Port of Brownsville celebrates channel deepening groundbreaking

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The Port of Brownsville’s historic Dock 3 was the site Friday morning of a ceremonial groundbreaking for Phase 2 of the Brownsville Ship Channel deepening project — officially known as the Brazos Island Harbor Improvement (BIH) Project.

The event took place under a sprawling white tent while a heavy drizzle fell, some portion of it making its way into the tent thanks to a stiff breeze blowing right off the channel, shrouded in mist and serving as the backdrop to the ceremony.

The Brownsville Navigation District, which oversees the port, has long sought to dredge the 17-mile-long channel to 52 feet from its current depth of 42 feet in order to accommodate today’s larger, deeper draft cargo vessels and allow the port to remain competitive in the global market, stimulate further economic growth and generate more jobs locally and regionally.

The port and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are partnering on Phase 2, which covers the stretch of channel from the turning basin to the western boundary of Rio Grande LNG, under construction a few miles to the east along the channel.

The $139.5 million cost of Phase 2 is being paid for by $68 million in federal funding through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a signature piece of legislation of the Biden administration in response to the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, and $71.5 million from the port’s operating revenues.

The $400 million cost of Phase 1, from the Rio Grande LNG site western boundary to the Gulf of Mexico, is being paid for entirely by NextDecade, Rio Grande LNG’s parent company.

Port Director and CEO William Dietrich spoke first, telling the assembled crowd that finally realizing the BIH project “exemplifies what is possible when public and private sectors come together with shared purpose.” He thanked NextDecade and USACE for their support, and honored visionary port leaders of the past and the “foresight, determination and collaboration that brought us here today.”

“Here in South Texas, the (port) has been the cornerstone of economic growth connecting the region to markets worldwide and solidifying our identity as a hub of maritime trade. … By deepening this channel we are unlocking new economic opportunity, enhancing our competitiveness on the global stage, and ensuring that the (port) continues to serve as a beacon for progress,” Dietrich said.

BND Chairman Esteban Guerra said board members Sergio Tito Lopez (now vice chairman) and John Reed (now secretary) have been engaged with the deepening project since 2007, when BND commissioners authorized port staff to come up with a strategy for making it happen. Guerra said he and Commissioner John Wood later came onboard.

“Most notably, Commissioner Wood served as the commission liaison between port staff and the (USACE), fostering a relationship that continues to thrive today,” Guerra said.

He thanked the entire BND commission, and also expressed gratitude to U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Brownsville, who represents Texas’ 34th congressional district, for helping make the project a reality.

“His efforts in Washington were instrumental in bringing both federal funding for this critical project and getting it through its permitting process,” Guerra said.

USACE estimates the deepening project will create in excess of 6,000 jobs at the peak of construction and 800 full-time jobs once the work is done.

“We are reinvesting in our infrastructure, and we are enhancing our capabilities to create a port for the future,” Guerra said. “Together we are making history.”

Matthew Schatzman, chairman/CEO of NextDecade, taking a turn at the podium, noted that the BIH project is one of USACE’s first public-private partnerships. Phase 1, NextDecade’s portion, is well underway, he said.

“We have two of the largest dredge ships in the world actively dredging the channel, the Ohio and the Carolina, and I’m happy to report that Phase 1 is on schedule,” Schatzman said.

NextDecade decided to help with the project after recognizing the benefits to Rio Grande LNG as well as Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley, he said. The project is expected to boost international trade in the region, which will help create thousands more permanent jobs, Schatzman said.

“All of this is in addition to the thousands of jobs being created by Rio Grande LNG, which has been under construction since July of last year,” he said. “Today nearly 2,000 people are working on Rio Grande LNG construction just a few miles down the ship channel from here. We expect this to peak at over 5,000 people in the next 24 months, and we expect to start shipping the first cargoes of LNG into the global market in 2027.”

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