06-17-2003 Bayport Expansion Review Committee Meeting

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historical islands for bird rookeries. This commitment to the environment will not change with our Bayport Project. The Port Authority will create up to another 200 acres of marshlands in Galveston Bay from dredge material. These marshlands act as a nursery for marine life and provide excellent bird watching and fishing opportunities increasing the recreational value of Galveston Bay. The Port Authority has purchased land neaz the Bayport property that will be protected as a conservation easement. The 173-acre site is hydrologically connected to the Armand Bayou Nature Center to the south and east. On this tract, the Port Authority will create 66.8 acres of wetlands on the site to replace the 18.3 acres of wetlands on the Bayport Property (a 3.6:1 replacement ratio). The Port will enhance 12 acres of existing wetlands on the easement and will create 71 acres of restored upland coastal prairie, a land type that is becoming scazce on the Texas Gulf Coast. Neither the Corps of Engineers nor the Port Authority has any plans to deepen the channel to 50 feet. The wharves at Bayport will have a 50-year life span. To design and construct a wharf that can accommodate a 50-foot channel compared to a 45-foot channel would increase the cost of the wharf by an insignificant 1.2%. That compares favorably to the construction cost of a new wharf in excess of $23,000 per liner foot in today's dollars. If the Corps of Engineers decided to deepen the Houston Ship Channel and the Bayport Channel to 50 feet, there would have to be a separate environmental impact statement. As an example, the Houston Ship Channel is currently being deepened to 45 feet from 40 feet. To deepen the channel by five feet required Congressional approval in the Water Resources Development Act, bond election approval by the voters of Hams County, completion of an EIS by the Corps, and annual appropriations by Congress. Finally, if there were such a plan to deepen the channel to 50 feet, it would be known by the Corps. Erosion Protection: The Port Authority has already improved the north shore of the Bayport Channel to prevent erosion from wakes caused by the 6,487 vessel and barge transits each year that currently call on existing private facilities in the Bayport Channel. Property Values: The Bayport Citizens Advisory Committee, made up of area municipalities, environmental groups, industry leaders and the maritime community, commissioned a study on property values in the residential area near the Bazbours Cut Container facility. The study found that residential properties near Bayport Container & Cruise Terminal page 8 of 9 May 2003