Members of the Providence Working Waterfront Alliance yesterday testified before the House Committee on Finance in strong support of Budget Article 16, Section 4.
According to the Working Waterfront Alliance’s release, this legislation would appropriate $10.5 million for the construction of a new Confined Aquatic Disposal (CAD) Cell critical to the upcoming maintenance dredging of the Providence River and Harbor Shipping Channel.
Providence’s water-dependent terminals and nearby industrial businesses generate hundreds of millions of dollars in total economic impact, supply the region’s energy, provide hundreds of good paying blue collar jobs and thousands more related jobs, WWA said.
The majority of this economic activity is directly facilitated by Providence Harbor’s 40 foot deep-water channel. The channel was last dredged in 2003 and maintenance dredging will be required in the near future to protect this critical infrastructure asset for the state, WWA added.
“Appropriating $10.5 million for the construction of a new CAD cell to receive dredged sediments is a smart and necessary investment,” concluded Working Waterfront Alliance.
Read the full written testimony in support of Budget Article 16, Section 4 here.