout, but there are
still 23 people who aren't going to be working anymore," Brady said.
"You can't forget these little guys. We're big guys."
Afterward, port officials said that the PRPA, a state
agency, was being reorganized and a voluntary separation program had been
offered to all PRPA staff. Twenty-three
decided to take it, said Jeff Theobald, the port authority's chief executive
officer.
"Nobody had to take the program," said Greg
Iannarelli, the PRPA legal counsel. Employees were offered $1,500 per year of
service, up to $25,000. "We announced there will be a 30 percent reduction
in staff" by the end of January.
Jerry Sweeney, the port authority board chairman, said
staffing and skill sets in the port need to be competitive going forward. The
settlements are "the first step in what we view as an overall
restructuring."
Plans for Packer Avenue terminal include electrifying and
strengthening the wharf, and getting
four new "post Panamax" cranes capable of stacking cargo containers
higher. Some older warehouses will be removed and new ones built, said Tom Holt
Jr., whose family runs state-owned Packer terminal. The first two cranes are
being built in China now and will arrive in October, he said.
Improvements to Tioga Marine Terminal will include more
warehouse space, rail upgrades, and possibly a mobile harbor crane, said Robert
Palaima, president of Delaware River Stevedores, which runs Tioga.
The $300 million is expected to increase container cargo
capacity by 86 percent; cargoes known as "break bulk" such as wood
pulp, steel, and produce by 21 percent; and the capacity to handle automobiles
by 166 percent.
Annual revenue to the state is expected to grow from $5.7
million to $18.9 million. Direct port
jobs, not including truck drivers and other positions, are expected to grow
from 3,124 to 5,378 within three to five years. State and local taxes are
expected to increase from $69.6 million to $108.4 million. Autos will continue
to arrive at Packer Avenue and at a new location, Pier 122, on the Delaware
River.
Environmental groups including Green Justice Philly were
on hand Wednesday to praise the governor's port plan, which does not include
building oil and gas facilities on the 195 vacant acres on the Delaware River
known as Southport.
"We all worked together in order to ensure that
there was not going to be a fossil-fuel expansion development project
here," said Tracy Carluccio of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network.
Source: Philly.com
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