Plan Philly: Engaging in Urban Dialogue

Inquirer: Disputed dredging begins on the Delaware

The bitterly contested deepening of the Delaware River's shipping channel officially began at noon yesterday, in water near Delaware City, Del.

No fanfare marked the moment, no fireworks or ribbon-cutting.

To most observers, digging five feet deeper might have been indistinguishable from the routine maintenance dredging that has been going on for several weeks in that stretch of river, to keep the channel at its current 40-foot depth. But supporters and opponents of the controversial project seized the occasion to launch dueling media blitzes.

Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.), who in 1983 introduced the initial legislation to deepen the river ports to 45 feet, heralded the start of the 102.5-mile dredging in a conference call.

Yesterday, he said, he introduced a bill to amend the federal Mining Control and Reclamation Act so that federal funds may be used to transport dredge material taken from the river, after drying at federal sites, to abandoned coal mines in Northeastern Pennsylvania, including Hazleton.

Dredging opponents - led by Gov. Christie, U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D., N.J.), and New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney (D., Gloucester) - stood next to the river at Red Bank Battlefield in Gloucester County and vowed to use every resource possible in the courts and in Congress to halt the six-year project.

"It makes no sense economically. It is dangerous environmentally," said Christie, joined by Delaware Riverkeeper Maya van Rossum and representatives of other environmental groups.

"There is no reason why, for a project that will have no positive effect on the economy for the state of New Jersey, that New Jersey should wind up being the repository for the dredge spoils that are going to be created," he said. "I simply don't buy the argument from the oil industry that this is going to be helpful to the economic situation in our region."

Andrews said he would battle to hold up future federal funding, and noted that President Obama's proposed spending plan for the coming fiscal year contained "zero dollars" for the dredging.

"We are going to work with our congressional delegation to keep it that way," Andrews said. "No earmarks, no additions, no pork projects going in for this."

Specter, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, called it "customary" for the president's budget to lack funds for not-yet-started public-works projects.

"We will get whatever additional funding is needed," he said. "This program has the support of the administration. It has the support of the Department of Defense."

Fox Chase loses appeal to use Burholme Park
By Linda Loyd

Fox Chase Cancer Center yesterday lost its appeal to use 19.4 acres of neighboring Burholme Park for a $1 billion expansion of its hospital.

Commonwealth Court upheld Orphans' Court Judge John W. Herron's ruling last December that Fox Chase is not entitled to lease a portion of the 65-acre public park.

"While we understand that Fox Chase's inability to expand at its present location may have negative economic consequences, this is not a consideration," wrote Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer.

The City of Philadelphia has a "duty" to continue to hold "the property in trust for its originally intended use as parkland."

The court noted the park "continues to be actively used by the public," and remains "popular and important" in the Fairmount Park system. And, the endowment in the trust account left to the city by Robert W. Ryerss in his will dated June 25, 1889, "is sufficient to maintain the park."

The law does not permit a balancing of interests: whether one use would better serve the public interest than another, the court said. If it did, "every donated park in the Commonwealth would be at risk of being leased so that cash-strapped municipalities could balance their budgets."

Fox Chase said in a statement, "While not the news we hoped for, we respect the Commonwealth Court's decision."

"The center at this point is evaluating all reasonable options for expansion," said spokesman Timothy Spreitzer. "It's too early to rule out what is, or isn't, on the table," he said. "Leadership is going to evaluate the court's ruling. It's too early in the process to say whether we will appeal."

Fox Chase, on 17 acres next to Burholme Park since 1949, says it urgently needs to expand to keep pace with cancer care, research, and the burgeoning increase in patients, but it has said it will look elsewhere if the city said no.

The city, concerned that Fox Chase may relocate outside Philadelphia - taking with it thousands of jobs and decreasing the city's tax base - agreed in March 2008 to give Fox Chase an 80-year lease.

Herron in December 2008 rejected the city's request to lease the land.

Herron ruled the park was protected by the "common law public trust doctrine." Because the land was dedicated and accepted for public use it cannot be subdivided so long as it "continues to be used for the purpose for which it was originally dedicated."

Ryerss donated his farm and mansion as a public park "for the use and enjoyment of the people forever."

Contact staff writer Linda Loyd at 215-854-2831 or lloyd@phillynews.com.