Background

The Port of Corpus Christi Authority (POCCA) has been working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for years to develop the navigable waters in and around Corpus Christi Bay to support National Economic Development (NED). Key to that effort is the deepening, widening, and/or lengthening of three ship channels: the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, the Inner Harbor, and the La Quinta Channel.

Corpus Christi Ship Channel – Public Meeting June 22

The Port of Corpus Christi Authority’s Channel Deepening Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Permit Application no. SWG-2029-00067 will be published in the Federal Register on June 10, 2022.  The DEIS will be available for review and comment for beginning June 10, 2002  and ending August 8th, 2022. Here’s a link to the Public Notice. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has created a page for additional documentation.

Map of Ship Channels in Corpus Christi Bay

This map, provided by the Port of Corpus Christi, shows there are three (3) different ship channels in Corpus Christi Bay:
Corpus Christi, Inner Harbor, and La Quinta.

Specific Concerns

Here are general concerns about channel deepening:

  • Poor Economic Justification: The Port of Corpus Christi’s ship channel projects were historically economically justified to support imports needed by U.S. citizens. For example, the 2003 Environmental Impact Statement for the Corpus Christi Ship Channel Project included plans to construct a cargo container facility for imports at the northern end of La Quinta Channel. However, these plans were abandoned in 2017 “due to its proximity to the North Shore residential community”. Instead, the lifting of the oil export ban in 2015 led to a build-out of petrochemical plants along La Quinta Channel – most exporting Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale crude oil products and liquefied natural gas overseas as fast as they can. Instead of citizens benefiting as originally planned, it corporate shareholders are getting rich.
  • Environmental Degradation and Increased Flood Risk: In addition to destroying more seagrass and putting up with the sounds and smells of dredgers for the next decade, there is historical evidence from other channel deepening efforts around the world that deepening ship channels change the hydrology and may worsen flooding for cities on or near ship channels.
  • Failure to Consider Cumulative Impacts: Efforts to deepen, lengthen, and widen Corpus Christi and La Quinta Ship Channels have not looked at the cumulative impacts of ALL the projects related to the multi-year industrial build-out of the Coastal Bend, including desalination plants, LNG, petrochemicals, offshore oil terminals, steel, oil export terminals, carbon capture, and hydrogen projects in .

Relevant Documents