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Washington, DC - The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy & Water agreed to provide an additional $1 million in funding to conduct construction on the Hunting Bayou flood protection project in Fiscal Year 2004. This is an addition to the $2 million for the current year for Hunting Bayou. The Port of Houston will also receive funding for the dredging project for the Houston Ship Channel’s deepening and widening project.
“The damage from Tropical Storm Allison underscores the importance of flood control projects,” Green said. “I am pleased that the Hunting Bayou flood control project will receive the funding for the completion of the General Reevaluation Review to initiate construction. The Hunting Bayou project is necessary to mitigate the impact of future flooding.”
Green said that the expansion of the Port of Houston is important to Houston’s economy on many levels. The $33 million funding will ensure that the project remains on an accelerated, optimal schedule, since it was authorized by Congress in 1996. In additional, the Port will receive another $13.5 million for the operation and maintenance of the ship channel.
The Port, connected to the Gulf of Mexico by the 53-mile ship channel, is the busiest U.S. port in foreign tonnage, second in the U. S. in total tonnage, and the world's eighth busiest port overall. It provides $5.5 billion in annual business revenues and creates, directly or indirectly, almost 200,000 jobs. With nearly 7,000 vessels navigating the channel annually, the widening of the channel from 400 to 520 feet and its deepening from 40 to 45 feet is a necessary step in safeguarding both the maritime industry and the residents of surrounding areas.
Greens Bayou also received $774,000 to continue preparing this project for new construction in the coming years.
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