Biden In Philly To Promote Port

Official portrait of Vice President of the United States . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Vice President Biden toured a dredging barge on the Delaware River at Penn’s Landing Thursday to show support for the project to deepen the river’s shipping channel.

Biden, the latest high-profile politician to visit the region in recent days, was flanked by fellow Democrats U.S. Sen. Robert Casey, Rep. Robert Brady and Rep. Chaka Fattah.

Before delivering remarks on the ongoing deepening of the Delaware, Biden and the delegation were led on a tour of the large barge by Brian Puckett, project manager for the Great Lakes Dredging and Dock Co.

The vessel’s main feature, an enormous dredging bucket that can haul as much as two dump trucks, immediately caught Biden’s eye.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20141017_Biden_in_Philly_to_promote_port.html#XRrFTtvHxbyblZSS.99

Baltimore Co. Hopes To Attract Thousands Of Jobs To Sparrows Point

BETHLEHEM STEEL PLANT AT SPARROWS POINT – NARA – 546808 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A new marine terminal could bring 9,000 jobs to the Sparrows Point peninsula, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said Friday as he laid out the county’s vision for remaking the land around its closed steel mill.

A terminal in the peninsula’s Coke Point area could take 10 to 12 years to become a reality, he said, and plans depend on the Maryland Port Administration‘s negotiations with the land’s private owners, among other factors.  The area has complicated environmental problems, but county leaders say the peninsula offers an exceptional location and the infrastructure to attract new investment.

Kamenetz formed the Sparrows Point Partnership last spring to study how the area’s 3,300 acres could be redeveloped if the steel mill closed, and the group’s recommendations were released Friday.  The mill, once the world’s largest and an employer of tens of thousands, laid off the roughly 2,000 workers remaining last year after owner RG Steel declared bankruptcy.

“Even though things looked bleak, we’ve remained optimistic in this county,” Kamenetz said.  “We were determined to overcome this obstacle in order to bring thousands of good jobs back to Sparrows Point.”

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/dundalk/bs-md-co-sparrows-point-future-20130503,0,3115241.story#ixzz2SN1zCjTX