The N.C. State Ports Authority has suspended its proposed Wilmington Harbor deepening project in response to concerns over environmental impacts.
The authority has requested to pause consideration of the $1.35 billion navigation improvement project, which would have deepened the channel along the Cape Fear River in an effort to accommodate larger container ships, according to a letter from Executive Director Brian Clark to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Clark also requested the suspension of consideration of the associated Wilmington Harbor 403 Letter Report activities and the pending record of decision.
The project called for deepening 26 miles of the Cape Fear River shipping channel from its current 42 feet to 47 feet. The six-year undertaking
also proposed widening and deepening of the shipping entrance channel at the mouth of the river.
In the letter, Clark cited concerns over stirring up per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS or "forever chemicals," for the suspension.
"The questions raised by residents, researchers and other stakeholders regarding the potential effects of PFAS within the scope of this project are too important to be subject to a systematic timeline," Clark wrote in the letter. "The North Carolina State Ports Authority has a responsibility to ensure that it proceeds in a thoughtful and thorough manner and therefore it is in the best interests of the state and our host communities that we pause and allow our next steps to be guided by sound science and rigorous research."
The N.C. Ports will embark on a new strategic plan, which "calls for an overall increase in tonnage traversing the Wilmington Harbor," according to the letter.
This is not the first hit that the project has taken in 2026. In January, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Coastal Management announced it was pausing its review of the project to allow for the Army Corps to consider issues raised by both the department and the public, including marine habitat and wetland impacts.
"The (Army Corps) has not fully demonstrated how these adverse impacts will be avoided, minimized or mitigated," Tancred Miller, head of the Division of Coastal Management, stated in his Feb. 24 objection letter to the corps.
Daniel Sheehan covers New Hanover County for the StarNews. Reach him at dsheehan@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: NC Ports suspends Wilmington Harbor deepening project
