December 26, 2019 3:15 a.m.
Congressman Peter DeFazio is calling for an increase in funding for Oregon’s small ports.
A release from DeFazio said on Monday he joined the Democratic members of the Oregon Congressional delegation in sending a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James encouraging the Administration to use a portion of federal funds for operations and maintenance projects at Oregon’s small ports.The release said the group urged the Administration to use additional funds appropriated by Congress in the Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2020 to ensure that Oregon’s small ports get the dredging funds that they need.
Despite a continuing need for maintenance work, such as dredging, no funding was included in the President’s FY 2020 Budget for the Ports of Umpqua, Bandon, Garibaldi, Port Orford, or Depoe Bay.
The letter said harbors along the Oregon coast can be particularly challenging due to unpredictable weather, the increasing intensity of storms and especially dangerous wave conditions at the entrance channels. It said that maintenance dredging and jetty repairs are needed to ensure that ports can “serve their most critical purposes as economic engines for coastal communities and harbors of refuge for mariners of both commercial and recreational vessels”. The group asked that the Administration include Federal investments in the Fiscal Year 2020 workplan to address deteriorating jetties and breakwaters associated with Federal ports and harbors to help reduce long term maintenance needs and ensure the continued availability of the ports for the businesses and economies “that rely on these facilities, as well as the safety of mariners that utilize our Oregon coastline”.