A part of the port is being redeveloped as an adaptable deep water omniport able to handle a variety of bulk and break bulk cargo, as well as shipping containers. The Paulsboro Marine Terminal, as it is known, is owned by the South Jersey Port Corporation[2] and operated by Holt Logistics.[3] The first ship to call at the port, the Doric Warrior, carrying steel for NLMK, arrived March 3, 2017, marking the opening of the new facility.[4][5][6] The port could become the site for the production the monopile foundations for turbines for the off-shore wind farm Ocean Wind.[7][8][9]
The Delaware River is tidal at Paulsboro,[14] which is about 78 miles (126 km) from the Atlantic Ocean at the entrance to the Delaware Bay.[15] Since 1942, the Delaware River Main Channel has been maintained at a depth of 40 feet (12 m). A 102.5-mile (165.0 km) stretch of the federal navigation shipping channel is being deepened to 45 feet (14 m) from the Port of Camden and Port of Philadelphia to the bay, with a 2017 projected completion date.[16][17][18][19]Local pilotage is generally required for larger commercial vessels.[20] Anchorage No. 9 is in the vicinity of the mouth of Mantua Creek, to which the river channel is 30 feet (9.1 m).[21][22]
The Paulsboro Refinery is a 950-acre (380 ha) facility abutting Paulsboro in adjacent Gibbstown[11] (Greenwich Township) and processes medium-to-heavy sour crude oils to produce unbranded gasoline, heating oil, and jet fuel. It is one of only two facilities on the East Coast able to process petroleum coke.[33] It became a Special Purpose Subzone 142A of Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) No. 142 in 1995.[28][34] In 1998, Valero Energy Corporation purchased the facility from Mobil[35] and in 2010 sold it to PBF[36][37] with backing from Blackstone Group and First Reserve Corporation.[38] Construction of a new tanker berth was completed in 2010 by Weeks Marine.[39] In 2019, PDF received special permission to receive liquified natural gas to the plant via rail.[40]
The Eagle Point Refinery in West Deptford Township was a 1,000-acre (400 ha) oil refinery that had once been a tomato-processing factory and became a U.S. Army munitions depot during World Wars I and II. The property was acquired by Texaco and began refining operations in 1949.[41] It was purchased by Coastal Oil in May 1985[42] and in 1997 became foreign trade Special Purpose Subzone 142C.[28] In January 2004, it was bought by Sunoco, which announced its permanent closure in 2010.[42] The plant is being disassembled by 2015 so that a new facility can be planned by Sunoco.[43] Its adjacent tank farm, with tanker truck, rail, pipeline, and marine transfer operations, remain active.[44][45]
The Paulsboro Terminal started as an oil depot during World War I. In 1929, Patterson Oil further developed the property as an oil storage and fueling terminal. Eastern Gas & Fuels took over in 1954 and completed the terminal expansion. It sold the terminal in 1960 to Sinclair Refining Corporation. In 1969, after Sinclair and Atlantic Richfield Company merged, BP bought the property. The 130-acre (53 ha) facility stopped operations in 1996 and is being redeveloped as part of the new omniport.[46][47]
The Citgo Asphalt Refining Company (CARCO) asphalt refinery on the east side of Mantua Creek was purchased by NuStar Energy in 2007.[48] It became foreign trade Special Purpose Subzone 142B in 1996.[28][49] NuStar also owned a small tank farm with a truck transport terminal in Billingsport.[50] In 2008 NuStar sold half its business to Lindsay Goldberg, which bought the company outright in February 2014, renaming it Axeon Specialty Products. The asphalt refinery, ranked as America's largest, was scheduled to close in 2017.[51][52]
The Plains Terminal [53] is a petroleum products storage and marine transfer facility in Billingsport which expanded its tank farm with eight new storage tanks in 2009.[54][55] It has been owned by ExxonMobil, GATX Terminals Corporation, which was taken over by Kinder Morgan, and by Support Terminals Operating Partnership (a NuStar subsidiary).[56] In 2012, Plains All American Pipeline and previous owners settled with NJ DEP to remediate hazardous substances in the soil at the site.[57][58] It has been part of a foreign trade Special Purpose Subzone 142A since 1995.[28][34]
On November 26, 2004, 265,000 US gallons (1,000 m3) of crude oil spilled from the Cyprus-flaggedoil tankerAthos 1, which was preparing to dock at the Citgo asphalt refinery, after its hull had been punctured by a submerged, discarded anchor.[60][61]Citgo was cleared of liability in 2011.[62][63] The oil spill
has had lasting impact on the estuary.[64]
In October 2007, another spill took place at the port[65][66] when approximately 1,200 US gallons (4.5 m3) of oil leaked from the Tigani, an 809-foot (247 m) Malta-flagged tanker operated by Cardiff Marine.[67]
The Paulsboro Marine Terminal will include an industrial park and is designed to integrate changing needs for industrial manufacturing, value-added processing, and distribution space, and to provide complete intermodal freight transport capabilities.[70][74][75] The terminal will handle a diversity of bulk and break bulk cargo, as well as shipping containers.[76] New infrastructure includes a wharf, warehouse space, sewers with storm water retention, roadway access, and rail infrastructure.[70][74][76][77] It will include facility connections to the adjacent solar power facility.[76]
Originally scheduled to be opened in 2012, it was later postponed to 2013.[76][78] Infrastructure construction work is being completed in phases and installation of the terminal facilities has been delayed further by a lack of commercial clients.[77] The SJPC has preliminary Memoranda of Understanding with a number of companies.[75]Dole Food Company considered relocating import operations,[73][79] but in August 2013 decided to remain at the Port of Wilmington (Delaware).[80]
In July 2014, SJPC and Holt Logistics announced that the company would possibly move some of their operations to Paulsboro as part of land exchange deal in the Port of Camden.[81][82] The first tenant, NMLK Steel, will occupy approximately 40 acres of the port to bring steel slabs and transload them onto rail cars for distribution throughout the country.[82]
The port is slated to become a wind turbine manufacturing and staging area, such as above
Site surveys for the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) permit to build the project were performed by CH2M Hill.[74] In 2011, USACE authorized additional dredging of a 27-acre (11 ha) area at the confluence to 40 feet (12 m) in the river and 20 feet (6.1 m) in the creek to provide deep water berths and obtain dredge fill for the omniport.[93] The terminal site has been raised by up to 10 feet (3 m) with 300,000 cubic yards (230,000 m3) of dredge fill from the river and creek in order to be above the 100-year floodplain and potential for sea-level rise due to climate change caused by global warming.[74][75][78]
Docks
Doric Warrior (as seen in the Netherlands) was the first ship to arrive at new marine terminal
Planned dock capacity would allow for a 550 feet (170 m) long bargemooring and 2,400 feet (730 m) of deep water berths of 40 feet (12 m) at Mean Low Water (MLW) that would also accommodate three Handymax size vessels.[74][76][77][94] Construction of bulkheads is designed to protect submerged aquatic vegetation.[74] The final wharf construction, which had been previously bid by three companies in 2012, may be delayed until 2016, pending signed lease agreements by South Jersey Port Corporation with companies that will use the port. Shippers and industrial companies can require a different range of wharf specifications, depending on the finished goods, materials, and commodities they handle.[77]
A portion of the road that would later be designated Interstate 295 was opened in 1948.[99] The Gloucester County Improvement Authority is building a new connector, which is funded by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and is expected to be completed by 2014, that would create a gateway from I-295 to the new marine terminal.[77][100][101] It includes a new access road and 0.75-mile (1.2 km) overpass bridge over the creek from Paradise Road in West Deptford Township between the Gloucester County sewage treatment plant and the NuStar Energy asphalt refinery.[102][103] Paradise Road, which changes to Mantua Creek Road, provides direct access to Exit 19 of I-295. This new routing through West Deptford would avoid heavy truck traffic through residential areas of Paulsboro.[104][105]
The Jefferson Street Bridge is a railroad movable bridge over Mantua Creek 1.3 miles (2.1 km) upstream from its mouth.[15][109] The 160-foot (49 m)[110] "A-Frame", shear pole, swing bridge was originally constructed in 1917[111] and rebuilt in 1940. Once part of Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines (PRSL),[112] it is now part of Conrail's Penns Grove Secondary. Originally manually opened, it was partially automated sometime between 2000 and 2003.[111][113]
Buckling of the bridge caused a derailment of a coal train in 2009. More than 15 rail cars left the tracks, though none toppled.[114]
On November 30, 2012 seven cars derailed while crossing the bridge. Of the four cars that fell into the creek, one was punctured, releasing 23,000 US gallons (87 m3) of highly toxic vinyl chloride,[115][116][117] which required an evacuation in the region and Paulsboro school lock-downs.[118] Removal of derailed cars and environmental cleanup was handled by U.S. Coast Guard.[119]
In March 2013, Conrail announced that the bridge would be replaced with an expected September 2014 operational date. Normally, between March 1 and November 30 the bridge is left in the open position for maritime traffic and closed when trains approach.[111] The new bridge opened in March 2015.[120]
Numerous lawsuits have been brought in the matter.[121]
^ ab"History – Borough of Paulsboro". Borough of Paulsboro. Archived from the original on 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2013-07-08. Just before World War I, the export business of Vacuum Oil required a refinery on the east coast. A location near Paulsboro seemed most suitable and Vacuum purchased it in April 1916. The Paulsboro Plant, which began in 1917, was designed to manufacture lubricating oil. Gasoline and kerosene were considered by-products. Mobil, the plant's present name, is actually located in Gibbstown and it pays taxes to that municipality (Penn's boundary), but it is referred to as the Paulsboro plant and many of its employees live in Paulsboro. Mobil also operates a research laboratory here. Some of the great advances in petroleum processing were first used commercially at the Paulsboro refinery. The first continuous two-stage fractioning unit was built in 1928. The first Duo-Sol unit for continuous treating of lubricating oil stock was put into service in 1936, In this year, the first commercial catalytic cracking unit was also put into operation. The main products o£ Mobil are lubricating oil, gasoline and motor oil.
^ ab"United States Coast Pilot 3 – Delaware Bay"(pdf) (46 ed.). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. August 25, 2013: 200. Mantua Creek, Mile 78S, ... entrance jetties are marked by lights, and the entrance channel is marked by buoys... The ConRail bridge 1.3 miles above the mouth has a 32-foot-wide swing span... The wharves below the first bridge on Mantua Creek have depths of 20 to 14 feet alongside.((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^"United States Coast Pilot 3 – Delaware Bay" (46 ed.). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. August 25, 2013: 187. Pilotage on Delaware Bay, Delaware River, and tributaries thereof is compulsory for all foreign vessels of 100 gross tons or more and all U.S. vessels under register engaged in the foreign trade or commerce of 100 gross tons or more. Pilotage is optional for all U.S. Government vessels and for all U.S. vessels in the coast-wise trade that have on board a pilot licensed by the Federal Government for these waters.((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ abcdefDepartment of Army Permit(PDF). Permit number CENAP-OP-R2007-1125-35 (Report). United States Army Corps of Engineers. November 11, 2011. Archived from the original(PDF) on December 30, 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
^Department of Army Permit(PDF). Permit number CENAP-OP-R2007-1125-35 (Report). United States Army Corps of Engineers. November 11, 2011. Archived from the original(PDF) on December 30, 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-15. Specifically, the port shall include a four berth wharf consisting of Handymax capable Berths (No's 1-3) and a 550' long and 150' wide barge mooring (Berth No. 4), 1570' of a low profile bulkhead within the dredge footprint...and dredging of 27 acres, generating 334,000 cubic yards of material, to -40' in the Delaware River and -20' in Mantua Creek plus 2' overdraft.
^"NJ 44 over Mantua Creek"(PDF). New Jersey Historic Bridge Data. New Jersey Department of Transportation. November 12, 2002. p. 33. Retrieved 2013-09-02.
.jpg)
