$75,000,000.00 - 1500 JOBS - TRANSIT PROGRAM

Is this project critical?  or 

65% voted critical - 35% voted not critical - 1361 votes cast

General Description

Background: The Port of Anchorage serves 80% of Alaska's population and is the entry point for 90% of the consumer goods shipped to Alaska. 100% of the jet fuel for Elmendorf Air Force Base and 80% of the fuel for Ted Stevens International Airport enter through the port. The Port is the major gateway for Alaska's water-borne commerce and is a vital component of the state's economy. Additionally, it is one of only 19 designated national strategic ports and, therefore, critical to the national defense of the USA. In terms of economic impact the Port generates more than $750 million each year. This is a multi-year capital improvement and expansion project.

 Points in Favor

This project will create short-term construction jobs. If new users materialize, the Port could support growing trade and commerce, and the ancillary jobs and revenues such activities generate.

Alaska consistently loses work to lower 48 and foreign facilities because of our inability to build and ship large modularized projects to the North Slope. An upgraded port would allow for more production in state, which would improve the economy in the state, reduce costs for Alaska's oil and oil producers and ultimately reduce crude oil based costs for the rest of the country. An investment in the Port of Anchorage is an investment not just in Alaska's economy, but in the economy for the whole nation.

 Points Against

Project proponents have been asked two basic questions they have refused to answer: 1) what is the demonstrated need for an expansion this large and costly?, and 2) how will Port revenues sustain operations?. Port use has actually declined over the past 4 years, and no new users have been identified. Based on existing debt commitments, the Port is now operating in the red, and according to the Ports own figures, will lose at least $10 million over the next 5 years. Furthermore, the Project skirted basic environmental permitting requirements, and three major federal agencies objected to the project's design and scope. This is yet another example of wasteful government spending for an Alaskan mega-project.

ADDENDUM: There are serious allegations of environmental irresponsibility here that must be addressed.

The Port of Anchorage Intermodal Expamsion Project did not "skirt" any basic environmental permitting requirements. Findings of no significant impact (FONSI) were issued pursuant to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements by the Federal Lead Agency after rigourous environmental and geotechnical analyses for the project's main phases (Road and Rail, Marine Terminal Redevelopment) in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Additionally, critical aspects of these overarching analyses are ongoing; specifically, geotechnical engineering and marine mammal monitoring.

Also important is the rigourous environmental protection and mitigation requirements put in place by the U.S. Corps of Engineers, ultimately resulting in the Port of Anchorage establishing an $8.9 million environmental impacts mitigation account for restoration of any adversely affected wetlands.

 

http://www.stimuluswatch.org/project/view/771