26_issue - Philadelphia Regional Port Authority

Mayor Nutter Joins Maritime Industry to Celebrate Trade with
Chile and 20th Anniversary of a Noted Organization
PRPA Senior Deputy
Executive Director Robert
C. Blackburn, Philadelphia
Mayor Michael Nutter and
PRPA Executive Director
James T. McDermott, Jr.
on November 13.
Philadelphia Mayor
Michael Nutter opened the
doors of the Mayor's
Reception Room in City
Hall on Thursday,
November 13 to inaugurate
"Viva Chile in Philadelphia,"
a week of activities to promote Philadelphia-Chilean
relations, and to celebrate
the 20th anniversary of an
organization that has tirelessly and effectively promoted that relationship, the
Chilean and American
Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia.
The Ambassador of Chile, His Excellency
Mariano Fernandez; Honorary Consul General of
Chile Benjamin Leavenworth; the Chamber's
Board of Directors; and a host of maritime and
trade officials joined the Mayor at the evening
event, which also saw the presentation to the
Mayor of the prestigious Order of Bernardo
O'Higgins Medal, the highest Chilean honor that
can be presented to a non-Chilean citizen. This
dramatic recognition was made to acknowledge
Mayor Nutter's efforts to
promote trade and cordial
relations between the
Republic of Chile and its
longtime friend, the City
of Philadelphia.
During the past year,
Chilean trade with the tristate region of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and
Delaware exceeded $1 billion. Of this amount,
fruits and vegetables moving through our
regional port system were valued at $855 million.
Over 58 million cases of fruit alone moved
through our ports. Obviously, our region derives
significant and increasing economic benefits
from the strong and growing trade relationship
between Chile and the Philadelphia region, and
the event at City Hall enthusiastically acknowledged that fact.
PRPA congratulates the Chilean and American
Chamber of Commerce for 20 years of wonderful
and important work, and Mayor Nutter for
receiving this prestigious recognition. Let's all
work together to bring about another 20 years of
great mutual prosperity! ■
Volume 1, Issue 26
Winter 2008-09
Winter 2008-09
PortWatch: A Publication of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority Proudly Managing Pennsylvania’s International Seaport Since 1990 www.philaport.com
The Estey Era Has Historic Start
Under His
Chairmanship,
PRPA Makes
Significant Strides
Estey
PRPA Chairman John H.
ernor
Gov
nia
lva
nsy
and Pen
Edward G. Rendell.
3460 North Delaware Avenue, 2nd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19134
ard
With new bo ler.
ut
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member Rin
New Port Chairman Oversees New Era of Growth
Attention Vessel Owners: How Are You
Discarding Your Ships’ Waste?
John H. Estey Envisions a Port More
Productive and Successful Than Ever Before
John H. Estey, Esq. was named chairman of the
Philadelphia Regional Port Authority by
Pennsylvania Governor
Edward G. Rendell in
October 2007. Long a member of Governor Rendell’s
inner circle, Mr. Estey first
served as deputy chief of
staff to then Philadelphia
Mayor Rendell from 1997 to
2000 and as chief of staff to
the Governor from 2003 to
2007. He also served for a
time as a senior advisor to
Governor Rendell, and still
serves as Governor
Rendell’s alternate on the
Delaware River Port
Authority Board.
Philadelphia Regional Port
Authority Chairman John H.
Estey addresses the maritime
community at the Packer Avenue
Marine Terminal on Monday,
June 23, as U.S. Senator Arlen
Specter listens. The Delaware
River Channel-Deepening
Project advanced significantly
that day with the signing of the
Project Partnership Agreement
between PRPA and the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers.
In February 2008, Mr. Estey returned to private law
practice as a partner in the law firm of Ballard
Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, where he heads the
firm’s new Government Relations & Regulatory
Affairs Practice. He was a partner at the firm from
January 2002 through January 2003.
A graduate of Carleton College in Minnesota,
Chairman Estey, 45, earned his law degree at the
University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As a young
trial lawyer with Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin
in the early 1990s, he represented the City of
Philadelphia mostly in the controversial prison
overcrowding proceedings before U.S. District
Judge Norma L. Shapiro. His work caught the
attention of the legendary dynamo David L. Cohen,
who was then serving as chief of staff to Mayor
Rendell. When Mr. Cohen exited in favor of Gregory
S. Rost, Mr. Estey accepted the post of deputy
chief of staff.
He returned to private practice at Montgomery,
McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, then Ballard Spahr
for a year until Governor Rendell asked him to be
his chief of staff in Harrisburg. There he oversaw
and managed a $28 billion budget and the activities
of 18 operating departments and nearly 80,000
employees.
Even-tempered and cool under fire, Mr. Estey
quickly gained a reputation in and around the state
capital as fair, principled and trustworthy. Like all
effective chiefs of staff, he immersed himself in
work and stayed out of the limelight. He earned the
2
respect of his staff not only for his steely resolve,
but also for a quick wit and kind word during difficult times. Even his critics acknowledge he is
extremely intelligent and a very quick study, and he
commands attention without bombast.
“When John walks into a meeting,” said an admirer, “he may not immediately appear to be the
smartest guy in the room, but he is.”
Under Chairman Estey’s leadership, in just a little
over a year, the PRPA has significantly advanced
or moved to the forefront of several significant
projects, including the deepening of the Delaware
River Main Shipping Channel to 45 feet; the construction of a state-of-the-art Food Distribution
Center in southwest Philadelphia on property purchased by the PRPA; and solicitation for developers of the long-anticipated Southport project just
south of the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal.
PortWatch: The year 2008 was significant for the
PRPA largely because of the signing of the Project
Partnership Agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, a necessary step to advance the channel-deepening project. It also saw the groundbreaking for the new Food Distribution Center and
the solicitation for developers of the proposed
Southport container terminal. These were all big
developments for the Port. Please give us your
thoughts about each of them.
PW: Certainly, it was a long time coming, and yes,
it was a tough fight getting here.
JE: Yes, this was a project that was under study for
20 years and had all kinds of challenges. Now we
have a signed agreement with the Army Corps to
go ahead and dredge the river. We have the financing in place from the Commonwealth to start the
• If regulated garbage is mixed with domestic
garbage, then, due to the commingling, it all
must be treated as regulated garbage.
Has your vessel been to a port outside the continental United States or Canada? If so, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) would like
you to know that all waste material from your
vessel that contains foreign fruits, vegetables
and meats (including poultry), as well as materials that have been associated or come in contact with these items, is considered regulated
garbage and must be handled according to
USDA regulations.
Don’t forget: Regulated garbage that is improperly disposed of can introduce invasive plant
pests and animal diseases, such as foot-andmouth disease, into the United States, causing
devastating economic and environmental damage to U.S. agriculture and natural resources.
USDA regulations serve to prevent the introduction and spread of foreign plant pests and animal
diseases into the United States. Illegal dumping
of regulated garbage into the harbor, inland
waterways or non-designated regulated garbage receptacles is considered a violation, and
you can be fined or criminally prosecuted.
Chairman Estey talked about these developments
and others during a recent interview with
PortWatch’s Don Brennan.
John Estey: Well, at the conclusion of a long and
winding road, and thanks to literally dozens of people—most importantly, Sen. Arlen Specter and Gov.
Ed Rendell—we finally managed to move the local
sponsorship of the Main Channel-Deepening
Project to PRPA and negotiate a Project
Partnership Agreement with the Army Corps of
Engineers. The day of the signing (June 23, 2008)
was a bellwether day for commerce on the
Delaware River.
Dr. Asghar A. Chaudhry, Veterinary Medical
Officer for Pennsylvania, Ohio, Delaware and
Southern New Jersey for the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA), asked
PortWatch to run the following message to vessel owners utilizing the Port of Philadelphia.
We’re pleased to oblige and encourage appropriate parties to heed Dr. Chaudhry’s message.
Please remember:
• All regulated garbage must be contained in
tight, covered and leak-proof receptacles while
being stored aboard a vessel
within the territorial waters of
the United States.
TELL US YOUR N EWS
The Philadelphia Regional
Port Authority’s PortWatch is
produced quarterly by the
Authority’s Communications
Department, which invites
members of the maritime
community to submit news for
future issues. News items can
be e-mailed to Joseph Menta
at [email protected] or
faxed to him at (215) 426-6800.
19
• Any person or company handling, hauling or
processing regulated garbage must be
approved by the USDA and enter into a compliance agreement approved by the USDA.
Help Protect American Agriculture!
For additional information, you can contact Dr.
Asghar Chaudhry, USDA, Veterinary Regulatory
Support/Veterinary Medical Officer (VRS/VMO)
at (215) 597-2339.
Regulations that pertain to regulated garbage
can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations,
Title 9, Part 94.5 or Title 7, Part 330.400 to 330.403.
Once again, PRPA encourages port users to
take this message seriously and act responsibly
while visiting the facilities of the Port of
Philadelphia. ■
• All plastic bags used in the
storage or transport of regulated garbage must be at least
four (4) Mil (0.004-inch) thick
and must be easily identifiable
by the unique color of the plastic bag or by tags labeled
“Regulated Garbage.” These
bags must be disposed of in
containers labeled “Regulated
Garbage” or “International
Garbage” while in a U.S. port.
The USDA and its enforcement arm, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, discussed the foreign waste issue and other relevant topics at an Animal Disease
Forum held at Philadelphia's Custom House on Tuesday, December 9. U.S.
Customs officials presenting at the event included Hal Fingerman (standing
at left) and Director of Field Operations Michael Lovejoy (at the podium).
Tioga Marine Terminal operator
Robert Palaima, Pier 84 operator
Harvey Weiner, Chairman Estey
and PRPA Chief Counsel
Gregory Iannarelli at the spring
2008 kick-off of the regional
"Green Ports Initiative."
PW: And next, there is Southport, which is just as
exciting.
JE: Very, very exciting.
Right on the heels of the
signing of the PPA, we
went out into the market
and solicited Requests for
Qualifications for teams to
come in and do the development of the 150-acre
Southport site located to
the south of the Packer
Avenue Marine Terminal.
Today’s ports have a
clear vision
PW: And what is the status of that?
for the future
JE: We are very pleased that we received four very
quality responses from four separate bidding
teams—all of whom have the capacity to undertake a multiple-million-dollar project development
at that site. Right now, we are continuing to move
forward with putting the competitive piece or solicitation together.
There’s a new wave of environmental
PW: From a business perspective, how are these
two projects linked?
responsibility in our ports. As we handle ever-increasing volumes of cargo,
we’re simultaneously working together
toward sparkling water, cleaner air and
more fertile soil. It’s good for you. It’s
good for our ports. And it’s good for
Are you a trucker,
longshoreman or other
cargo industry worker?
everyone’s future.
To learn more, please visit us at
www.aapa-ports.org or call us at 703-684-5700.
18
project, and we are continuing to work on an
almost daily basis with the Army Corps to get the
dredges in the river so that the world will know we
are going to be a competitive, deeper water port,
and that we can compete for traffic all up and
down the East Coast (see related story on page 5).
Due to Homeland
Security/TSA regulations,
you now need a TWIC
card to enter all Port of
Philadelphia terminals!
Call (215) 425-1727 for
more information.
3
JE: These two pieces are linked together in the
sense that if we don’t deepen the river, it’s unlikely
we’ll be able to do the development at the levels
we want. Our potential bidders and our potential
partners know that. And they have made that pretty
clear. They need to know that the deepening project is going forward if they are going to invest millions and millions of dollars in the Southport project.
PW: And then there’s the Food Distribution Center,
which is slightly different, yet no less significant.
JE: On a parallel track, we were able to accomplish
this very exciting and very unique public-private
partnership agreement with the Food Distribution
Center to solve what I had begun to believe was an
intractable problem: the relocation of that facility
and the ability to save those jobs for Pennsylvania.
Through a partnership with (developer) Brian
O’Neill and his team, we were able to secure $150
million from the Commonwealth, to leverage a $240
million project on Essington Avenue, and to create
a return on that investment for the Commonwealth
and the PRPA.
PW: This package is unique in the complexity of
the financial arrangement, isn’t it?
JE: It’s the only time to my knowledge that a project
of this size has been done in this manner, so I think
that’s incredibly exciting to us. This will be a stateof-the-art, refrigerated, USDA-standard facility. It
also gives PRPA the flexibility within the Port space
to pursue other development opportunities so that
we can get to our true goal: growing jobs and
increasing volumes (see related story on page 8).
PW: Aside from these signature projects, what
other strides has PRPA made in 2008?
JE: I am very pleased with the movement we’ve
made on our engineering and budget pieces. We
will soon have a Capital Plan approved by the
board that will allow everybody to know when certain upgrades will be made to our facilities. This
will be based on an analysis that will be conducted
by an outside firm. I think this is very important for
PRPA as we go forward.
PW: Why is this so significant? I know you are very
passionate about this.
JE: What we’re trying to do is bring some rationality as to how we spend dollars. Look, there’s still not
going to be enough dollars to do everything we
need to do. But we will at least have a plan that
will allow us to show all of our partners all of our
plans. Moreover, we can say, yes, things are in
order, and yes, here’s how we evaluate things, and
here’s the criteria that was used . . .
PW: In other words, a sort of “To Do List,” based
on a strategic assessment of our facilities in line
with the dollars allocated . . .
JE: Yes, and it will prevent us from being cherrypicked for specific projects for whatever reason.
This is a very important change in the way PRPA
does business going forward, and my hope is this
will give the Commonwealth a comfort level that
they are not simply throwing money into a project
that may or may not bear fruit.
PW: Let’s talk about the Commonwealth for a
moment. Governor Rendell has been very supportive of the Port of Philadelphia not only in his determination to get the channel deepened, but for his
financial commitment as well.
JE: The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, from the
perspective of Ed Rendell, has been incredibly supportive of the Port of Philadelphia. When you consider we’ve gone from $15 million per year to $35
million per year in basic capital, plus the $150 million for the Food Distribution Center, plus the
money that’s currently supporting the activities sur-
rounding the deepening project—all in, you’ve got
a nearly $300 million commitment to all of these
projects. And we’re not even talking about
upgrades in the pipeline.
PW: The dollars are unprecedented.
John Estey at the September 4,
2008 groundbreaking ceremony for
the new Philadelphia Regional
Produce Market. Also pictured is
Sonny DiCrecchio, Executive
Director of the Produce Market.
JE: In the history of the PRPA, I don’t think we’ve
ever seen this kind of influx of capital. That’s why
we need to do it right. We need to marshal it the
right way. We need to make sure that information
is provided back to the Commonwealth so they can
see that the funds are being used for the purposes
for which they were sent.
PW: Against this backdrop of good news comes
the global downturn and
the economic reality that
the Commonwealth, too,
has been adversely
impacted. As chairman,
obviously, this concerns
you.
JE: Everybody is going to
be hurt by a slowing global economy. Container
volumes are down significantly everywhere. Other
cargo is down as well. I
believe we are a little
insulated from the substantial impacts of these
downturns in part because we’re not a Port the
size of, say, New York. So a marginal downturn in
container traffic might create huge recessionary
pressures on their revenues, but for us, it’s not so
huge an impact.
PW: I read where some businesses are saying this
is a good opportunity to examine how they do business and to look for ways to improve efficiency and
productivity.
JE: Absolutely. The opportunity is here to use these
tough times to become more efficient, so that when
we’re back up in good times, we’ll have systems in
place for a more profitable enterprise. We’re going
to have to redouble our efforts in terms of the
deepening project and expanding Port facilities.
For instance, part of the Southport deal will be to
ensure that we actually get guaranteed container
volume. That will be the key.
PW: Let’s talk a little bit about your management
style. What was the primary lesson you learned
from working with Governor Rendell as his chief of
staff during some pretty volatile times in
Harrisburg?
4
JE: From a political perspective, what I learned
was that if you’re willing to stick to your guns and
not fundamentally compromise your principles—
and if you have people with you who are willing to
fight alongside of you—you can pretty much get
anything done.
PW: But it’s not easy, and sometimes it’s not pretty,
is it?
JE: It’s not an easy process, but I don’t know if I
would have worked in Harrisburg for anyone other
than Ed Rendell. He truly believes that what he is
trying to do from a policy perspective is good for
the people. Not good for Ed Rendell. Not good for
his party, or a caucus, or a member, or an industry
or constituent group. He thinks the stuff he wants
to do is good policy. Period.
News Briefs
Items of Interest in and around the Port
GOVERNOR MINNER HONORED… PRPA was pleased to participate in the
Chilean & American Chamber of Commerce’s 11th Annual “Friend of Chile”
Award Luncheon, held at Philadelphia’s historic Union League on Thursday,
November 20. The honoree at the November 20 event was Delaware Governor
Ruth Ann Minner, who was singled out for her role in promoting trade between
the Republic of Chile and the ports of the Delaware River. Though Delaware’s
Port of Wilmington is a respected competitor with the Port of Philadelphia during the annual Chilean fruit season, the Port of Wilmington is often a strategic
ally of PRPA in issues affecting our regional port industry as a whole, including
issues that affect the importation of Chilean fruit products. PRPA salutes
Governor Minner and wishes her all the best as she moves beyond life in the
Governor’s Office.
Philadelphia’s Union League. LTC Tickner replaced LTC Gwen Baker, the previous commander of the Corps’ Philadelphia District, who is now stationed back
in North Carolina where she has been reunited with her children, as well as
her husband, who recently completed a tour in Afghanistan. PRPA thanks LTC
Baker for her past service, especially for her integral role in advancing the
Delaware River Channel-Deepening Project, and looks forward to now working
with LTC Tickner on that vital project, as well as other initiatives. Welcome
aboard, Lieutenant Colonel Tickner!
PRPA BEGINS CLEAN-UP PROCESS AT TIOGA STREET… In the closing weeks
of 2008, PRPA began the process of clearing the 11.3-acre site immediately
west of the PRPA Port Administration Building in an effort to clean and secure
the vacant property for the safety of the community, as well as to prepare it for
a potential lessee. PRPA work crews, aided by heavy equipment, have already
leveled much of the recently acquired property, including a long-standing,
dilapidated structure. PRPA acknowledges the effective work of its
Maintenance Department as this important task is addressed.
PW: So you went into battle, so to speak, with the
confidence that the Governor had your back.
JE: When you know there aren’t undisclosed
motives, then you have a certain freedom of movement in that space. So you go out there and get it
done. Working with the Governor and the people
he brought to Harrisburg made the experience both
wonderful … and tolerable.
PW: And how did this translate to your staff and
the people you dealt with on a daily basis?
JE: You have to make sure there’s communication
between your senior managers. I tried to do that in
person, not on the phone or by e-mail. I wanted
them to make decisions. I encouraged them to
make decisions, so that meant standing behind
them. I had to make sure they understood that if
they made a decision that turned out to be the
wrong one, I wasn’t going to chop off their heads.
They had to know that I was going to say, “Well,
that was a fine decision, and yes, in retrospect it
looks wrong, so therefore it’s my fault that things
didn’t work out.” That’s what you have to do in
order to empower your staff.
Ambassador of Chile Mariano Fernandez, Delaware Governor and "Friend of
Chile" honoree Ruth Ann Minner, and Chilean American Chamber of Commerce
President Robert Palaima at Philadelphia's Union League on November 20.
PRPA CELEBRATES A CLEANER ENVIRONMENT WITH DELAWARE ESTUARY
GROUP… PRPA sent staff and donated silent auction items to the Partnership
for the Delaware Estuary’s “Experience the Estuary Celebration” held at the
Turbine Hall at the Wharf at Rivertown in Chester, Pennsylvania on Thursday,
October 2. PRPA has a number of active “green” initiatives in place to make
the Port of Philadelphia cleaner and more environmentally responsible, so it
enthusiastically supports the Partnership’s efforts to preserve and safeguard
our region’s most important natural, recreational, cultural and economic
resource: the Delaware Estuary. The Delaware River’s and Bay’s waters are
already healthier and more ecologically diverse than just a few decades ago,
and today’s “green thinking” is helping to make them more “blue” than ever. In
joining with organizations like the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, PRPA
demonstrates that a region needn’t choose between a thriving port system and
clean water.
PW: And you seem to carry those lessons into your
role as PRPA Chairman, as you have an excellent
relationship with PRPA’s senior managers. Thanks
for your time today.
Even with further work needed to be done, this January 15, 2009 view of the
vacant lot behind PRPA's Port Administration Building shows dramatic
improvement from the overgrown, refuse-strewn site the land used to be.
SOUTHPORT UPDATE… Plans to develop a sprawling new container terminal
immediately south of the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal continue to move
forward. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with the active support of PRPA
staff, continues to work to establish a partnership between PRPA and a private
steamship line and/or private equity firm for the construction of the facility. The
chief consultant on the project is DMJM Harris/AECOM with assistance provided by Martin Associates and Public Financial Management. The Request for
Qualifications (RFQ) process was recently completed and the Solicitation for
Proposals (SFP) stage has now begun. Though it is too early to make any
announcements, the Southport Development Team is gratified by the level of
quality interest in the project on the part of the private business community.
JE: My pleasure.
Additional comments by Chairman Estey can be
found throughout this issue of PortWatch. Check
out PRPA’s web site, www.philaport.com, and
future issues of this publication for more information on Chairman Estey and his initiatives. ■
Philadelphia artist Arthur Ostroff displays a copy of the limited edition port print
he recently created for PRPA. A framed copy of the print was donated by
PRPA to the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary to assist the organization in
its ecological efforts.
PRPA WELCOMES NEW ARMY CORPS HEAD… PRPA congratulates Lieutenant
Colonel Thomas J. Tickner, who recently assumed command of the United
States Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District. LTC Tickner was installed
on Wednesday, June 25, at a Change of Command Ceremony held at
17
PRPA is working with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to develop the new
Southport marine terminal at this site along the Delaware River.
Channel-Deepening Project
Advances a Major Step Forward
Some Days Are Just Crazy with Activity
Fall Sees an Extremely Busy Day
at Tioga Marine Terminal
The World Trade
Association of Philadelphia
encourages the maritime
community to participate in
these future WTA events:
February Luncheon Meeting
(topic: Outlook for Global
Commerce Success in 2009),
to be held at Philadelphia's
Sheraton Society Hill Hotel
on Wednesday, February 18.
Annual Fundraiser for
"Autism Speaks," to be held
Wednesday evening,
March 18 at The Cescaphe
Ballroom in Philadelphia's
exciting Northern Liberties
section.
For more information, contact WTA's Executive
Administrator Deborah
Ingravallo at (856) 642-3957
or e-mail the organization at
[email protected]
The Port of Philadelphia is a busy place, and on
specific days one or more of PRPA’s terminals
can be very busy. If we wrote an article every
time a PRPA facility handled a high volume of
activity during a one- or two-day period, we’d
write articles about nothing else. Instead then,
we present this snapshot of a very productive
two-day period at the Tioga Marine Terminal this
past fall. Let it speak for the many other days
last year when our international seaport welcomed the world and its trade to our doorstep.
The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority’s Tioga
Marine Terminal, operated by Delaware River
Stevedores, Inc. (DRS), saw a day of bustling
activity on Thursday, October 30 as port labor at
the facility simultaneously worked three vessels:
the Rickmers Jakarta, the Rickmers Antwerp
and the Rickmers Del Sol. Rickmers Linie
(America), Inc. has regularly called the Tioga
Terminal since January 2008, though mostly one
vessel at a time.
Dennis Latina of DRS explained that “delays,
mostly due to weather conditions, altered
Rickmers’ usual schedule, so that these three
vessels arrived at roughly
the same time, either on
the evening of the 29th or
the morning of the 30th.
But, as we are always
happy to mention, Tioga
has the facilities and the
labor force to handle very
busy days. Three ships at a
time isn’t a problem.”
The Rickmers service at
Tioga includes many ports
from around the world,
including Europe, Asia,
India and the United States.
Activity at the terminal on
October 30 included both
import and export cargoes
moving between many
world ports, said Mr. Latina.
16
Major Participants Sign Critical Project
Partnership Agreement
The three-ship visit
is a good omen, he continued. “We’re on the
verge of the Chilean fruit season, typically the
busiest time for us at Tioga. Projections are very
good for that cargo this season. But these three
Rickmers vessels are a welcome reminder that
Tioga is a busy multifunctional facility that handles all kinds of cargo.”
“There has been much exciting discussion lately
about the future of this Port in the South
Philadelphia area,” said PRPA Executive
Director James T. McDermott, Jr. “But this activity at Tioga indeed reminds us that the Port of
Philadelphia is made up of many terminals and
many specialties. We’re very proud to work with
DRS to keep Tioga Terminal our engine of activity to the north. And, just to be clear, while our
future with containers is bright, we’re in no way
going to leave behind our successful history
with breakbulk cargoes. The labor-intensive vessel activity at Tioga on October 29th and 30th,
which was overwhelmingly breakbulk, is an
excellent example why.” ■
While the Philadelphia maritime industry and its
supporters have worked tirelessly for several
years to advance the Delaware River ChannelDeepening Project, the initiative could only
in the long term, allowing our ports to retain current customers and to attract new cargo.”
The agreement was signed by PRPA Chairman
John H. Estey, PRPA Executive Director James T.
McDermott, Jr., Governor Rendell and assistant
Secretary of the Army John Paul Woodley, Jr.
The agreement allows the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, in partnership with PRPA, to increase
by five feet the current 40-foot depth of the
Delaware River main shipping channel from the
facilities of the Port of Philadelphia to the mouth
of the Delaware Bay, a distance of 102 miles.
The new 45-foot channel depth will allow
Delaware River ports to compete more effectively for cargo, to provide safe passage for vessels,
and to increase jobs and cargo in the region.
Numerous public officials and
maritime industry leaders signed,
or celebrated the signing of, the
Project Participation Agreement
between PRPA and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers on Monday,
June 23. Among those attending
the historic signing ceremony were
PRPA Executive Director James T.
McDermott, Jr. (seated, third from
left), PRPA Chairman John
H. Estey (fifth from left),
Pennsylvania Governor Edward
G. Rendell (sixth from left), and
U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
Arlen Specter (far right).
The Tioga Marine Terminal servicing the Rickmers
Jakarta, the Rickmers Antwerp and the Rickmers
Del Sol (all in foreground) on Thursday, October 30.
The terminal also saw some U.S. Naval vessel
activity (background of photo) that day.
5
advance so far until one critical step was
accomplished. On Monday, June 23, that step
finally occurred. On an otherwise normal
Monday morning at the Packer Avenue Marine
Terminal, under overcast skies, the Philadelphia
Regional Port Authority (PRPA) and the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers signed the historic
Project Partnership Agreement to finally make
the $379 million, 45-foot deepening project
a reality.
At the ceremony to commemorate the event,
Pennsylvania Governor Edward G.
Rendell hailed the signing of the
agreement. “I consider this to be
the most important project in the
history of the Port of Philadelphia,”
said Governor Rendell. “Today is a
major milestone for a project that
will shape the future of maritime
commerce on the Delaware River.
With this agreement, we can say
to every hard-working man and
woman in this region that the jobs
on those piers are secure, and that
more jobs are on the way. This
project will make all of the
Delaware River ports more viable
“I am proud to represent the Army as we sign
the Project Partnership Agreement,” said John
Paul Woodley, Jr., Assistant Secretary of the
Army (Civil Works). “It has been a long time
coming. Some 25 years have passed since
Congress first authorized a study of the channel,
and 16 years since Congress authorized construction. We look forward to moving this project
to the next phase.”
Governor Rendell, Secretary Woodley and the
officials of the Port of Philadelphia were joined
at the event by U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
Arlen Specter and Pennsylvania State
Representatives Robert Brady, Chaka Fattah and
Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell
discusses the vital importance of a deeper
Delaware River at the June 23 event.
Channel-Deepening Project
Advances a Major Step Forward
Some Days Are Just Crazy with Activity
Fall Sees an Extremely Busy Day
at Tioga Marine Terminal
The World Trade
Association of Philadelphia
encourages the maritime
community to participate in
these future WTA events:
February Luncheon Meeting
(topic: Outlook for Global
Commerce Success in 2009),
to be held at Philadelphia's
Sheraton Society Hill Hotel
on Wednesday, February 18.
Annual Fundraiser for
"Autism Speaks," to be held
Wednesday evening,
March 18 at The Cescaphe
Ballroom in Philadelphia's
exciting Northern Liberties
section.
For more information, contact WTA's Executive
Administrator Deborah
Ingravallo at (856) 642-3957
or e-mail the organization at
[email protected]
The Port of Philadelphia is a busy place, and on
specific days one or more of PRPA’s terminals
can be very busy. If we wrote an article every
time a PRPA facility handled a high volume of
activity during a one- or two-day period, we’d
write articles about nothing else. Instead then,
we present this snapshot of a very productive
two-day period at the Tioga Marine Terminal this
past fall. Let it speak for the many other days
last year when our international seaport welcomed the world and its trade to our doorstep.
The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority’s Tioga
Marine Terminal, operated by Delaware River
Stevedores, Inc. (DRS), saw a day of bustling
activity on Thursday, October 30 as port labor at
the facility simultaneously worked three vessels:
the Rickmers Jakarta, the Rickmers Antwerp
and the Rickmers Del Sol. Rickmers Linie
(America), Inc. has regularly called the Tioga
Terminal since January 2008, though mostly one
vessel at a time.
Dennis Latina of DRS explained that “delays,
mostly due to weather conditions, altered
Rickmers’ usual schedule, so that these three
vessels arrived at roughly
the same time, either on
the evening of the 29th or
the morning of the 30th.
But, as we are always
happy to mention, Tioga
has the facilities and the
labor force to handle very
busy days. Three ships at a
time isn’t a problem.”
The Rickmers service at
Tioga includes many ports
from around the world,
including Europe, Asia,
India and the United States.
Activity at the terminal on
October 30 included both
import and export cargoes
moving between many
world ports, said Mr. Latina.
16
Major Participants Sign Critical Project
Partnership Agreement
The three-ship visit
is a good omen, he continued. “We’re on the
verge of the Chilean fruit season, typically the
busiest time for us at Tioga. Projections are very
good for that cargo this season. But these three
Rickmers vessels are a welcome reminder that
Tioga is a busy multifunctional facility that handles all kinds of cargo.”
“There has been much exciting discussion lately
about the future of this Port in the South
Philadelphia area,” said PRPA Executive
Director James T. McDermott, Jr. “But this activity at Tioga indeed reminds us that the Port of
Philadelphia is made up of many terminals and
many specialties. We’re very proud to work with
DRS to keep Tioga Terminal our engine of activity to the north. And, just to be clear, while our
future with containers is bright, we’re in no way
going to leave behind our successful history
with breakbulk cargoes. The labor-intensive vessel activity at Tioga on October 29th and 30th,
which was overwhelmingly breakbulk, is an
excellent example why.” ■
While the Philadelphia maritime industry and its
supporters have worked tirelessly for several
years to advance the Delaware River ChannelDeepening Project, the initiative could only
in the long term, allowing our ports to retain current customers and to attract new cargo.”
The agreement was signed by PRPA Chairman
John H. Estey, PRPA Executive Director James T.
McDermott, Jr., Governor Rendell and assistant
Secretary of the Army John Paul Woodley, Jr.
The agreement allows the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, in partnership with PRPA, to increase
by five feet the current 40-foot depth of the
Delaware River main shipping channel from the
facilities of the Port of Philadelphia to the mouth
of the Delaware Bay, a distance of 102 miles.
The new 45-foot channel depth will allow
Delaware River ports to compete more effectively for cargo, to provide safe passage for vessels,
and to increase jobs and cargo in the region.
Numerous public officials and
maritime industry leaders signed,
or celebrated the signing of, the
Project Participation Agreement
between PRPA and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers on Monday,
June 23. Among those attending
the historic signing ceremony were
PRPA Executive Director James T.
McDermott, Jr. (seated, third from
left), PRPA Chairman John
H. Estey (fifth from left),
Pennsylvania Governor Edward
G. Rendell (sixth from left), and
U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
Arlen Specter (far right).
The Tioga Marine Terminal servicing the Rickmers
Jakarta, the Rickmers Antwerp and the Rickmers
Del Sol (all in foreground) on Thursday, October 30.
The terminal also saw some U.S. Naval vessel
activity (background of photo) that day.
5
advance so far until one critical step was
accomplished. On Monday, June 23, that step
finally occurred. On an otherwise normal
Monday morning at the Packer Avenue Marine
Terminal, under overcast skies, the Philadelphia
Regional Port Authority (PRPA) and the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers signed the historic
Project Partnership Agreement to finally make
the $379 million, 45-foot deepening project
a reality.
At the ceremony to commemorate the event,
Pennsylvania Governor Edward G.
Rendell hailed the signing of the
agreement. “I consider this to be
the most important project in the
history of the Port of Philadelphia,”
said Governor Rendell. “Today is a
major milestone for a project that
will shape the future of maritime
commerce on the Delaware River.
With this agreement, we can say
to every hard-working man and
woman in this region that the jobs
on those piers are secure, and that
more jobs are on the way. This
project will make all of the
Delaware River ports more viable
“I am proud to represent the Army as we sign
the Project Partnership Agreement,” said John
Paul Woodley, Jr., Assistant Secretary of the
Army (Civil Works). “It has been a long time
coming. Some 25 years have passed since
Congress first authorized a study of the channel,
and 16 years since Congress authorized construction. We look forward to moving this project
to the next phase.”
Governor Rendell, Secretary Woodley and the
officials of the Port of Philadelphia were joined
at the event by U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
Arlen Specter and Pennsylvania State
Representatives Robert Brady, Chaka Fattah and
Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell
discusses the vital importance of a deeper
Delaware River at the June 23 event.
William Keller, all major supporters of the project over the
years.
“This agreement marks a very
significant step for the Port of
Philadelphia and the region,”
said Senator Specter. “I’ve
worked on the matter since
1991, and it has been a brassknuckle affair with thousands
of jobs and billions of dollars at
stake. Deepening the Delaware
River is indispensable to
remaining competitive with other deep-water
ports, and this is a great day for our region.”
PRPA Chairman John Estey put it succinctly that
day: “At 40 feet, the current depth of the channel
is too shallow for many of the world’s larger
container vessels, putting Delaware River ports
at a competitive disadvantage among the U.S.
East Coast ports,” he said. “A 45-foot shipping
channel allows the region to compete on the
same stage as other East Coast ports, attracting
more cargo and securing our future viability.”
Port workers express their
thanks to three longtime champions
of the channel-deepening project.
U.S. Army Corps Lieutenant Colonel Gwen Baker
was fortunate enough to witness the signing of
the PPA just prior to turning over command of
the Corps’ North Atlantic Division to her successor later that month. “This partnership agreement signing is the culmination of decades of
hard work, patience and dedication to a project
of major significance for both the
Delaware Valley
and the United
States of
America,” said Lt.
Col. Baker. “The
Corps of
Engineers stands
ready to deliver an
economically,
environmentally
and technically
sound project to
the region and the
nation.”
The Delaware
River ChannelDeepening Project
will ultimately require the removal of 26 million
cubic yards of dredged material, which includes
18.6 million cubic yards of sand, clay and silt
from the upriver portion of the project. The
6
final customer as efficiently as possible. As officials at the Port of Philadelphia often state, the
Port is proud of its own facilities and capabilities, but a huge reason for the Port’s success
with perishables is the close proximity of excellent private cold storage businesses like
Preferred Freezer. Frozen cargoes that arrive at
the Port and ultimately make their way through
Preferred Freezer’s Philadelphia facility are yet
another example of the numerous public/private partnerships that make the Port of
Philadelphia a success.
The Governor and his men in the field: PRPA Deputy
Executive Director John F. Dempsey, Governor
Rendell and PRPA Senior Deputy Executive
Director Robert C. Blackburn at Packer
Avenue Marine Terminal on June 23.
remaining 7.4 million cubic yards of sand from
the Delaware Bay will be used for wetland creation and beach nourishment. Also, 77,000 cubic
yards of rock will be removed.
The Army Corps will construct, operate and
maintain the project in an environmentally sustainable manner. Extensive testing has been
done to confirm that the dredged material is
safe, and the Corps will continue to monitor
water quality throughout the project.
Posing with the company's
familiar polar bear mascot is
(at left) General Manager James
Simcox and Sales Manager
Marcello Pisapia.
Sales Manager Marcello Pisapia is enthusiastic
about his company’s relationship with the Port
of Philadelphia. “Providing quality service
throughout the cold chain for imported perishable commodities is the responsibility of everyone: the port of entry, the cold storage company and the local trucking companies,” said Mr.
Pisapia. “Located less than a mile from the
Packer Avenue Marine Terminal makes us partners in offering and providing our mutual customers and prospects the quality service they
expect. We are proud to be in Philadelphia and I
am confident, judging from the success we’ve
encountered thus far, that working with the Port
of Philadelphia will continue to benefit our mutual and independent interests.”
Mr. Pisapia was
also quick to
mention a new
program his company is excited
about:
Preferred’s Pool
Consolidation
Program. “We
are now offering
LTL services
through a pool
program throughout the Northeast
for anyone storing product in our
freezer. The program began in early November
and has been a very successful value-added
service provided to our customers.”
As well as delivering numerous economic benefits to the Port of Philadelphia and the tri-state
region, the deepening project will bring substantial secondary benefits to the Delaware Bay
ecosystem. Placing dredged sand on Delaware’s
Kelly Island and New Jersey’s Egg Island Point,
for example, will help to promote horseshoe
crab habitats through wetland restoration, as
well as protect back-bay wetlands behind
Delaware’s Broadkill Beach via a beach renourishment project. The Corps has pursued beneficial use of dredged material projects like these
across the nation and will continue to look for
more opportunities in our region.
Numerous administrative requirements—involving budgets, schedules and coordination
between the three states the project encompasses—are currently being addressed in the
wake of the Project Partnership Agreement, so
the first shovel hasn’t yet gone into the water
and probably won’t do so until mid-to-late 2009
at the earliest. But with the June signing of the
agreement, the Delaware River ChannelDeepening Project has become something it
wasn’t before: an official project that is now
moving forward. ■
Port officials are optimistic not only about
Preferred Freezer’s continued role in supporting
existing cargoes at the Port like Australian beef,
but also the possibility of it assisting the Port in
the expansion of the types of cargo it handles.
For example, Preferred Freezer Services has
longtime experience and an excellent reputation
in the handling of frozen seafood products from
15
around the world. At the moment, these seafood
cargoes move through Preferred Freezer facilities in other parts of the country and the ports
that correspond to those facilities, but port officials here have other ideas.
An efficient, organized racking system is just
one of Preferred Freezer's many assets.
“For example, we want to leverage Preferred
Freezers’ expertise in seafood storage and
transportation in order to bring more of this
valuable commodity to the Port of Philadelphia,”
said PRPA Senior Marketing Representative
Dominic O’Brien. “Delaware River ports are
already number one in the U.S.A. for perishable
meat products, and working together with
Preferred, we can become a leading seafood
port complex as well.”
For now, PRPA marketing officials work closely
with Preferred Freezer Services managers, touting the company’s capabilities to potential shippers of frozen products, just as they do with
other private firms who work in conjunction with
the Port.
“I have to say, it’s a good sales pitch that can
get results,” said Mr. O’Brien. “The combination
of a proactive port authority with the strong support of its state government, coupled with an
aggressive, well-established private company
like Preferred Freezer … shippers like that synergy, and they often take the time to at least listen to what we have to say.”
To learn more about Preferred Freezer
Services, visit the company’s web site at
www.preferredfreezer.com. ■
Let’s Tell Washington That New Infrastructure Is
an Investment None Can Seriously Criticize
A Message from James T. McDermott, Jr., Executive Director
of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority
Businesses that Use the Port of Philadelphia
This Issue:
Preferred Freezer Services is not your ordinary
cold storage facility. Often called “the oasis in
the desert” by its managers, it is a nationwide
network of state-of-the-art facilities strategically
located throughout the country offering convenience and efficiency to its customers. It is for
this reason that
Preferred
Freezer is
ranked the 6thlargest cold
storage company in North
America and
8th in the
world.
Preferred Freezer Services'
spacious and modern
Philadelphia facility.
Founded in
1989 by John J.
Galiher, the
first Preferred
Freezer
Services facility opened in
1989 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, with just 26
employees. Today, Preferred has more than
twenty facilities nationwide with hundreds of
full-time employees. In fact, 70% of the imported
meat and fish cargoes entering the U.S. from
around the world at some point moves through a
Preferred Freezer facility.
And the company is still growing. With freezer
facilities coming on line in China and Vietnam in
the near future, Preferred Freezer Services is
poised to further cement its global reach and
international reputation.
14
John Galiher’s unique blend of experience—
including engineering, construction, sales and
management—was key to the company’s success. Prior to founding Preferred, Mr. Galiher
was the Executive Vice President and cofounder
of Condyne Freezers, Inc., and on the Board for
its parent company, Condyne, Inc. You may recognize Preferred Freezer Services by its signature polar bear logo. Life-size polar bear mockups often accompany Preferred Freezer
Services personnel at trade shows and other
venues across the nation, making it easy for
customers to recognize the company’s exhibition booth.
Philadelphia Regional Port
Authority Executive Director
James T. McDermott, Jr.
Preferred Freezer’s corporate headquarters is
located in Newark, New Jersey, also home to
the company’s largest facility. Recognizing the
active need of cold storage in the Philadelphia
area, fueled in large part by imported perishable
cargoes entering the U.S. via the Port of
Philadelphia, Preferred Freezer Services
opened the doors of its Philadelphia location in
March 2007.
Located at 3101 S. 3rd Street, not far from
PRPA’s Packer Avenue Marine Terminal,
Preferred’s Philadelphia facility is a full-service
operation that offers freezer capacity; cooler
capacity; a refrigerated loading/unloading dock;
on-site USDA inspectors; designated inspection
areas for USDA, FDA and USDC personnel; computerized inventory management: and many value-added services, including repacking, weighing, labeling, etc.
Beef from Australia, which regularly arrives at
the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal via refrigerated vessels, is a major product handled by
Preferred Freezer Services. The company is an
integral part of the supply chain, expertly processing the product once it leaves the vessel,
facilitating its inspection, and getting it to the
The Journal of
Commerce (JOC)
recently invited Mr.
McDermott, as well
as other port directors in the United
States, to provide
some brief thoughts
on the serious issues
the maritime industry
will be facing in 2009
and beyond. All the
comments were compiled in the JOC’s
annual “Shipping
Review and Outlook”
issue. For those
PortWatch readers
who didn’t see the recently published magazine,
Mr. McDermott’s statement is reproduced here.
As a new administration assumes power in
Washington, many activities and initiatives will
be undertaken to address our nation’s financial
crisis and, just as importantly, the global economic downturn. Amid all the emergency loans,
stimulus programs and international negotiations, our leaders must not neglect the vital
asset that is our nation’s transportation infrastructure. As important as strong banks and
financial institutions are to our nation, so too are
modern, well-maintained roads, highways,
bridges and rail connections. The efficient
movement of goods through our ports, over our
highways and across country via rail is just as
critical to our economic recovery as the availability of loans, the bolstering of our manufac-
The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA)
is an independent agency of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania charged with the management,
maintenance, marketing and promotion of publicly owned port facilities along the Delaware River
in Philadelphia, as well as strategic planning
throughout the port district. PRPA works with its
terminal operators to modernize, expand and
improve its facilities, and to market those facilities to prospective port users. Port cargoes and
the activities they generate are responsible for
thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the
Philadelphia area and throughout Pennsylvania.
7
turing industries, and other essential components of our economy. Washington must do all it
can to ensure that the dislocation and decline of
trade due to the current crisis is only temporary,
and including substantial infrastructure improvements to our economic recovery plan will go a
long way in accomplishing this.
Along with securing our future for decades to
come, addressing infrastructure concerns will
also deliver a vital short-term gain, as thousands
of Americans will immediately be put to work in
making these needed improvements. Further,
while it is understandable that the incoming
executive branch and new Congress would be
sympathetic to the concept of “make work” initiatives to get ordinary Americans and the U.S.
economy back on their feet, undertaking
enhancements and upgrades to our transportation infrastructure will provide the significant
level of work needed to make a difference, but
with little or none of the attendant criticism such
spending often engenders. New infrastructure,
after all, is a solid investment that none can
seriously criticize.
Ports are our gateways to the world and welcoming stations when the world comes to us,
and I usually use this annual message to remind
our many constituents of ports’ vital role in our
economy. But ports heavily rely on their surrounding infrastructure, as does every American
city and community; and it’s our nation’s infrastructure that needs us to argue for it at this
moment in history and with more fanfare than
ever before. ■
Contact Information
John H. Estey, Esq.
Our main headquarters: Philadelphia
Regional Port Authority Administration
Building, 3460 N. Delaware Avenue,
2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19134.
PRPA’s main telephone number is
(215) 426-2600, and the main fax number is (215) 426-6800. Comprehensive
information about PRPA’s facilities,
services and organization is available
at www.philaport.com.
James T. McDermott, Jr.
Chairman
Executive Director
Robert C. Blackburn
Senior Deputy Executive Director
John F. Dempsey
Deputy Executive Director
Sean E. Mahoney
Director of Marketing
Looking Beyond Handling Fruit at the Port
Seaport Museum Gets a Refresher on the Port
PRPA Takes Active Role in
Establishment of New
Philadelphia Produce Market
Attending the groundbreaking
ceremony for the new Philadelphia
Produce Center on Thursday,
September 4 were PRPA
Executive Director James T.
McDermott, Jr. (far left); PRPA
Chairman John H. Estey (fourth
from left); Pennsylvania State
Senator Vincent J. Fumo (fifth
from left); Philadelphia Mayor
Michael Nutter (6th from left);
and many Philadelphia produce
industry and real estate development figures central to the project.
Thanks to a public/private partnership, the
Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA), the
Philadelphia Regional Produce Market and
Essington Avenue Partners II (a development affiliate of O’Neill Properties) announced on Thursday,
September 4 that the Philadelphia Produce Market,
a mainstay of Philadelphia’s economic life for more
than a hundred years, will relocate to Essington
Avenue in southwest Philadelphia. This relocation
will retain 1,468 current jobs, create 375 new
jobs, and enable future expansion plans for the
Produce Market.
Avenue site as the best alternative for all parties
involved in the city’s produce trade.
“This public/private partnership will preserve the
Produce Market right where it belongs—in
Philadelphia,” said Pennsylvania Governor Edward
G. Rendell in a statement. “Without room for
expansion and new, modern facilities, the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania risked losing this
vital operation, and the vendors faced the sad reality that they would be forced to break up a South
Philadelphia landmark. Instead, through the concerted efforts of the City of Philadelphia, the office
of State
Senator
Vincent Fumo,
the
Philadelphia
Regional Port
Authority, the
Philadelphia
Industrial
Development
Corporation
and many
individuals,
the Produce
Market will be
able to grow
and thrive
while adding
375 new highpaying jobs for working families and millions of
dollars to the local and state economies.”
Without the agreement, Philadelphia and
Pennsylvania were at risk of losing what is considered an historic and economic regional staple.
Several years ago, the Produce Market and the
state of New Jersey were in advanced discussions
to relocate the market. This current arrangement
ensures that the Produce Market will stay in
Philadelphia for the foreseeable future.
As reported in previous issues of PortWatch, other
locations in Philadelphia were considered and
even announced for the new produce center as
part of an aggressive response to out-of-state
interests trying to attract the new center away
from the city of its birth. That aggressive response,
however, ultimately identified the Essington
8
The total development cost of the project is $218.5
million. The Commonwealth is releasing $152.5 million to PRPA to support the project’s development
and relocation. PRPA will purchase 63 acres, build
a 667,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art distribution
facility, and will sign a 40-year lease enabling the
relocation. The market vendors who will utilize the
facility will repay 100% of the component grants
and loans over the life of the 40-year lease.
According to an analysis conducted by Econsult, it
is estimated that the direct and indirect economic
benefit to the region and tax revenues to the City
of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth will exceed
more than $10.8 billion over the life of the 40-year
lease. “The new Produce Market will provide tremendous benefit to the local and state economies,
as well as continue to be a major hub for fresh
produce imported and exported through the Port
of Philadelphia,” said John H. Estey, Chairman
of PRPA.
PRPA Community Relations
Liaison Tummona Fisher (far left)
and Marketing Representative
Franklin Camp (far right) welcomed board members, staff and
friends of Philadelphia's
Independence Seaport Museum
(ISM) to the Port of Philadelphia
on Wednesday, October 8. Taking
part in the visit that day were
ISM President Lori Dillard Rech
(second from left) and ILA Local
1291 President Boise Butler (tenth
from left), who is both an ISM
and PRPA Board member.
James T. McDermott, Jr., Executive Director of
PRPA, said, “Our agency is extremely pleased to
be a major partner in this exciting economic development project. Retaining this important regional
asset is a great accomplishment. We look forward
to a productive and rewarding relationship with
the new Produce Market.”
Philadelphia’s
Independence
Seaport Museum
(ISM) does an
excellent job chronicling and promoting
Philadelphia’s working waterfront, and
occasionally
requests an update
on port activities so
it can continue that
important mission
with the very latest
information.
Facilitated by
International
Longshoremen’s
Association (ILA)
Local 1291 President and PRPA Board Member
Boise Butler, who is also an ISM Board Member,
the most recent update took place on Wednesday,
October 8.
The day started with a comprehensive presentation to ISM board and staff members in PRPA’s
conference room. The presentation included an
overview of PRPA’s current activities, statistical
data and a look at PRPA’s future plans. PRPA
Community Affairs Liaison Tummona Fisher and
PRPA Marketing Representative Franklin Camp
gave the presentation, and Ms. Fisher then conducted a port tour.
The tour included stops at Tioga Marine Terminal,
Packer Avenue Marine Terminal and Piers 122/124.
Special thanks go to Mike McCaffery of Greenwich
Terminals, who gave a detailed presentation to the
ISM board and staff at Packer Avenue Marine terminal, and members of the ILA, who also met with
the group during the tour.
Following the various presentations and the tour,
ISM had a chance to return the favor and conducted a guided tour of the museum’s exhibits for Ms.
Fisher and several of the day’s participants. A
highlight for the group was the exhibit “Black
Hands, Blue Seas,” a touring exhibit that tells
untold stories of the African-American experience
in U.S. maritime history. ISM has expanded the
exhibit to include special components on
Philadelphia’s working waterfront. Mr. Butler’s
waterfront history is prominently featured in the
expanded exhibit.
“The staff and I at ISM appreciate all of the time
you took to make our tour of the Port such a fantastic experience,” said Lori Dillard Rech, ISM’s
President, to Ms. Fisher that day. “We learned so
much about the importance of the Port in
Philadelphia’s economic and day-to-day life. In the
future, we hope to continue spreading the word
about the Port and to generate greater appreciation and support for your operations.”
To learn more about the Independence
Seaport Museum, visit the museum’s Web site
at www.phillyseaport.org. ■
The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority
participated in the 97th Annual American
Association of Port Authorities (AAPA)
Annual Convention, hosted by the Port of
Anchorage, Alaska from September 21 to 25,
2008. A variety of common challenges facing
today's ports were discussed during the meeting, including port security, dredging issues
and funding. Here PRPA Director of
Communications and outgoing AAPA Public
Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Menta
discusses port public relations challenges during
the convention's industry awards luncheon on
Wednesday, September 24.
The Produce Market has deep roots and historic
significance for Philadelphia. Produce trading goes
back to the 1600s on Dock Street at the famed
Head House Square. By the early 1800s, the produce industry had carved out an area that wholesalers and farmers would go to exclusively on
Dock Street. It was the perfect area of the city
to buy and trade all types of product due to the
close proximity of the Port and the newly extended
rail lines.
13
Delaware River Port Agencies Take Further
Steps to “Green” Our Maritime Facilities
The Projects Committee of the Delaware River Port
Authority (DRPA) on December 12 took the next
steps toward “greening” our regional ports by
approving the selection of Weston Solutions of
West Chester, Pennsylvania to develop a comprehensive Green Ports Initiative for DRPA, the South
Jersey Port Corporation (SJPC) and the
Philadelphia Regional Port Authority
(PRPA). The three agencies worked
together to select the consultant.
The contract with Weston, for
approximately $500,000, is expected to
be approved by the full DRPA board in
early 2009. If approved, Weston will
review operations at DRPA, SJPC and PRPA facilities in order to recommend short-term and longterm alternatives for making port and transportation operations more environmentally friendly.
“Greening” solutions that may be explored include
energy/water conservation; the use of electric or
alternative fuel vehicles and equipment; renewable
sources of energy (including solar and wind); new
technologies and innovations in logistics process-
es (including traffic management controls and congestion mitigation techniques); and “green” buildings and facilities.
The Green Ports Initiative, formally announced by
the three agencies in May (see issue #25 of
PortWatch, viewable on PRPA’s Web
site), will assist the agencies in creating
a cooperative approach in the development of environmental programs and
projects aimed at reducing or neutralizing the impact of port operations
upon the environment and the
surrounding community.
“Through this Green Ports Initiative, we hope to
establish a framework of innovative and costeffective alternatives that each port can consider
to reduce harmful environmental impacts,” said
DRPA Chairman Designee and PRPA Chairman
John H. Estey.
Visions of the future: Images of
the dynamic new Philadelphia
Produce Center were displayed at
the September 4 groundbreaking
ceremony for the new facility.
PortWatch will continue to monitor and report on
the progress of our regional port system’s Green
Ports Initiative. ■
The Produce Market, also known as the
Philadelphia Regional Produce Market, is among
the largest produce markets in the United States
and supplies food as far north as Canada and as
far south as the Carolinas, with its primary focus
being serving the needs of the Greater
Philadelphia region. The Produce Market also has
a strong outreach and charity mission. More than
one million pounds of food per year are donated to
homeless shelters, schools in need, and non-profit
organizations like Philabundance, the region’s largest hunger relief organization which provides food
to approximately 65,000 people per week.
Port Moves a Cargo That Will
Eventually Move People
e Tioga
ere took over th
ph
os
m
at
y
or
at
t 18, as PRPA
A celebr
Monday, Augus
on
al
in
ores
rm
Te
e
Marin
e River Steved
erator Delawar
rail
op
er
al
ut
in
m
rm
m
te
co
d
:
an
o to the Port
rg
ca
w
antr
ne
a
ic
a’s publ
welcomed
e by Philadelphi
us
r
fo
ia
ed
an
in
lv
st
sy
cars de
ern Penn
PTA (Southeast
sit authority, SE
exact).
be
to
Authority,
, Ltd.,
Transportation
stics Company
gi
Lo
ai
nd
yu
H
by
d
re
rg
s Hambu (with
Manufactu
rd the Rickmer
oa
ab
ns
ed
er
liv
and de
tem and Suntra
by Hyundai Ro
t
to
or
ed
pp
ct
su
pe
s
ic
ex
st
logi
il car is
c.), this first ra
In
om
l,
fr
na
a
io
hi
at
lp
rn
de
te
ila
In
Ph
any to arrive in
be the first of m
ars. ■
ye
l
ra
ve
se
xt
e ne
Korea during th
Paul Giordano
of Giordano
Produce, Jimmy
Storey of
Quaker City
Produce, and
John Vena of
John Vena
Produce all
have businesses
at the Produce
Market that
extend more
than four generations back with
grandfathers or
great-grandfathers starting
the family business down on Dock Street in the
late 1800s and early 1900s. “Many of the businesses at the market are small family-owned businesses that have been in continuous operation for several generations,” says John Vena. “My family’s
business was started by my grandfather down on
Dock Street in 1919, and today my son Daniel is
representing the 4th generation.”
Want to add a name
or two to our
PortWatch mailing list?
Contact PRPA’s
Communications
Department at
(215) 426-2600.
“Philabundance is grateful for the
support from the Philadelphia
Regional Produce Market and the
year-round donations,” said Bill
Clark, President and Executive
Director of Philabundance. “The
Market is responsible for supplying the variety of produce donations our associated agencies
require to put nutritious food on
the table for the 900,000 people in
need in the Delaware Valley.”
Charity, public access and educational tours will continue to be
an ongoing and central part of
the spirit of the new market.
The planned 667,000-square-foot,
state-of-the-art facility will be
12
9
nearly twice the size of the current facility located
in the vicinity of the Philadelphia sports complex,
and will be the first of its kind in the United States
with a 100% fully refrigerated facility throughout
the entire building. The new facility will prevent the
“cold chain” from breaking as perishables are
moved from truck transport to loading docks to
cold storage, and vice versa. The building will be
constructed of steel, concrete and insulated metal
panels five inches thick to maintain the required
refrigeration. The new facility will feature 228
enclosed and fully refrigerated 50-foot-wide dock
areas, 40-foot ceiling heights, a skylight running
the length and width of the building to provide natural lighting, a central walking concourse open to
the public, second-floor office space with secure
access, ten entrances to the building and one main
entrance for the public. The project also includes
an 18,000-square-foot auxiliary building for recycling pallets and food.
“Our new Philadelphia facilities will enable the
Produce Market to compete and win in the global
economy,” said Sonny DiCrecchio, Executive
Director of the Philadelphia Regional Produce
Market. “We believe that this facility will be without equal, and as a result, we will be able to grow
our business, add new jobs, attract new distribution opportunities, and enable Philadelphia to set
the worldwide standard for best practices in the
food distribution industry. Less than five minutes
from three major interstates—Interstate 95, 476
and 76—as well as Philadelphia International
Airport, this new location will enhance strategic
distribution for all critical transportation methods,
including trucking, air freight, rail and ship.”
Thirty-two vendors will relocate into the 68 new
units comprising the facility. Each unit is 30 feet
wide and 140 feet long, and each vendor will have
independent access and control of its own refrig-
Under a tent at the construction site for the new center,
PRPA Chairman John Estey discusses the importance of
Philadelphia's produce business at the September 4 event.
eration. This will enable customized settings,
adjustments due to seasonality, and the
flexibility to distribute multiple types of food from
a single facility.
The first phase of construction began shortly after
the September announcement, and completion is
expected within two years. O’Neill Properties
reports that, like many of its development projects,
this one is located on a brownfield site that will be
revitalized. The site was a former conglomeration
of five junk and scrap yards. Essington Avenue
Partners II (EAPII) has entered into a voluntary
agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection with remedial activities,
including the removal of all surface debris including 400,000 tires, auto carcasses, and old trailers
and busses. EAPII has an approved clean-up plan
PRPA Chairman John H. Estey
and new PRPA board member
Rina Cutler during a recent
visit to the Packer Avenue
Marine Terminal.
10
Ms. Cutler was named Deputy Mayor
for Transportation and Utilities by
Mayor Nutter in March 2008. She is
responsible for the coordination and
oversight of all transportation functions in the City of Philadelphia. In
addition, Ms. Cutler oversees the
operations of a variety of city agencies, including the Streets
Department, the Water Department,
Philadelphia International Airport and
the Philadelphia Gas Works. She also
represents the city’s interests with a
variety of transportation agencies,
including SEPTA, the Parking
Authority, the Delaware Valley
Regional Planning Commission and now the
Philadelphia Regional Port authority.
Prior to returning to Philadelphia to work in Mayor
Nutter’s administration, Ms. Cutler had been the
Deputy Secretary for Administration at the
New Sonar System to Aid PRPA and
First Responders
“This is an historic project for many reasons,” said
PRPA Senior Deputy Executive Director Robert C.
Blackburn, whose own waterfront career began in
the imported produce business many years ago.
“First, it secures the future health of this historic
Philadelphia institution, which is no small accomplishment. But, secondly, it represents the first
major project PRPA is undertaking out of the immediate port area. Our role in this project demonstrates the confidence of Governor Rendell and the
regional business community in our ability to bring
certain transactional skills and economic development knowledge to the process in a positive way.
It’s the beginning of a new era for the Philadelphia
Regional Port Authority.” ■
Transportation Expert Rina Cutler
Joins PRPA Board of Directors
PRPA welcomes Rina Cutler, Deputy
Mayor for Transportation and Utilities
for the City of Philadelphia, to the
PRPA Board of Directors.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter
appointed Ms. Cutler to the PRPA
Board in June.
Keeping a Better Eye on the Port
for the remainder of the site in preparation for the
development of the new facility.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
(PennDoT) since 2003. She was responsible for
managing resources, monitoring spending and
ensuring that management and productivity controls were in place to maximize departmental operations. In addition, Ms. Cutler served for almost
two years as the Acting District Executive in
PennDoT for the five-county Philadelphia region,
which was responsible for the areas of design,
construction and maintenance responsibilities for
state-owned roads and bridges. In this capacity,
Ms. Cutler also focused her attention on project
delivery, context-sensitive design and smart transportation principles.
Members of the Pennsylvania
State Police, New Jersey State
Police and the Philadelphia Police
Department Marine Unit examine a new sonar unit at PRPA
headquarters in July. PRPA
Director of Operations James
Walsh (second from right)
coordinated the five-day training
session for the new equipment.
As part of the
Fiscal Year
2005 Port
Security Grant
Program, the
Philadelphia
Regional Port
Authority
(PRPA) was
able to purchase a portable sonar
system to be
utilized by
PRPA and our
region’s designated first
responders,
those agencies that typically arrive first on the
scene of a crisis at the waterfront.
In July, PRPA hosted a five-day training course to
familiarize those first responders, including the
Philadelphia Police Marine Unit, the Pennsylvania
State Police and the New Jersey State Police, on
the use and maintenance of this new equipment.
Following the training sessions, the equipment was
left in the possession of the Philadelphia Police
Marine Unit, who will be the primary custodians of
the equipment.
The new sonar equipment will permit its users to
track suspicious movements underwater and will
be especially useful during times of poor visibility.
Her prior experience also includes positions as
Transportation Commissioner for the City of Boston,
the Director of Parking and Traffic for the City of
San Francisco, and the Executive Director of the
Philadelphia Parking Authority.
It will add a vital level of security to the Port’s
waterside access. The equipment will also be useful in locating vehicles and other objects that may
accidentally enter the river and sink.
To ensure the future efficient operation of the
equipment, PRPA is creating an interagency agreement to address maintenance and repair issues
related to the equipment.
In addition, in the near future PRPA plans on leveraging funds from the same grant cycle to purchase
a second sonar unit to be utilized primarily by the
Pennsylvania State Police.
Well attended and informative, the five-day training program was a big success, as well as an
opportunity for the area’s first responders to network and compare general capabilities.
PRPA Director of Operations James Walsh and his
Operations department staff coordinated and oversaw the training program, the classroom portion of
which was held in the PRPA large conference
room. Mr. Walsh was quick to thank those who
helped him during the course of the five days.
“The training would not have been nearly as successful had it not been for the cooperation of
Lieutenant Andy Napoli and the rest of the
Philadelphia Marine Unit,” said Mr. Walsh. “The
Marine Unit not only played an active part in the
training, but also allowed the group to utilize its
boats for the field training portion of the training.” ■
The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority
Board of Directors
“I’m very happy to be working with Rina Cutler as
we address our many projects and challenges,”
said PRPA Executive Director James T. McDermott,
Jr. “Her strong transportation and logistics
background, along with her solid connection to
the Mayor’s Office, makes her a major asset to
the Board. I’m glad she’s with us as we chart
our future.” ■
11
John H. Estey, Esq.
Chairman of the Board
Clifford E. Haines, Esq.
Anthony Aliano, Esq.
Michael A. Rashid
Boise Butler III
Chad Rubin, Esq.
Captain John P. Cuff
Herb Vederman
Rina Cutler
Harry Williams
Frank Gillen
eration. This will enable customized settings,
adjustments due to seasonality, and the
flexibility to distribute multiple types of food from
a single facility.
The first phase of construction began shortly after
the September announcement, and completion is
expected within two years. O’Neill Properties
reports that, like many of its development projects,
this one is located on a brownfield site that will be
revitalized. The site was a former conglomeration
of five junk and scrap yards. Essington Avenue
Partners II (EAPII) has entered into a voluntary
agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection with remedial activities,
including the removal of all surface debris including 400,000 tires, auto carcasses, and old trailers
and busses. EAPII has an approved clean-up plan
PRPA Chairman John H. Estey
and new PRPA board member
Rina Cutler during a recent
visit to the Packer Avenue
Marine Terminal.
10
Ms. Cutler was named Deputy Mayor
for Transportation and Utilities by
Mayor Nutter in March 2008. She is
responsible for the coordination and
oversight of all transportation functions in the City of Philadelphia. In
addition, Ms. Cutler oversees the
operations of a variety of city agencies, including the Streets
Department, the Water Department,
Philadelphia International Airport and
the Philadelphia Gas Works. She also
represents the city’s interests with a
variety of transportation agencies,
including SEPTA, the Parking
Authority, the Delaware Valley
Regional Planning Commission and now the
Philadelphia Regional Port authority.
Prior to returning to Philadelphia to work in Mayor
Nutter’s administration, Ms. Cutler had been the
Deputy Secretary for Administration at the
New Sonar System to Aid PRPA and
First Responders
“This is an historic project for many reasons,” said
PRPA Senior Deputy Executive Director Robert C.
Blackburn, whose own waterfront career began in
the imported produce business many years ago.
“First, it secures the future health of this historic
Philadelphia institution, which is no small accomplishment. But, secondly, it represents the first
major project PRPA is undertaking out of the immediate port area. Our role in this project demonstrates the confidence of Governor Rendell and the
regional business community in our ability to bring
certain transactional skills and economic development knowledge to the process in a positive way.
It’s the beginning of a new era for the Philadelphia
Regional Port Authority.” ■
Transportation Expert Rina Cutler
Joins PRPA Board of Directors
PRPA welcomes Rina Cutler, Deputy
Mayor for Transportation and Utilities
for the City of Philadelphia, to the
PRPA Board of Directors.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter
appointed Ms. Cutler to the PRPA
Board in June.
Keeping a Better Eye on the Port
for the remainder of the site in preparation for the
development of the new facility.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
(PennDoT) since 2003. She was responsible for
managing resources, monitoring spending and
ensuring that management and productivity controls were in place to maximize departmental operations. In addition, Ms. Cutler served for almost
two years as the Acting District Executive in
PennDoT for the five-county Philadelphia region,
which was responsible for the areas of design,
construction and maintenance responsibilities for
state-owned roads and bridges. In this capacity,
Ms. Cutler also focused her attention on project
delivery, context-sensitive design and smart transportation principles.
Members of the Pennsylvania
State Police, New Jersey State
Police and the Philadelphia Police
Department Marine Unit examine a new sonar unit at PRPA
headquarters in July. PRPA
Director of Operations James
Walsh (second from right)
coordinated the five-day training
session for the new equipment.
As part of the
Fiscal Year
2005 Port
Security Grant
Program, the
Philadelphia
Regional Port
Authority
(PRPA) was
able to purchase a portable sonar
system to be
utilized by
PRPA and our
region’s designated first
responders,
those agencies that typically arrive first on the
scene of a crisis at the waterfront.
In July, PRPA hosted a five-day training course to
familiarize those first responders, including the
Philadelphia Police Marine Unit, the Pennsylvania
State Police and the New Jersey State Police, on
the use and maintenance of this new equipment.
Following the training sessions, the equipment was
left in the possession of the Philadelphia Police
Marine Unit, who will be the primary custodians of
the equipment.
The new sonar equipment will permit its users to
track suspicious movements underwater and will
be especially useful during times of poor visibility.
Her prior experience also includes positions as
Transportation Commissioner for the City of Boston,
the Director of Parking and Traffic for the City of
San Francisco, and the Executive Director of the
Philadelphia Parking Authority.
It will add a vital level of security to the Port’s
waterside access. The equipment will also be useful in locating vehicles and other objects that may
accidentally enter the river and sink.
To ensure the future efficient operation of the
equipment, PRPA is creating an interagency agreement to address maintenance and repair issues
related to the equipment.
In addition, in the near future PRPA plans on leveraging funds from the same grant cycle to purchase
a second sonar unit to be utilized primarily by the
Pennsylvania State Police.
Well attended and informative, the five-day training program was a big success, as well as an
opportunity for the area’s first responders to network and compare general capabilities.
PRPA Director of Operations James Walsh and his
Operations department staff coordinated and oversaw the training program, the classroom portion of
which was held in the PRPA large conference
room. Mr. Walsh was quick to thank those who
helped him during the course of the five days.
“The training would not have been nearly as successful had it not been for the cooperation of
Lieutenant Andy Napoli and the rest of the
Philadelphia Marine Unit,” said Mr. Walsh. “The
Marine Unit not only played an active part in the
training, but also allowed the group to utilize its
boats for the field training portion of the training.” ■
The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority
Board of Directors
“I’m very happy to be working with Rina Cutler as
we address our many projects and challenges,”
said PRPA Executive Director James T. McDermott,
Jr. “Her strong transportation and logistics
background, along with her solid connection to
the Mayor’s Office, makes her a major asset to
the Board. I’m glad she’s with us as we chart
our future.” ■
11
John H. Estey, Esq.
Chairman of the Board
Clifford E. Haines, Esq.
Anthony Aliano, Esq.
Michael A. Rashid
Boise Butler III
Chad Rubin, Esq.
Captain John P. Cuff
Herb Vederman
Rina Cutler
Harry Williams
Frank Gillen
Delaware River Port Agencies Take Further
Steps to “Green” Our Maritime Facilities
The Projects Committee of the Delaware River Port
Authority (DRPA) on December 12 took the next
steps toward “greening” our regional ports by
approving the selection of Weston Solutions of
West Chester, Pennsylvania to develop a comprehensive Green Ports Initiative for DRPA, the South
Jersey Port Corporation (SJPC) and the
Philadelphia Regional Port Authority
(PRPA). The three agencies worked
together to select the consultant.
The contract with Weston, for
approximately $500,000, is expected to
be approved by the full DRPA board in
early 2009. If approved, Weston will
review operations at DRPA, SJPC and PRPA facilities in order to recommend short-term and longterm alternatives for making port and transportation operations more environmentally friendly.
“Greening” solutions that may be explored include
energy/water conservation; the use of electric or
alternative fuel vehicles and equipment; renewable
sources of energy (including solar and wind); new
technologies and innovations in logistics process-
es (including traffic management controls and congestion mitigation techniques); and “green” buildings and facilities.
The Green Ports Initiative, formally announced by
the three agencies in May (see issue #25 of
PortWatch, viewable on PRPA’s Web
site), will assist the agencies in creating
a cooperative approach in the development of environmental programs and
projects aimed at reducing or neutralizing the impact of port operations
upon the environment and the
surrounding community.
“Through this Green Ports Initiative, we hope to
establish a framework of innovative and costeffective alternatives that each port can consider
to reduce harmful environmental impacts,” said
DRPA Chairman Designee and PRPA Chairman
John H. Estey.
Visions of the future: Images of
the dynamic new Philadelphia
Produce Center were displayed at
the September 4 groundbreaking
ceremony for the new facility.
PortWatch will continue to monitor and report on
the progress of our regional port system’s Green
Ports Initiative. ■
The Produce Market, also known as the
Philadelphia Regional Produce Market, is among
the largest produce markets in the United States
and supplies food as far north as Canada and as
far south as the Carolinas, with its primary focus
being serving the needs of the Greater
Philadelphia region. The Produce Market also has
a strong outreach and charity mission. More than
one million pounds of food per year are donated to
homeless shelters, schools in need, and non-profit
organizations like Philabundance, the region’s largest hunger relief organization which provides food
to approximately 65,000 people per week.
Port Moves a Cargo That Will
Eventually Move People
e Tioga
ere took over th
ph
os
m
at
y
or
at
t 18, as PRPA
A celebr
Monday, Augus
on
al
in
ores
rm
Te
e
Marin
e River Steved
erator Delawar
rail
op
er
al
ut
in
m
rm
m
te
co
d
:
an
o to the Port
rg
ca
w
antr
ne
a
ic
a’s publ
welcomed
e by Philadelphi
us
r
fo
ia
ed
an
in
lv
st
sy
cars de
ern Penn
PTA (Southeast
sit authority, SE
exact).
be
to
Authority,
, Ltd.,
Transportation
stics Company
gi
Lo
ai
nd
yu
H
by
d
re
rg
s Hambu (with
Manufactu
rd the Rickmer
oa
ab
ns
ed
er
liv
and de
tem and Suntra
by Hyundai Ro
t
to
or
ed
pp
ct
su
pe
s
ic
ex
st
logi
il car is
c.), this first ra
In
om
l,
fr
na
a
io
hi
at
lp
rn
de
te
ila
In
Ph
any to arrive in
be the first of m
ars. ■
ye
l
ra
ve
se
xt
e ne
Korea during th
Paul Giordano
of Giordano
Produce, Jimmy
Storey of
Quaker City
Produce, and
John Vena of
John Vena
Produce all
have businesses
at the Produce
Market that
extend more
than four generations back with
grandfathers or
great-grandfathers starting
the family business down on Dock Street in the
late 1800s and early 1900s. “Many of the businesses at the market are small family-owned businesses that have been in continuous operation for several generations,” says John Vena. “My family’s
business was started by my grandfather down on
Dock Street in 1919, and today my son Daniel is
representing the 4th generation.”
Want to add a name
or two to our
PortWatch mailing list?
Contact PRPA’s
Communications
Department at
(215) 426-2600.
“Philabundance is grateful for the
support from the Philadelphia
Regional Produce Market and the
year-round donations,” said Bill
Clark, President and Executive
Director of Philabundance. “The
Market is responsible for supplying the variety of produce donations our associated agencies
require to put nutritious food on
the table for the 900,000 people in
need in the Delaware Valley.”
Charity, public access and educational tours will continue to be
an ongoing and central part of
the spirit of the new market.
The planned 667,000-square-foot,
state-of-the-art facility will be
12
9
nearly twice the size of the current facility located
in the vicinity of the Philadelphia sports complex,
and will be the first of its kind in the United States
with a 100% fully refrigerated facility throughout
the entire building. The new facility will prevent the
“cold chain” from breaking as perishables are
moved from truck transport to loading docks to
cold storage, and vice versa. The building will be
constructed of steel, concrete and insulated metal
panels five inches thick to maintain the required
refrigeration. The new facility will feature 228
enclosed and fully refrigerated 50-foot-wide dock
areas, 40-foot ceiling heights, a skylight running
the length and width of the building to provide natural lighting, a central walking concourse open to
the public, second-floor office space with secure
access, ten entrances to the building and one main
entrance for the public. The project also includes
an 18,000-square-foot auxiliary building for recycling pallets and food.
“Our new Philadelphia facilities will enable the
Produce Market to compete and win in the global
economy,” said Sonny DiCrecchio, Executive
Director of the Philadelphia Regional Produce
Market. “We believe that this facility will be without equal, and as a result, we will be able to grow
our business, add new jobs, attract new distribution opportunities, and enable Philadelphia to set
the worldwide standard for best practices in the
food distribution industry. Less than five minutes
from three major interstates—Interstate 95, 476
and 76—as well as Philadelphia International
Airport, this new location will enhance strategic
distribution for all critical transportation methods,
including trucking, air freight, rail and ship.”
Thirty-two vendors will relocate into the 68 new
units comprising the facility. Each unit is 30 feet
wide and 140 feet long, and each vendor will have
independent access and control of its own refrig-
Under a tent at the construction site for the new center,
PRPA Chairman John Estey discusses the importance of
Philadelphia's produce business at the September 4 event.
Looking Beyond Handling Fruit at the Port
Seaport Museum Gets a Refresher on the Port
PRPA Takes Active Role in
Establishment of New
Philadelphia Produce Market
Attending the groundbreaking
ceremony for the new Philadelphia
Produce Center on Thursday,
September 4 were PRPA
Executive Director James T.
McDermott, Jr. (far left); PRPA
Chairman John H. Estey (fourth
from left); Pennsylvania State
Senator Vincent J. Fumo (fifth
from left); Philadelphia Mayor
Michael Nutter (6th from left);
and many Philadelphia produce
industry and real estate development figures central to the project.
Thanks to a public/private partnership, the
Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA), the
Philadelphia Regional Produce Market and
Essington Avenue Partners II (a development affiliate of O’Neill Properties) announced on Thursday,
September 4 that the Philadelphia Produce Market,
a mainstay of Philadelphia’s economic life for more
than a hundred years, will relocate to Essington
Avenue in southwest Philadelphia. This relocation
will retain 1,468 current jobs, create 375 new
jobs, and enable future expansion plans for the
Produce Market.
Avenue site as the best alternative for all parties
involved in the city’s produce trade.
“This public/private partnership will preserve the
Produce Market right where it belongs—in
Philadelphia,” said Pennsylvania Governor Edward
G. Rendell in a statement. “Without room for
expansion and new, modern facilities, the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania risked losing this
vital operation, and the vendors faced the sad reality that they would be forced to break up a South
Philadelphia landmark. Instead, through the concerted efforts of the City of Philadelphia, the office
of State
Senator
Vincent Fumo,
the
Philadelphia
Regional Port
Authority, the
Philadelphia
Industrial
Development
Corporation
and many
individuals,
the Produce
Market will be
able to grow
and thrive
while adding
375 new highpaying jobs for working families and millions of
dollars to the local and state economies.”
Without the agreement, Philadelphia and
Pennsylvania were at risk of losing what is considered an historic and economic regional staple.
Several years ago, the Produce Market and the
state of New Jersey were in advanced discussions
to relocate the market. This current arrangement
ensures that the Produce Market will stay in
Philadelphia for the foreseeable future.
As reported in previous issues of PortWatch, other
locations in Philadelphia were considered and
even announced for the new produce center as
part of an aggressive response to out-of-state
interests trying to attract the new center away
from the city of its birth. That aggressive response,
however, ultimately identified the Essington
8
The total development cost of the project is $218.5
million. The Commonwealth is releasing $152.5 million to PRPA to support the project’s development
and relocation. PRPA will purchase 63 acres, build
a 667,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art distribution
facility, and will sign a 40-year lease enabling the
relocation. The market vendors who will utilize the
facility will repay 100% of the component grants
and loans over the life of the 40-year lease.
According to an analysis conducted by Econsult, it
is estimated that the direct and indirect economic
benefit to the region and tax revenues to the City
of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth will exceed
more than $10.8 billion over the life of the 40-year
lease. “The new Produce Market will provide tremendous benefit to the local and state economies,
as well as continue to be a major hub for fresh
produce imported and exported through the Port
of Philadelphia,” said John H. Estey, Chairman
of PRPA.
PRPA Community Relations
Liaison Tummona Fisher (far left)
and Marketing Representative
Franklin Camp (far right) welcomed board members, staff and
friends of Philadelphia's
Independence Seaport Museum
(ISM) to the Port of Philadelphia
on Wednesday, October 8. Taking
part in the visit that day were
ISM President Lori Dillard Rech
(second from left) and ILA Local
1291 President Boise Butler (tenth
from left), who is both an ISM
and PRPA Board member.
James T. McDermott, Jr., Executive Director of
PRPA, said, “Our agency is extremely pleased to
be a major partner in this exciting economic development project. Retaining this important regional
asset is a great accomplishment. We look forward
to a productive and rewarding relationship with
the new Produce Market.”
Philadelphia’s
Independence
Seaport Museum
(ISM) does an
excellent job chronicling and promoting
Philadelphia’s working waterfront, and
occasionally
requests an update
on port activities so
it can continue that
important mission
with the very latest
information.
Facilitated by
International
Longshoremen’s
Association (ILA)
Local 1291 President and PRPA Board Member
Boise Butler, who is also an ISM Board Member,
the most recent update took place on Wednesday,
October 8.
The day started with a comprehensive presentation to ISM board and staff members in PRPA’s
conference room. The presentation included an
overview of PRPA’s current activities, statistical
data and a look at PRPA’s future plans. PRPA
Community Affairs Liaison Tummona Fisher and
PRPA Marketing Representative Franklin Camp
gave the presentation, and Ms. Fisher then conducted a port tour.
The tour included stops at Tioga Marine Terminal,
Packer Avenue Marine Terminal and Piers 122/124.
Special thanks go to Mike McCaffery of Greenwich
Terminals, who gave a detailed presentation to the
ISM board and staff at Packer Avenue Marine terminal, and members of the ILA, who also met with
the group during the tour.
Following the various presentations and the tour,
ISM had a chance to return the favor and conducted a guided tour of the museum’s exhibits for Ms.
Fisher and several of the day’s participants. A
highlight for the group was the exhibit “Black
Hands, Blue Seas,” a touring exhibit that tells
untold stories of the African-American experience
in U.S. maritime history. ISM has expanded the
exhibit to include special components on
Philadelphia’s working waterfront. Mr. Butler’s
waterfront history is prominently featured in the
expanded exhibit.
“The staff and I at ISM appreciate all of the time
you took to make our tour of the Port such a fantastic experience,” said Lori Dillard Rech, ISM’s
President, to Ms. Fisher that day. “We learned so
much about the importance of the Port in
Philadelphia’s economic and day-to-day life. In the
future, we hope to continue spreading the word
about the Port and to generate greater appreciation and support for your operations.”
To learn more about the Independence
Seaport Museum, visit the museum’s Web site
at www.phillyseaport.org. ■
The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority
participated in the 97th Annual American
Association of Port Authorities (AAPA)
Annual Convention, hosted by the Port of
Anchorage, Alaska from September 21 to 25,
2008. A variety of common challenges facing
today's ports were discussed during the meeting, including port security, dredging issues
and funding. Here PRPA Director of
Communications and outgoing AAPA Public
Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Menta
discusses port public relations challenges during
the convention's industry awards luncheon on
Wednesday, September 24.
The Produce Market has deep roots and historic
significance for Philadelphia. Produce trading goes
back to the 1600s on Dock Street at the famed
Head House Square. By the early 1800s, the produce industry had carved out an area that wholesalers and farmers would go to exclusively on
Dock Street. It was the perfect area of the city
to buy and trade all types of product due to the
close proximity of the Port and the newly extended
rail lines.
13
Let’s Tell Washington That New Infrastructure Is
an Investment None Can Seriously Criticize
A Message from James T. McDermott, Jr., Executive Director
of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority
Businesses that Use the Port of Philadelphia
This Issue:
Preferred Freezer Services is not your ordinary
cold storage facility. Often called “the oasis in
the desert” by its managers, it is a nationwide
network of state-of-the-art facilities strategically
located throughout the country offering convenience and efficiency to its customers. It is for
this reason that
Preferred
Freezer is
ranked the 6thlargest cold
storage company in North
America and
8th in the
world.
Preferred Freezer Services'
spacious and modern
Philadelphia facility.
Founded in
1989 by John J.
Galiher, the
first Preferred
Freezer
Services facility opened in
1989 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, with just 26
employees. Today, Preferred has more than
twenty facilities nationwide with hundreds of
full-time employees. In fact, 70% of the imported
meat and fish cargoes entering the U.S. from
around the world at some point moves through a
Preferred Freezer facility.
And the company is still growing. With freezer
facilities coming on line in China and Vietnam in
the near future, Preferred Freezer Services is
poised to further cement its global reach and
international reputation.
14
John Galiher’s unique blend of experience—
including engineering, construction, sales and
management—was key to the company’s success. Prior to founding Preferred, Mr. Galiher
was the Executive Vice President and cofounder
of Condyne Freezers, Inc., and on the Board for
its parent company, Condyne, Inc. You may recognize Preferred Freezer Services by its signature polar bear logo. Life-size polar bear mockups often accompany Preferred Freezer
Services personnel at trade shows and other
venues across the nation, making it easy for
customers to recognize the company’s exhibition booth.
Philadelphia Regional Port
Authority Executive Director
James T. McDermott, Jr.
Preferred Freezer’s corporate headquarters is
located in Newark, New Jersey, also home to
the company’s largest facility. Recognizing the
active need of cold storage in the Philadelphia
area, fueled in large part by imported perishable
cargoes entering the U.S. via the Port of
Philadelphia, Preferred Freezer Services
opened the doors of its Philadelphia location in
March 2007.
Located at 3101 S. 3rd Street, not far from
PRPA’s Packer Avenue Marine Terminal,
Preferred’s Philadelphia facility is a full-service
operation that offers freezer capacity; cooler
capacity; a refrigerated loading/unloading dock;
on-site USDA inspectors; designated inspection
areas for USDA, FDA and USDC personnel; computerized inventory management: and many value-added services, including repacking, weighing, labeling, etc.
Beef from Australia, which regularly arrives at
the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal via refrigerated vessels, is a major product handled by
Preferred Freezer Services. The company is an
integral part of the supply chain, expertly processing the product once it leaves the vessel,
facilitating its inspection, and getting it to the
The Journal of
Commerce (JOC)
recently invited Mr.
McDermott, as well
as other port directors in the United
States, to provide
some brief thoughts
on the serious issues
the maritime industry
will be facing in 2009
and beyond. All the
comments were compiled in the JOC’s
annual “Shipping
Review and Outlook”
issue. For those
PortWatch readers
who didn’t see the recently published magazine,
Mr. McDermott’s statement is reproduced here.
As a new administration assumes power in
Washington, many activities and initiatives will
be undertaken to address our nation’s financial
crisis and, just as importantly, the global economic downturn. Amid all the emergency loans,
stimulus programs and international negotiations, our leaders must not neglect the vital
asset that is our nation’s transportation infrastructure. As important as strong banks and
financial institutions are to our nation, so too are
modern, well-maintained roads, highways,
bridges and rail connections. The efficient
movement of goods through our ports, over our
highways and across country via rail is just as
critical to our economic recovery as the availability of loans, the bolstering of our manufac-
The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA)
is an independent agency of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania charged with the management,
maintenance, marketing and promotion of publicly owned port facilities along the Delaware River
in Philadelphia, as well as strategic planning
throughout the port district. PRPA works with its
terminal operators to modernize, expand and
improve its facilities, and to market those facilities to prospective port users. Port cargoes and
the activities they generate are responsible for
thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the
Philadelphia area and throughout Pennsylvania.
7
turing industries, and other essential components of our economy. Washington must do all it
can to ensure that the dislocation and decline of
trade due to the current crisis is only temporary,
and including substantial infrastructure improvements to our economic recovery plan will go a
long way in accomplishing this.
Along with securing our future for decades to
come, addressing infrastructure concerns will
also deliver a vital short-term gain, as thousands
of Americans will immediately be put to work in
making these needed improvements. Further,
while it is understandable that the incoming
executive branch and new Congress would be
sympathetic to the concept of “make work” initiatives to get ordinary Americans and the U.S.
economy back on their feet, undertaking
enhancements and upgrades to our transportation infrastructure will provide the significant
level of work needed to make a difference, but
with little or none of the attendant criticism such
spending often engenders. New infrastructure,
after all, is a solid investment that none can
seriously criticize.
Ports are our gateways to the world and welcoming stations when the world comes to us,
and I usually use this annual message to remind
our many constituents of ports’ vital role in our
economy. But ports heavily rely on their surrounding infrastructure, as does every American
city and community; and it’s our nation’s infrastructure that needs us to argue for it at this
moment in history and with more fanfare than
ever before. ■
Contact Information
John H. Estey, Esq.
Our main headquarters: Philadelphia
Regional Port Authority Administration
Building, 3460 N. Delaware Avenue,
2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19134.
PRPA’s main telephone number is
(215) 426-2600, and the main fax number is (215) 426-6800. Comprehensive
information about PRPA’s facilities,
services and organization is available
at www.philaport.com.
James T. McDermott, Jr.
Chairman
Executive Director
Robert C. Blackburn
Senior Deputy Executive Director
John F. Dempsey
Deputy Executive Director
Sean E. Mahoney
Director of Marketing
William Keller, all major supporters of the project over the
years.
“This agreement marks a very
significant step for the Port of
Philadelphia and the region,”
said Senator Specter. “I’ve
worked on the matter since
1991, and it has been a brassknuckle affair with thousands
of jobs and billions of dollars at
stake. Deepening the Delaware
River is indispensable to
remaining competitive with other deep-water
ports, and this is a great day for our region.”
PRPA Chairman John Estey put it succinctly that
day: “At 40 feet, the current depth of the channel
is too shallow for many of the world’s larger
container vessels, putting Delaware River ports
at a competitive disadvantage among the U.S.
East Coast ports,” he said. “A 45-foot shipping
channel allows the region to compete on the
same stage as other East Coast ports, attracting
more cargo and securing our future viability.”
Port workers express their
thanks to three longtime champions
of the channel-deepening project.
U.S. Army Corps Lieutenant Colonel Gwen Baker
was fortunate enough to witness the signing of
the PPA just prior to turning over command of
the Corps’ North Atlantic Division to her successor later that month. “This partnership agreement signing is the culmination of decades of
hard work, patience and dedication to a project
of major significance for both the
Delaware Valley
and the United
States of
America,” said Lt.
Col. Baker. “The
Corps of
Engineers stands
ready to deliver an
economically,
environmentally
and technically
sound project to
the region and the
nation.”
The Delaware
River ChannelDeepening Project
will ultimately require the removal of 26 million
cubic yards of dredged material, which includes
18.6 million cubic yards of sand, clay and silt
from the upriver portion of the project. The
6
final customer as efficiently as possible. As officials at the Port of Philadelphia often state, the
Port is proud of its own facilities and capabilities, but a huge reason for the Port’s success
with perishables is the close proximity of excellent private cold storage businesses like
Preferred Freezer. Frozen cargoes that arrive at
the Port and ultimately make their way through
Preferred Freezer’s Philadelphia facility are yet
another example of the numerous public/private partnerships that make the Port of
Philadelphia a success.
The Governor and his men in the field: PRPA Deputy
Executive Director John F. Dempsey, Governor
Rendell and PRPA Senior Deputy Executive
Director Robert C. Blackburn at Packer
Avenue Marine Terminal on June 23.
remaining 7.4 million cubic yards of sand from
the Delaware Bay will be used for wetland creation and beach nourishment. Also, 77,000 cubic
yards of rock will be removed.
The Army Corps will construct, operate and
maintain the project in an environmentally sustainable manner. Extensive testing has been
done to confirm that the dredged material is
safe, and the Corps will continue to monitor
water quality throughout the project.
Posing with the company's
familiar polar bear mascot is
(at left) General Manager James
Simcox and Sales Manager
Marcello Pisapia.
Sales Manager Marcello Pisapia is enthusiastic
about his company’s relationship with the Port
of Philadelphia. “Providing quality service
throughout the cold chain for imported perishable commodities is the responsibility of everyone: the port of entry, the cold storage company and the local trucking companies,” said Mr.
Pisapia. “Located less than a mile from the
Packer Avenue Marine Terminal makes us partners in offering and providing our mutual customers and prospects the quality service they
expect. We are proud to be in Philadelphia and I
am confident, judging from the success we’ve
encountered thus far, that working with the Port
of Philadelphia will continue to benefit our mutual and independent interests.”
Mr. Pisapia was
also quick to
mention a new
program his company is excited
about:
Preferred’s Pool
Consolidation
Program. “We
are now offering
LTL services
through a pool
program throughout the Northeast
for anyone storing product in our
freezer. The program began in early November
and has been a very successful value-added
service provided to our customers.”
As well as delivering numerous economic benefits to the Port of Philadelphia and the tri-state
region, the deepening project will bring substantial secondary benefits to the Delaware Bay
ecosystem. Placing dredged sand on Delaware’s
Kelly Island and New Jersey’s Egg Island Point,
for example, will help to promote horseshoe
crab habitats through wetland restoration, as
well as protect back-bay wetlands behind
Delaware’s Broadkill Beach via a beach renourishment project. The Corps has pursued beneficial use of dredged material projects like these
across the nation and will continue to look for
more opportunities in our region.
Numerous administrative requirements—involving budgets, schedules and coordination
between the three states the project encompasses—are currently being addressed in the
wake of the Project Partnership Agreement, so
the first shovel hasn’t yet gone into the water
and probably won’t do so until mid-to-late 2009
at the earliest. But with the June signing of the
agreement, the Delaware River ChannelDeepening Project has become something it
wasn’t before: an official project that is now
moving forward. ■
Port officials are optimistic not only about
Preferred Freezer’s continued role in supporting
existing cargoes at the Port like Australian beef,
but also the possibility of it assisting the Port in
the expansion of the types of cargo it handles.
For example, Preferred Freezer Services has
longtime experience and an excellent reputation
in the handling of frozen seafood products from
15
around the world. At the moment, these seafood
cargoes move through Preferred Freezer facilities in other parts of the country and the ports
that correspond to those facilities, but port officials here have other ideas.
An efficient, organized racking system is just
one of Preferred Freezer's many assets.
“For example, we want to leverage Preferred
Freezers’ expertise in seafood storage and
transportation in order to bring more of this
valuable commodity to the Port of Philadelphia,”
said PRPA Senior Marketing Representative
Dominic O’Brien. “Delaware River ports are
already number one in the U.S.A. for perishable
meat products, and working together with
Preferred, we can become a leading seafood
port complex as well.”
For now, PRPA marketing officials work closely
with Preferred Freezer Services managers, touting the company’s capabilities to potential shippers of frozen products, just as they do with
other private firms who work in conjunction with
the Port.
“I have to say, it’s a good sales pitch that can
get results,” said Mr. O’Brien. “The combination
of a proactive port authority with the strong support of its state government, coupled with an
aggressive, well-established private company
like Preferred Freezer … shippers like that synergy, and they often take the time to at least listen to what we have to say.”
To learn more about Preferred Freezer
Services, visit the company’s web site at
www.preferredfreezer.com. ■
rounding the deepening project—all in, you’ve got
a nearly $300 million commitment to all of these
projects. And we’re not even talking about
upgrades in the pipeline.
PW: The dollars are unprecedented.
John Estey at the September 4,
2008 groundbreaking ceremony for
the new Philadelphia Regional
Produce Market. Also pictured is
Sonny DiCrecchio, Executive
Director of the Produce Market.
JE: In the history of the PRPA, I don’t think we’ve
ever seen this kind of influx of capital. That’s why
we need to do it right. We need to marshal it the
right way. We need to make sure that information
is provided back to the Commonwealth so they can
see that the funds are being used for the purposes
for which they were sent.
PW: Against this backdrop of good news comes
the global downturn and
the economic reality that
the Commonwealth, too,
has been adversely
impacted. As chairman,
obviously, this concerns
you.
JE: Everybody is going to
be hurt by a slowing global economy. Container
volumes are down significantly everywhere. Other
cargo is down as well. I
believe we are a little
insulated from the substantial impacts of these
downturns in part because we’re not a Port the
size of, say, New York. So a marginal downturn in
container traffic might create huge recessionary
pressures on their revenues, but for us, it’s not so
huge an impact.
PW: I read where some businesses are saying this
is a good opportunity to examine how they do business and to look for ways to improve efficiency and
productivity.
JE: Absolutely. The opportunity is here to use these
tough times to become more efficient, so that when
we’re back up in good times, we’ll have systems in
place for a more profitable enterprise. We’re going
to have to redouble our efforts in terms of the
deepening project and expanding Port facilities.
For instance, part of the Southport deal will be to
ensure that we actually get guaranteed container
volume. That will be the key.
PW: Let’s talk a little bit about your management
style. What was the primary lesson you learned
from working with Governor Rendell as his chief of
staff during some pretty volatile times in
Harrisburg?
4
JE: From a political perspective, what I learned
was that if you’re willing to stick to your guns and
not fundamentally compromise your principles—
and if you have people with you who are willing to
fight alongside of you—you can pretty much get
anything done.
PW: But it’s not easy, and sometimes it’s not pretty,
is it?
JE: It’s not an easy process, but I don’t know if I
would have worked in Harrisburg for anyone other
than Ed Rendell. He truly believes that what he is
trying to do from a policy perspective is good for
the people. Not good for Ed Rendell. Not good for
his party, or a caucus, or a member, or an industry
or constituent group. He thinks the stuff he wants
to do is good policy. Period.
News Briefs
Items of Interest in and around the Port
GOVERNOR MINNER HONORED… PRPA was pleased to participate in the
Chilean & American Chamber of Commerce’s 11th Annual “Friend of Chile”
Award Luncheon, held at Philadelphia’s historic Union League on Thursday,
November 20. The honoree at the November 20 event was Delaware Governor
Ruth Ann Minner, who was singled out for her role in promoting trade between
the Republic of Chile and the ports of the Delaware River. Though Delaware’s
Port of Wilmington is a respected competitor with the Port of Philadelphia during the annual Chilean fruit season, the Port of Wilmington is often a strategic
ally of PRPA in issues affecting our regional port industry as a whole, including
issues that affect the importation of Chilean fruit products. PRPA salutes
Governor Minner and wishes her all the best as she moves beyond life in the
Governor’s Office.
Philadelphia’s Union League. LTC Tickner replaced LTC Gwen Baker, the previous commander of the Corps’ Philadelphia District, who is now stationed back
in North Carolina where she has been reunited with her children, as well as
her husband, who recently completed a tour in Afghanistan. PRPA thanks LTC
Baker for her past service, especially for her integral role in advancing the
Delaware River Channel-Deepening Project, and looks forward to now working
with LTC Tickner on that vital project, as well as other initiatives. Welcome
aboard, Lieutenant Colonel Tickner!
PRPA BEGINS CLEAN-UP PROCESS AT TIOGA STREET… In the closing weeks
of 2008, PRPA began the process of clearing the 11.3-acre site immediately
west of the PRPA Port Administration Building in an effort to clean and secure
the vacant property for the safety of the community, as well as to prepare it for
a potential lessee. PRPA work crews, aided by heavy equipment, have already
leveled much of the recently acquired property, including a long-standing,
dilapidated structure. PRPA acknowledges the effective work of its
Maintenance Department as this important task is addressed.
PW: So you went into battle, so to speak, with the
confidence that the Governor had your back.
JE: When you know there aren’t undisclosed
motives, then you have a certain freedom of movement in that space. So you go out there and get it
done. Working with the Governor and the people
he brought to Harrisburg made the experience both
wonderful … and tolerable.
PW: And how did this translate to your staff and
the people you dealt with on a daily basis?
JE: You have to make sure there’s communication
between your senior managers. I tried to do that in
person, not on the phone or by e-mail. I wanted
them to make decisions. I encouraged them to
make decisions, so that meant standing behind
them. I had to make sure they understood that if
they made a decision that turned out to be the
wrong one, I wasn’t going to chop off their heads.
They had to know that I was going to say, “Well,
that was a fine decision, and yes, in retrospect it
looks wrong, so therefore it’s my fault that things
didn’t work out.” That’s what you have to do in
order to empower your staff.
Ambassador of Chile Mariano Fernandez, Delaware Governor and "Friend of
Chile" honoree Ruth Ann Minner, and Chilean American Chamber of Commerce
President Robert Palaima at Philadelphia's Union League on November 20.
PRPA CELEBRATES A CLEANER ENVIRONMENT WITH DELAWARE ESTUARY
GROUP… PRPA sent staff and donated silent auction items to the Partnership
for the Delaware Estuary’s “Experience the Estuary Celebration” held at the
Turbine Hall at the Wharf at Rivertown in Chester, Pennsylvania on Thursday,
October 2. PRPA has a number of active “green” initiatives in place to make
the Port of Philadelphia cleaner and more environmentally responsible, so it
enthusiastically supports the Partnership’s efforts to preserve and safeguard
our region’s most important natural, recreational, cultural and economic
resource: the Delaware Estuary. The Delaware River’s and Bay’s waters are
already healthier and more ecologically diverse than just a few decades ago,
and today’s “green thinking” is helping to make them more “blue” than ever. In
joining with organizations like the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, PRPA
demonstrates that a region needn’t choose between a thriving port system and
clean water.
PW: And you seem to carry those lessons into your
role as PRPA Chairman, as you have an excellent
relationship with PRPA’s senior managers. Thanks
for your time today.
Even with further work needed to be done, this January 15, 2009 view of the
vacant lot behind PRPA's Port Administration Building shows dramatic
improvement from the overgrown, refuse-strewn site the land used to be.
SOUTHPORT UPDATE… Plans to develop a sprawling new container terminal
immediately south of the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal continue to move
forward. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with the active support of PRPA
staff, continues to work to establish a partnership between PRPA and a private
steamship line and/or private equity firm for the construction of the facility. The
chief consultant on the project is DMJM Harris/AECOM with assistance provided by Martin Associates and Public Financial Management. The Request for
Qualifications (RFQ) process was recently completed and the Solicitation for
Proposals (SFP) stage has now begun. Though it is too early to make any
announcements, the Southport Development Team is gratified by the level of
quality interest in the project on the part of the private business community.
JE: My pleasure.
Additional comments by Chairman Estey can be
found throughout this issue of PortWatch. Check
out PRPA’s web site, www.philaport.com, and
future issues of this publication for more information on Chairman Estey and his initiatives. ■
Philadelphia artist Arthur Ostroff displays a copy of the limited edition port print
he recently created for PRPA. A framed copy of the print was donated by
PRPA to the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary to assist the organization in
its ecological efforts.
PRPA WELCOMES NEW ARMY CORPS HEAD… PRPA congratulates Lieutenant
Colonel Thomas J. Tickner, who recently assumed command of the United
States Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District. LTC Tickner was installed
on Wednesday, June 25, at a Change of Command Ceremony held at
17
PRPA is working with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to develop the new
Southport marine terminal at this site along the Delaware River.
Tioga Marine Terminal operator
Robert Palaima, Pier 84 operator
Harvey Weiner, Chairman Estey
and PRPA Chief Counsel
Gregory Iannarelli at the spring
2008 kick-off of the regional
"Green Ports Initiative."
PW: And next, there is Southport, which is just as
exciting.
JE: Very, very exciting.
Right on the heels of the
signing of the PPA, we
went out into the market
and solicited Requests for
Qualifications for teams to
come in and do the development of the 150-acre
Southport site located to
the south of the Packer
Avenue Marine Terminal.
Today’s ports have a
clear vision
PW: And what is the status of that?
for the future
JE: We are very pleased that we received four very
quality responses from four separate bidding
teams—all of whom have the capacity to undertake a multiple-million-dollar project development
at that site. Right now, we are continuing to move
forward with putting the competitive piece or solicitation together.
There’s a new wave of environmental
PW: From a business perspective, how are these
two projects linked?
responsibility in our ports. As we handle ever-increasing volumes of cargo,
we’re simultaneously working together
toward sparkling water, cleaner air and
more fertile soil. It’s good for you. It’s
good for our ports. And it’s good for
Are you a trucker,
longshoreman or other
cargo industry worker?
everyone’s future.
To learn more, please visit us at
www.aapa-ports.org or call us at 703-684-5700.
18
project, and we are continuing to work on an
almost daily basis with the Army Corps to get the
dredges in the river so that the world will know we
are going to be a competitive, deeper water port,
and that we can compete for traffic all up and
down the East Coast (see related story on page 5).
Due to Homeland
Security/TSA regulations,
you now need a TWIC
card to enter all Port of
Philadelphia terminals!
Call (215) 425-1727 for
more information.
3
JE: These two pieces are linked together in the
sense that if we don’t deepen the river, it’s unlikely
we’ll be able to do the development at the levels
we want. Our potential bidders and our potential
partners know that. And they have made that pretty
clear. They need to know that the deepening project is going forward if they are going to invest millions and millions of dollars in the Southport project.
PW: And then there’s the Food Distribution Center,
which is slightly different, yet no less significant.
JE: On a parallel track, we were able to accomplish
this very exciting and very unique public-private
partnership agreement with the Food Distribution
Center to solve what I had begun to believe was an
intractable problem: the relocation of that facility
and the ability to save those jobs for Pennsylvania.
Through a partnership with (developer) Brian
O’Neill and his team, we were able to secure $150
million from the Commonwealth, to leverage a $240
million project on Essington Avenue, and to create
a return on that investment for the Commonwealth
and the PRPA.
PW: This package is unique in the complexity of
the financial arrangement, isn’t it?
JE: It’s the only time to my knowledge that a project
of this size has been done in this manner, so I think
that’s incredibly exciting to us. This will be a stateof-the-art, refrigerated, USDA-standard facility. It
also gives PRPA the flexibility within the Port space
to pursue other development opportunities so that
we can get to our true goal: growing jobs and
increasing volumes (see related story on page 8).
PW: Aside from these signature projects, what
other strides has PRPA made in 2008?
JE: I am very pleased with the movement we’ve
made on our engineering and budget pieces. We
will soon have a Capital Plan approved by the
board that will allow everybody to know when certain upgrades will be made to our facilities. This
will be based on an analysis that will be conducted
by an outside firm. I think this is very important for
PRPA as we go forward.
PW: Why is this so significant? I know you are very
passionate about this.
JE: What we’re trying to do is bring some rationality as to how we spend dollars. Look, there’s still not
going to be enough dollars to do everything we
need to do. But we will at least have a plan that
will allow us to show all of our partners all of our
plans. Moreover, we can say, yes, things are in
order, and yes, here’s how we evaluate things, and
here’s the criteria that was used . . .
PW: In other words, a sort of “To Do List,” based
on a strategic assessment of our facilities in line
with the dollars allocated . . .
JE: Yes, and it will prevent us from being cherrypicked for specific projects for whatever reason.
This is a very important change in the way PRPA
does business going forward, and my hope is this
will give the Commonwealth a comfort level that
they are not simply throwing money into a project
that may or may not bear fruit.
PW: Let’s talk about the Commonwealth for a
moment. Governor Rendell has been very supportive of the Port of Philadelphia not only in his determination to get the channel deepened, but for his
financial commitment as well.
JE: The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, from the
perspective of Ed Rendell, has been incredibly supportive of the Port of Philadelphia. When you consider we’ve gone from $15 million per year to $35
million per year in basic capital, plus the $150 million for the Food Distribution Center, plus the
money that’s currently supporting the activities sur-
New Port Chairman Oversees New Era of Growth
Attention Vessel Owners: How Are You
Discarding Your Ships’ Waste?
John H. Estey Envisions a Port More
Productive and Successful Than Ever Before
John H. Estey, Esq. was named chairman of the
Philadelphia Regional Port Authority by
Pennsylvania Governor
Edward G. Rendell in
October 2007. Long a member of Governor Rendell’s
inner circle, Mr. Estey first
served as deputy chief of
staff to then Philadelphia
Mayor Rendell from 1997 to
2000 and as chief of staff to
the Governor from 2003 to
2007. He also served for a
time as a senior advisor to
Governor Rendell, and still
serves as Governor
Rendell’s alternate on the
Delaware River Port
Authority Board.
Philadelphia Regional Port
Authority Chairman John H.
Estey addresses the maritime
community at the Packer Avenue
Marine Terminal on Monday,
June 23, as U.S. Senator Arlen
Specter listens. The Delaware
River Channel-Deepening
Project advanced significantly
that day with the signing of the
Project Partnership Agreement
between PRPA and the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers.
In February 2008, Mr. Estey returned to private law
practice as a partner in the law firm of Ballard
Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, where he heads the
firm’s new Government Relations & Regulatory
Affairs Practice. He was a partner at the firm from
January 2002 through January 2003.
A graduate of Carleton College in Minnesota,
Chairman Estey, 45, earned his law degree at the
University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As a young
trial lawyer with Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin
in the early 1990s, he represented the City of
Philadelphia mostly in the controversial prison
overcrowding proceedings before U.S. District
Judge Norma L. Shapiro. His work caught the
attention of the legendary dynamo David L. Cohen,
who was then serving as chief of staff to Mayor
Rendell. When Mr. Cohen exited in favor of Gregory
S. Rost, Mr. Estey accepted the post of deputy
chief of staff.
He returned to private practice at Montgomery,
McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, then Ballard Spahr
for a year until Governor Rendell asked him to be
his chief of staff in Harrisburg. There he oversaw
and managed a $28 billion budget and the activities
of 18 operating departments and nearly 80,000
employees.
Even-tempered and cool under fire, Mr. Estey
quickly gained a reputation in and around the state
capital as fair, principled and trustworthy. Like all
effective chiefs of staff, he immersed himself in
work and stayed out of the limelight. He earned the
2
respect of his staff not only for his steely resolve,
but also for a quick wit and kind word during difficult times. Even his critics acknowledge he is
extremely intelligent and a very quick study, and he
commands attention without bombast.
“When John walks into a meeting,” said an admirer, “he may not immediately appear to be the
smartest guy in the room, but he is.”
Under Chairman Estey’s leadership, in just a little
over a year, the PRPA has significantly advanced
or moved to the forefront of several significant
projects, including the deepening of the Delaware
River Main Shipping Channel to 45 feet; the construction of a state-of-the-art Food Distribution
Center in southwest Philadelphia on property purchased by the PRPA; and solicitation for developers of the long-anticipated Southport project just
south of the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal.
PortWatch: The year 2008 was significant for the
PRPA largely because of the signing of the Project
Partnership Agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, a necessary step to advance the channel-deepening project. It also saw the groundbreaking for the new Food Distribution Center and
the solicitation for developers of the proposed
Southport container terminal. These were all big
developments for the Port. Please give us your
thoughts about each of them.
PW: Certainly, it was a long time coming, and yes,
it was a tough fight getting here.
JE: Yes, this was a project that was under study for
20 years and had all kinds of challenges. Now we
have a signed agreement with the Army Corps to
go ahead and dredge the river. We have the financing in place from the Commonwealth to start the
• If regulated garbage is mixed with domestic
garbage, then, due to the commingling, it all
must be treated as regulated garbage.
Has your vessel been to a port outside the continental United States or Canada? If so, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) would like
you to know that all waste material from your
vessel that contains foreign fruits, vegetables
and meats (including poultry), as well as materials that have been associated or come in contact with these items, is considered regulated
garbage and must be handled according to
USDA regulations.
Don’t forget: Regulated garbage that is improperly disposed of can introduce invasive plant
pests and animal diseases, such as foot-andmouth disease, into the United States, causing
devastating economic and environmental damage to U.S. agriculture and natural resources.
USDA regulations serve to prevent the introduction and spread of foreign plant pests and animal
diseases into the United States. Illegal dumping
of regulated garbage into the harbor, inland
waterways or non-designated regulated garbage receptacles is considered a violation, and
you can be fined or criminally prosecuted.
Chairman Estey talked about these developments
and others during a recent interview with
PortWatch’s Don Brennan.
John Estey: Well, at the conclusion of a long and
winding road, and thanks to literally dozens of people—most importantly, Sen. Arlen Specter and Gov.
Ed Rendell—we finally managed to move the local
sponsorship of the Main Channel-Deepening
Project to PRPA and negotiate a Project
Partnership Agreement with the Army Corps of
Engineers. The day of the signing (June 23, 2008)
was a bellwether day for commerce on the
Delaware River.
Dr. Asghar A. Chaudhry, Veterinary Medical
Officer for Pennsylvania, Ohio, Delaware and
Southern New Jersey for the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA), asked
PortWatch to run the following message to vessel owners utilizing the Port of Philadelphia.
We’re pleased to oblige and encourage appropriate parties to heed Dr. Chaudhry’s message.
Please remember:
• All regulated garbage must be contained in
tight, covered and leak-proof receptacles while
being stored aboard a vessel
within the territorial waters of
the United States.
TELL US YOUR N EWS
The Philadelphia Regional
Port Authority’s PortWatch is
produced quarterly by the
Authority’s Communications
Department, which invites
members of the maritime
community to submit news for
future issues. News items can
be e-mailed to Joseph Menta
at [email protected] or
faxed to him at (215) 426-6800.
19
• Any person or company handling, hauling or
processing regulated garbage must be
approved by the USDA and enter into a compliance agreement approved by the USDA.
Help Protect American Agriculture!
For additional information, you can contact Dr.
Asghar Chaudhry, USDA, Veterinary Regulatory
Support/Veterinary Medical Officer (VRS/VMO)
at (215) 597-2339.
Regulations that pertain to regulated garbage
can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations,
Title 9, Part 94.5 or Title 7, Part 330.400 to 330.403.
Once again, PRPA encourages port users to
take this message seriously and act responsibly
while visiting the facilities of the Port of
Philadelphia. ■
• All plastic bags used in the
storage or transport of regulated garbage must be at least
four (4) Mil (0.004-inch) thick
and must be easily identifiable
by the unique color of the plastic bag or by tags labeled
“Regulated Garbage.” These
bags must be disposed of in
containers labeled “Regulated
Garbage” or “International
Garbage” while in a U.S. port.
The USDA and its enforcement arm, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, discussed the foreign waste issue and other relevant topics at an Animal Disease
Forum held at Philadelphia's Custom House on Tuesday, December 9. U.S.
Customs officials presenting at the event included Hal Fingerman (standing
at left) and Director of Field Operations Michael Lovejoy (at the podium).
Mayor Nutter Joins Maritime Industry to Celebrate Trade with
Chile and 20th Anniversary of a Noted Organization
PRPA Senior Deputy
Executive Director Robert
C. Blackburn, Philadelphia
Mayor Michael Nutter and
PRPA Executive Director
James T. McDermott, Jr.
on November 13.
Philadelphia Mayor
Michael Nutter opened the
doors of the Mayor's
Reception Room in City
Hall on Thursday,
November 13 to inaugurate
"Viva Chile in Philadelphia,"
a week of activities to promote Philadelphia-Chilean
relations, and to celebrate
the 20th anniversary of an
organization that has tirelessly and effectively promoted that relationship, the
Chilean and American
Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia.
The Ambassador of Chile, His Excellency
Mariano Fernandez; Honorary Consul General of
Chile Benjamin Leavenworth; the Chamber's
Board of Directors; and a host of maritime and
trade officials joined the Mayor at the evening
event, which also saw the presentation to the
Mayor of the prestigious Order of Bernardo
O'Higgins Medal, the highest Chilean honor that
can be presented to a non-Chilean citizen. This
dramatic recognition was made to acknowledge
Mayor Nutter's efforts to
promote trade and cordial
relations between the
Republic of Chile and its
longtime friend, the City
of Philadelphia.
During the past year,
Chilean trade with the tristate region of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and
Delaware exceeded $1 billion. Of this amount,
fruits and vegetables moving through our
regional port system were valued at $855 million.
Over 58 million cases of fruit alone moved
through our ports. Obviously, our region derives
significant and increasing economic benefits
from the strong and growing trade relationship
between Chile and the Philadelphia region, and
the event at City Hall enthusiastically acknowledged that fact.
PRPA congratulates the Chilean and American
Chamber of Commerce for 20 years of wonderful
and important work, and Mayor Nutter for
receiving this prestigious recognition. Let's all
work together to bring about another 20 years of
great mutual prosperity! ■
Volume 1, Issue 26
Winter 2008-09
Winter 2008-09
PortWatch: A Publication of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority Proudly Managing Pennsylvania’s International Seaport Since 1990 www.philaport.com
The Estey Era Has Historic Start
Under His
Chairmanship,
PRPA Makes
Significant Strides
Estey
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3460 North Delaware Avenue, 2nd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19134
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