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The Delaware Bay Terminal -An Environmental Plus! Capt. Robert I. Price, USCG* The lower Delaware Bay is quite possibly the most desirable location on the East Coast of the U.S. for development of a deepwater terminal. From such a terminal oil could be readily delivered by pipeline to the complex of seven major oil refineries along the Dela- ware south of Philadelphia, for convenient dis- tribution to the belt of fuel-hungry industries stretched from New York to Baltimore. Tak- ing advantage of natural canyons which ex- tend into the bay from offshore, it is feasible, according to the Army Corps of Engineers, to create a channel for the entry of deep-draft bulk cargoships to a terminal located inside the bay on the Delaware side. Aside from the economies involved, which are considerable, a properly designed and con- trolled terminal at the entrance to the channel is fully justified on the grounds of ship and environmental safety. Without a terminal, there is only the prospect of an enormous ex- tension of the present methods of delivering oil to the Delaware River refineries. The con- sequence of refusing the terminal is intensified marine traffic with increased likelihood of casualties and spillage of oil. The Delaware River ship channel has a pro- ject depth of 40 feet at mean low water. This channel was dredged in World War II when a deep-draft ship was one drawing 30 feet. The channel is 800 feet wid
