On Friday, the Delaware Gov. John Carney joined U.S. Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons, and U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (all D-DE) to announce the state had been awarded $50 million in federal grants to expand the Port of Wilmington.
The funding, from the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) will go to the Diamond State Port Corporation for the Port of Wilmington’s Edgemoor terminal expansion. A discretionary grant made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and administered by the U.S. Maritime Administration, the funds are designed to improve safety, efficiency or reliability of the movement of goods into, out of and around or within a port. The Edgemoor expansion project plan includes the construction of a new container yard with all-electric operations, a new truck gate to provide new cargo capacity, enhanced cargo resiliency, reduced emissions and increased capacity at the existing port. The project takes place on the former location of the Chemours titanium dioxide production facility which was demolished and sold to the Diamond State Port Corporation in 2017.
“For decades, jobs at the Port of Wilmington have been a gateway into the middle class for thousands of workers and their families— the kind of jobs our state and country were built on. This successful grant from the Port Infrastructure Development Program will help make the planned Edgemoor expansion a reality and bring new good-paying, full-time union jobs to Wilmington and the region,” Carney said.
The grant funding joins another $9.2 million secured for operations and maintenance work on the Wilmington Harbor, including a new management plan to support the Port’s Edgemoor terminal expansion.
“The Port of Wilmington supports more than 19,000 jobs, and the Edgemoor terminal expansion will fuel considerable economic growth for Delaware and our region,” Carper, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said. “Edgemoor’s plans include improved safety and emissions, which is a win-win for the folks who work and live there. This major investment from the Department of Transportation is a giant step forward for the Port of Wilmington’s plans for the future, and it is essential to keeping our port competitive and supporting good paying-jobs in our region now and for generations to come.”