SENATOR A.G. CROWE EXCITED GOVERNOR SIGNS BILL CREATING DEEP WATER PORT AUTHORITY

COULD BE LARGEST ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROJECT IN LOUISIANA HISTORY

  District 1 State Senator A.G. Crowe (R-Slidell) is excited to announce that Governor Bobby Jindal signed into law Senate Bill 780, which establishes the Louisiana International Deep Water Gulf Transfer Terminal Authority, a 12-member board that will study the feasibility of constructing a megaport complex on state-owned land in Plaquemines Parish and oversee its eventual operation. The bill, authored by Senator Crowe, received unanimous support in the legislature.

  "This is an exciting moment for us," said Senator Crowe, "Not only does it have the possibility of being the single largest economic development project in our history, but it also will allow our state to again become the gateway to North America. I am already getting inquiries from China, Australia, India and other groups interested in investing billions of dollars in Louisiana."

  The Deep Water Terminal in Plaquemines Parish would give massive containerized cargo ships a facility to load and unload their cargo. Currently, there are hundreds of ships unable to dock and unload at any of the ports in the U.S. because they are too shallow to accommodate the large vessels. Senator Crowe says that the facility will not compete with any other port in the state but will supplement their business by allowing the transfer of cargo containers to smaller ships that are able to navigate shallower waters. The location for the Terminal is already deep enough and would not require any additional dredging.

  Senator Crowe says the facility could be funded entirely with private investment and will not require any money from the state. He says he will work hard to move the project forward so that the Terminal will be completed to coincide with the deepening of the Panama Canal in 2014, which will cause a surge of giant containerized cargo ships to North America.