Jones Secures Another $4.1 Million to Dredge Morehead City Harbor | Eastern NC Now

News Release:

    WASHINGTON, D.C.     Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) secured an additional $4.1 million dollars from the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge Morehead City Harbor this year. Last month, Congressman Jones wrote a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) Jo-Ellen Darcy and Lt. General Thomas P. Bostick at the Army Corps of Engineers and explained that the harbor's channel has shoaled from its authorized depth of 45 feet down to 35 feet. As a result, many of the jobs and economic impact related to the harbor are in serious peril.

    President Obama's Fiscal Year 2015 budget provided $4,855,000 for dredging Morehead City Harbor, and while the request was helpful it is not sufficient to return the channel to its authorized depth. In the recently-passed omnibus Fiscal Year 2015 appropriations bill, Congress created several unallocated pots of money for different project categories, including "Deep Draft Harbors and Channels," and gave the Corps a list of criteria to use in determining which projects to fund from these pots. In his letter to the Corps' top two leaders, Congressman Jones made the case that Morehead City Harbor is exactly the type of project that Congress had in mind when it provided the Corps with these additional pots of money. He also laid out exactly how Morehead City Harbor meets the criteria for project selection established by Congress. Today, it was announced that the Army Corps has granted Congressman Jones' request for an additional $4.1 million from those pots to dredge Morehead City Harbor. The Corps now has nearly $9 million in FY15 federal funding for this project.

    "Maintaining Morehead City Harbor is vital to the economic success of Eastern North Carolina, which is why I am very pleased the Army Corps of Engineers has accepted my request for additional money to be allocated to dredge the harbor," said Congressman Jones. "The port supports over 3,700 jobs, and the businesses that rely on it must have safe access through the harbor. I will continue to do everything I can to fight for that cause."

    For more information on the shoaling at Morehead City Harbor, read the News and Observer article, "Sand-Clogged Inlet a Costly Drag on Shippers at NC Port."

    Maria Jeffrey
      Communications Director

    Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3)

     2333 Rayburn House Office Building
     Washington, DC 20515

     Maria.Jeffrey@mail.house.gov  •  (202) 225-3415is absolutely senility.