Permitting, Collaboration, and Sustainability of the Paulsboro Marine Terminal

The South Jersey Port Corporation, in conjunction with the Gloucester County Improvement Authority and the Borough of Paulsboro, is in the midst of converting two former industrial, brownfield properties into a new multi-purpose marine terminal at the confluence of the Mantua Creek and Delaware River in Paulsboro, New Jersey. Environmental permits for the development of what is the first significant new marine terminal facility to be constructed on the Delaware River in over 4 decades were secured in late 2010 and early 2011. Regulatory concerns regarding native aquatic, marine, and wild life along the river, together with the presence of distressed sediments in the river, and ongoing remediation through a large portion of the aggregated properties greatly complicated the permit approval process at both the Federal and NJ state levels. Collaboration with the various agencies together with very significant measures taken to address concerns ultimately led to securing the permits and allowing the project to proceed. This paper will detail the regulatory process and provide technical details of the measures implemented.