WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – A project to deepen and widen the port of Wilmington’s shipping channel to accommodate larger ships has environmental groups raising concerns about potential flooding, declining fisheries and public health impacts.

The Wilmington Harbor 403 Project would expand the port to allow larger cargo ships through the area, but a draft environmental impact statement from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has prompted groups like the NC Coastal Federation to sound alarms about the project’s effects.

In the environmental impact statement, the Army Corps of Engineers writes, “A wide range of impacts are described and analyzed in the DEIS. Most are minor, temporary, construction-related impacts associated with dredging and dredged material placement.”

To the NC Coastal Federation, the impacts don’t seem minor.

The NC Coastal Federation says the Army Corps draft identifies risks including flooding, declining fisheries and health impacts for Cape Fear area residents. The group is working to inform the public about these issues before funding is allocated for the project.

“We’re not inherently opposed to expansion at the port. We realize it’s an important economic driver for the region,” said Kerri Allen, coastal management program director for the NC Coastal Federation. “It’s just the potential for irrevocable damage to our lower Cape Fear River.”

Allen said one major concern is increased flooding potential from the expanded channel.

“When the channel becomes wider and deeper, that’s more water, more volume of water,” Allen said. “So when there’s a storm or something that comes by, that’s more water that’s not going to be in the river. That could be on your property or downtown Wilmington or along any of the shoreline.”

Meanwhile, the draft environmental impact statement said “while channel deepening slightly affects water levels, it does not meaningfully worsen storm surge flooding.”

Allen said data from the environmental impact statement points to the project affecting marine populations and eroding coastlines at Caswell Beach and Bald Head Island.

Allen also raised health concerns about sediment dredging.

“A lot of the sediment that they want to dredge up from the river is full of contaminants like mercury or PFAS, and that’s sediment that they want to put on our beaches and in our environment,” Allen said.

The expansion plan has been in development since 2019. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which would oversee the project, is still seeking public input. They recently extended the deadline for people to send in comments.

“We really look forward to your participation in helping us see this project through to completion,” Col. Brad Morgan, a commander with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District, said.

The Corps hopes to complete the official environmental impact statement, taking those public comments into account, this spring.

The project is estimated to cost more than $1 billion, but it does not have funding yet. Congress gave conditional approval, but lawmakers must still budget money for the project.

“That’s an important role for our legislators, both federal and state, to determine if this really is the best use of our public money for this project,” Allen said.

Some municipalities have started weighing in on the project as well. Southport’s Board of Aldermen passed a resolution Tuesday calling for long-term monitoring of the project and mitigation of environmental impacts.

“All of these things really do have very real day-to-day impacts for our residents,” Allen said.

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