NEW BEDFORD — There’s a maritime version of the old Mark Twain adage to buy land because they’re not making any more of it.
New Bedford Port Authority Executive Director Gordon Carr said it goes something like this: “Waterfront industrial property needs to be preserved at all costs because they’re not making any more of it.”
He added with a smile, “And while I tend to agree with that, today, welcome to New Bedford — because we did make more of it.”
The remark drew applause from the crowd gathered under a tent at 242 Herman Melville Blvd. on the New Bedford waterfront Tuesday to celebrate the completion of the North Terminal Extension Project.
Carr said the terminal expansion provides 965 linear feet of bulkhead, dredged to 23 feet, on 10.5 acres of terminal space.
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Sens. Warren, Markey, and Rep. Keating in attendance
Among the celebrants were Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Edward Markey, and U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-9th District.
The six-year project’s $42.7 million price tag benefited from $15 million in federal grant funding in 2018.
It also benefited from funding provided by MassWorks Infrastructure, and Massachusetts Dredging program, MassCEC Offshore Wind Industry Ports Investment Challenge, Massachusetts Seaport Economic Council, the city of New Bedford, and the New Bedford Port Authority, according to a press release.
Site could host multiple uses
Development proposals will be sought later this year, he said. The terminal is likely to be a multiple-use facility, he added.
“It’s already been used heavily for commercial fishing and we expect that’s very possibly going to continue,” Carr said.
Other uses could include marine construction, and/or offshore wind operations and maintenance, he said.
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Mitchell: project benefited from Superfund silver lining
Mayor Jon Mitchell said the “complex” project also benefited from a “silver lining” to New Bedford becoming America’s first marine Superfund site. The EPA gave it that designation in the early 1980s.
A provision in the federal law allows fast-track permitting to build port facilities at sites that had been cleaned up, Mitchell said.
Without that provision, the project would still be in permitting today, he said.
Warren: Example of partnerships at their best
Warren said the extension project “is a demonstration of how partnership works at its best.”
She said the state’s federal delegation worked very hard to make sure Massachusetts benefited from federal funding available.
“If these trees are going to bear fruit from the federal government, then we intend to pick as much of it as possible and bring it right back to Massachusetts,” she said.
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Markey: A vision without funding is a hallucination
Sen. Edward Markey said the federal government has provided $118 million in funding to New Bedford in recent years, including the $15 million for the extension, and $72 million in EPA Superfund site reclamation money.
Markey added, “Sen. Warren and I talk about it on the Senate floor — a vision without funding is a hallucination. You’ve got to have the funding so the work can be done.”
Keating: The private sector couldn’t do this
Keating said, “You know those people who say the private sector can do things better than the government can do? I can say in this instance, with 100% certainty, that’s just not true. The private sector, if tasked with this achievement we’re celebrating today, would fail because it wouldn’t even try. No one in the private sector would have taken on the risk of putting together such a complicated project.”
About 20 people protested outside the entrance to the terminal, some with signs stating “save our sea,” and “no more wind farms.” One protester was dressed in a whale outfit.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Senators mark opening of commercial space on New Bedford waterfront
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