WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, joined by Representatives Peter DeFazio (OR-4), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1), and Earl Blumenauer (OR-3), today urged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) to support essential dredging and maintenance of Oregon’s small ports in its 2017 work plan.
“Oregon’s ports and harbors are the lifeblood of the coastal communities they serve, enhancing regional and local economic development and supporting local job growth,” they wrote in a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Douglas Lamont. “These ports support the activities of Federal agencies, such as the U.S. Coast Guard, and they are critical to maintaining and creating jobs, as the home to fishing fleets, marinas and recreational facilities. Unfortunately, these federal commercial navigation projects are routinely overlooked and, year-after-year, remain critically underfunded in the Administration’s budget.”
Members of the Oregon delegation have pushed hard to ensure that small ports’ needs are met in funding bills. Congress recently included additional support for small port projects in the new funding bill that passed at the end of April. These funds could ensure the completion of critical work at the ports of Bandon, Depoe Bay, Gold Beach, Reedsport, and Newport if the Army Corps agrees to include those projects in its 2017 work plan.
“Without additional funding for these projects, coastal communities will be unable to conduct the annual maintenance dredging and infrastructure improvements that are necessary to maritime safety and support local economies… In rural counties, where most of Oregon’s ports are located, port activities provide an important employment base and are often primary drivers of local prosperity. The international trade, recreational boating and commercial fishing that takes place at these small ports is not only vital to the economic health of our coastal port communities, but has impacts on our entire state, region, and nation. That is why it is so important that funding for these projects is included in the 2017 work plan,” the Senators and Representatives concluded.
The full text of the letter follows below.
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Douglas W. Lamont, P.E.
Senior Official Performing the Duties of the
Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works)
108 Army Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20310-0108
Dear Mr. Lamont:
As you work to develop the 2017 work plan for the Army Civil Works program, we ask that you include critical operation and maintenance funding for projects essential to the public safety and coastal economies in the State of Oregon.
Oregon’s ports and harbors are the lifeblood of the coastal communities they serve, enhancing regional and local economic development and supporting local job growth. These ports support the activities of Federal agencies, such as the U.S. Coast Guard, and they are critical to maintaining and creating jobs, as the home to fishing fleets, marinas and recreational facilities. Unfortunately, these federal commercial navigation projects are routinely overlooked and, year-after-year, remain critically underfunded in the Administration’s budget.
On May 5, 2017, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (Pub. L. 115-31) into law. Congress included additional funding in this bill for small, remote, or subsistence harbor maintenance that was not included in the Administration’s budget request. We urge you to use this funding to ensure unmet operation and maintenance needs at Oregon’s coastal ports are addressed. It is our understanding that there is additional Corps’ capability for these listed projects:
- Coquille River (Bandon): $467,000
- Depoe Bay: $27,000
- Rogue River (Gold Beach): $800,000
- Umpqua River (Reedsport/Salmon Harbor): $945,000
- Yaquina Bay and Harbor (Newport): $893,000
Without additional funding for these projects, coastal communities will be unable to conduct the annual maintenance dredging and infrastructure improvements that are necessary to maritime safety and support local economies
Oregon’s ports are heavily impacted by severe Pacific storms and river runoff that inundate these ports with sediment. Consequently, they require ongoing maintenance dredging to ensure they are safe and operational. If these ports do not receive operation and maintenance funding this year, it could be catastrophic for the communities and industries they serve, including reduced Coast Guard Search and Rescue capability. Recently, the U.S. Coast Guard has made us aware that current conditions at the Rogue River will have negative effects on their Search and Rescue capabilities. The conditions at the Rogue River have recently advanced to the point where a hopper dredge won’t suffice, and instead a pipeline dredge will be needed to address the silting of the main channel and boat basin. Without additional work plan dollars, this working port will grind to a halt.
In rural counties, where most of Oregon’s ports are located, port activities provide an important employment base and are often primary drivers of local prosperity. The international trade, recreational boating and commercial fishing that takes place at these small ports is not only vital to the economic health of our coastal port communities, but has impacts on our entire state, region, and nation. That is why it is so important that funding for these projects is included in the 2017 work plan.
Thank you for your consideration of our request.
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